Teachers often need to make on-the-fly decisions about how to scaffold children’s responses in order to help children participate in specific activities or lessons. If a child demonstrates strong understanding, they need an upward scaffold for a challenge; if a child cannot successfully answer a question or is struggling, they would benefit from a downward scaffold to make the task easier. Tuning in to what children are saying and/or doing can help to determine which type of support to provide.
Coaches can help the teacher attend to student signals (i.e., how students are responding to what the teacher is doing), while simultaneously helping with the “nuts and bolts” of implementing specific practices and steering the interaction toward a rich experience for children. In other words, coaches not only help teachers to implement all the right pieces, but also help teachers see how their instruction lines up with student signals.
When joining implementation, a coach may support the teacher in noticing a child that needs to be challenged further. In the moment, the coach may prompt the teacher to upward scaffold.
On the other hand, a coach may help the teacher notice a child who is confused and needs more support. The coach may cue the teacher to notice the child’s responses and can assist the teacher in providing a downward scaffold for the child to understand the new skill.
Some of the competences that could be used in the context include:
- Uses brief verbal or nonverbal cues to help the practitioner recognize opportunities to make adjustments to instructional situations or interactions
- Provides a quick explanation or cue to guide intervention and support in response to children’s signals
- Provides adaptations, modifications, or extensions to improve future delivery of instruction or support
Mentoring Prompts
- Cue teacher to children’s signals during demonstration.
- “Did you notice how [child] responded by [language or behavior]? They might need [specific support or challenge].”
- “Here’s another way you can simply that question/activity.”
- “Let’s think about how we can push [X] to the next level.”