Archive
DistillED+
Community
Products
Podcast
Search
Log In
Subscribe
envelope
Search
Jul 30, 2026
Fading Support: Which End Comes Off First?
Fading Support: Which End Comes Off First?
00:00
01:22
Transcript
0:00
Hello, welcome back to the staffroom. This week's post is all about fading support, how you strip away worked examples and scaffolds without dropping the ladder too soon or leaving it up forever.
0:10
Here's the bit that caught me out. When you're fading a worked example, the natural move is to take away the first step and keep modeling the ending, because the start feels like the hard part, the blank page moment.
0:23
But the research says, "Do it backwards." Take the ending away first and leave the opening steps sat there for students to lean on. It sounds like a small detail, but it works.
0:35
Honestly, my instinct was always to hold their hand right through to the finish line and only pull away the opening move.
0:42
But if the last step's missing instead, students are finishing a nearly done thought rather than staring at a blank page, and that's the difference between muddling through a tricky bit and quietly giving up on the question altogether.
0:54
It also explains why some scaffolds never come down at all. Nobody decided which end to remove first, so nothing gets removed, and a writing frame that was meant to be temporary turns into furniture.
1:06
So here's the question for this week. Think about a worked example, a writing frame, or a sentence starter you're using with a class right now.
1:14
When you fade a worked example, which end do you usually take away first, the beginning or the end? Drop your answer in the comments below this post.
The DistillED Staffroom
Recent episodes
Micro-Decisions
Jul 23, 2026
Welcome to the DistillED Staffroom
Jul 21, 2026
