Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: Scaffolding or building foundation? It is interesting how we are eager to run with new terms in education. A few years ago the new buzz word was scaffolding. A parent who is an educator once asked the teacher for her child; "how do you scaffold for the students?" The teachers response was sharp. "I don't... I am building foundation." Was the teacher correct in his response, considering the original meaning of scaffold as borrowed from building construction? ( A temporary platform used to hold up workers and material during building). Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) At the same time you are building a foundation of basic skills for your students, you can also scaffold. For example, we have just implemented a phonics program in our school. We are teaching students the basic skills they will need, or the foundation, to become good readers. The lessons within this program are very scaffolded. They follow the gradual release of responsibility model, where the teacher does, the teacher and student do together, and then the student does independently. The two, scaffolding and foundation, can and should exist and occur simultaneously.