278. Scaffolding That Sticks: 4 Steps to Support Student Learning

If you’ve ever wrapped up what felt like a perfectly modeled lesson only to see blank stares when your students try it on their own, you’re not alone. You know the moment: you’ve explained, demonstrated, and thought aloud, but when it’s their turn, they freeze. The problem often isn’t the modeling itself—it’s that students need more support between watching and doing. That’s where effective scaffolding comes in.

In this episode, I break down the four key steps of scaffolding—modeling, approximating, fading away, and independent learning—and share why each one matters. You’ll learn how these steps help students internalize new skills rather than just imitate what they see, and how skipping a single phase can lead to confusion or frustration. When we add in those middle scaffolds, we create the structure students need to build true confidence and independence.

Ultimately, scaffolding is about slowing down the learning process just enough so that all students have the chance to succeed. When we give them the right amount of support—and remove it at the right time—we set them up for meaningful growth and long-term learning. This episode will help you reflect on your own scaffolding practices and feel confident making small, intentional shifts that lead to big results.

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To check out all of the resources from this episode, head to the show notes: https://www.stellarteacher.com/episode278.

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