Season 7, Episode 4

Scaffolding is built to be temporary, with Zaretta Hammond

While in New Orleans at the Plain Talk About Literacy and Learning conference, Susan sat down with keynoter Zaretta Hammond. Zaretta shared her thoughts on the importance of scaffolding in literacy education. In this episode, Susan and Zaretta also look back on Zaretta’s impactful book Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, and talk about mastery and the importance of learning how to learn.

Portrait of a smiling woman with twist braids against a background patterned with symbols of books and pencils, framed in a white circle, symbolizing the importance of scaffolding in education.

Meet Our Guest(s):

Zaretta Hammond

Zaretta Hammond, M.A., is a national consultant and author of Culturally Responsive and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students (Corwin, 2015).

A former high school and community college expository writing instructor, Hammond has spent the past 20 years supporting schools and other institutions in deepening their understanding and application of culturally responsive practices. She currently runs the Culturally Responsive Education by Design Online PLC, a six-month intensive, inquiry-based professional learning experience to build instructional capacity to use culturally responsive tools and practices effectively.

Hammond is also a strong literacy advocate who sits on the board of trustees for the Center for the Collaborative Classroom, and on the advisory board for the Consortium for Reading Education (CORE).

Meet our host, Susan Lambert

Susan Lambert is the Chief Academic Officer of Elementary Humanities at Amplify, and the host of Science of Reading: The Podcast. Her career has been focused on creating high-quality learning environments using evidence-based practices. Susan is a mom of four, a grandma of four, a world traveler, and a collector of stories.

As the host of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Susan explores the increasing body of scientific research around how reading is best taught. As a former classroom teacher, administrator, and curriculum developer, Susan is dedicated to turning theory into best practices that educators can put right to use in the classroom, and to showcasing national models of reading instruction excellence.