Introduction
Scaffolding can form a strong basis for instruction and enhance students’ understanding of classroom concepts. When introducing new concepts to students, teachers are concerned with the level of comprehension developed by the students. As a result, teachers endeavor to divide the lesson into multiple sections and provide instructions for each part’s expected outcomes (Belland, 2017). Instructional Scaffolding is described as the technique applied by teachers to enhance student’s understanding by providing support as they continuously build on students’ experiences from each part.
Instructional Scaffolding
In the two assigned videos, teachers enhance students’ understanding by providing materials that offer them a reasonable chance to learn the concepts one by one. In the kindergarten math lesson, the instructor provides the learners with counting materials and supports them as they study math (Massachusetts DESE, 2015). The use of a song also enhances the learning process. In the second video, scaffolding is used as a basis for instruction when the teacher guides the students’ skills by instructing them how to count using a ten frame then assesses their comprehension (Dulude, 2013). In both cases, instructions are guided by supporting materials that subdivide the lesson into several parts for easy comprehension of concepts.
Collaboration
Traditional classrooms are often associated with the notion of one teacher handling a single class. However, instructors can collaborate between various grade levels and achieve amazing results. Collaboration is beneficial to both learners and tutors, as it facilitates brainstorming, which enables instructors to develop creative lesson plans that incorporate every crucial part of the course contents. As teachers collaborate with their peers, they are most likely to develop new perspectives of themselves and teaching in general that can lead to transformative changes.
Collaboration helps students benefit from a variety of inputs, thus increasing their knowledge and developing new perspectives of learning. As students receive instructions from different teachers, they develop high-level cognitive skills, becoming better learners and facilitating collaboration with other students. Through teacher collaboration, students’ achievement is improved. In addition, students are more likely to become better educators following the foundation they received from teacher collaboration.
Future Teaching Practice
The lessons learned on standard-based math instructions and the role of scaffolding in facilitating students’ performance will be crucial in my future teaching practice. Through the videos, I understood that scaffolding allows the math concepts to appear easy and motivates students to be more engaged in practice, thus improving their performance (Belland, 2017). As a teacher, I will apply the concepts to divide the math lessons into small sections and supply the students with learning materials that will involve them physically and mentally. I will design the lesson plan in such a way that it provides periodic assessment to students and room for flexibility in concept delivery. Lastly, I will endeavor to use student’s prior knowledge when introducing new concepts.
Conclusion
New concepts can be challenging for students to grasp and practice, which calls for scaffolding to help students digest the lesson bit-by-bit as they develop the experience necessary for future practice. Scaffolding allows students to test their knowledge and develop new skills. As teachers collaborate between different grades, they can brainstorm, develop adaptive lesson plans, and gain new perspectives of their lives. The knowledge gained is crucial for my future teaching practice. I will draw from students’ prior knowledge, provide support material, and brainstorm with peer teachers to develop adaptive lesson plans.
References
Belland, B. R. (2017). Instructional scaffolding in STEM education: Strategies and efficacy evidence. Springer Nature.
Dulude, L. (2013). 1st Grade Math Lesson-find the missing part of 10 [Video]. YouTube.
Massachusetts DESE. (2015). Kindergarten Mathematics [Video]. YouTube.