A Startup Guide

I am currently developing a short guide to share with educators on implementing Agile Based Learning Environment in the classroom. The guide will be "teacher-friendly, providing a step-by-step approach on how to beging "Sprinting" right away.  I have a group of amazing Agilists and educators who have signed up to review and contribute to the guide. My goal is to release this, free for all, by December.



Title:

The Self-Organizing Classroom: A Startup Guide for the Agile Based Learning Environment

Agile Based Learning Environment Vision Statement:

"ABLE is an innovative learning framework that creates a vibrant self-organizing classroom. Unlike other systems, ABLE gives the classroom a practical applied structure that integrates 21st Century Skills, collaboration, and self-directness throughout all learning."

As I have not written anything substantial since college, besides memos, project plans, and reports,  this has been a re-education for me in the basics of writing and is taking me a bit longer than I thought.

Feel free to email or leave comments on what you think will be important to include in the Startup Guide or just plain simple advice, I definitely need it!

Thank You,
John Miller, PMP, CSP

Agile Learning Infographic

Agile Learning Infographic

Agile Learning is inspired by Agile product development principles and methods, with Scrum having the most influence. Although it is inspired by Agile, it is not dictated or confined by it. In many ways, the Agile terms are a barrier for educators in its adoption.

I have attempted to develop, with fellow educators, its own characteristics, personality, terms, and attributes as Agile is transplanted in the soil of education. In the infographic, a metaphor of flowing water emerged, with differing containers based on the context. The larger items are buckets, the smaller are cups, decomposing all the way down to drops of "Tasklets" the classroom moves through to learned.

I am sure I need to iterate this more to simplify and clarify the process. Thanks to Chris Scott and Evan Moore for helping me to clarify and simplify, and coming up with the idea of Buckets, which inspired the rest of the metaphor, from Cups to droplets of tasks, I call "Tasklets".

I will post a greater detailed description of the process for educators soon.

I really appreciate any feedback, as comments on this blog or emails to me.  This is my first try at an infographic, and please let me know your thoughts, especially educators, students, and parents. What does the infographic tell you about the process? 

Download as a PDF:
Original (Skinny)
Stretched Version

Note, I used Piktochart.com to develop this. I discovered it today and it is pretty amazing, except that the image size is a bit skinny.

Thank You ,
John Miller
agileschools@gmail.com

Self-Directedness Game

Student Self-Directedness Game

Agile Learning is highly collaborative and empowering to students, with students rapidly taking ownership over their own learning while the teacher shifts to the back of the room as a coach.

As I help teachers implement Agile Learning in the classroom, a reoccuring fear is that the classroom will slip into chaos and that students will not focus on the learning outcomes. I usually suggest to teachers to start out by making learning and the Agile process visibile, with the teacher still control. As the teacher and learner grows in confidence of the process, begin turning up the dial for students to begin taking control of their learning.

Most classrooms are not ready, students and teachers, to deep dive into full student autonomy. The current education system has developed teachers and students to learn to do the opposite, and teh self-directedness muscles are not yet build up.  The beauty of Agile Learning is that the teacher can turn up and down self-directedness in any area of the framework. To make this easy and collaborative, I have started developing the Student Self-Directedness Card Game. I was inspired by several sources, mostly Jurgen Appelo's Management 3.0's Delegation Poker for Agile teams combined with idea's from Dr. Gerald Grow's article "Teaching Learners to be Self-Directed".

This is still a very rough draft, but, felt it would be releasable enough for others to start using it and provide feedback on how to improve it. 

Self-Directedness Assumptions

• Self-Directedness is a dial. The teacher and students will need to adjust the dial at different times.
• Self-Directedness progresses in controlled stages. The teacher grants, and the students ask, for more empowerment in incremental and defined stages.
• Self-Directedness is differentiated by contexts. A student or student team may be a Stage 1 in one area of their learning, but, a Stage 4 for another context. 

Basic Usage

The teacher chooses a context for student learning or classroom chores. She assigns a card to that context, making it visible, and explaining to the students why.

As students move up in their self-directedness, the teacher and the students can begin playing a card game, and negotiating. The teacher can present the context, and on a count of 3, the students and the teacher flip over the level each think they should be at for that context, explaining why. Once explanations are done, the process is repeated until the teacher feels there is enough consensus or understanding. The teacher makes the final decision. This can be done with the whole class in the classroom context and with each student team, as well as individual students in special cases. The card or the Stage Number can be marked in a visible area for the context.

The 4 Stages of Self-Directedness:

1. Dependent: Teacher is the master. Students do not have any choice.
2. Motivating: Teacher inspires and persuades. Teacher considers student feedback from learners.
3. Collaborative: Input from students. Teacher provides options for students to "pull". Learners can work together with minimal supervision.
4. Self-Directed: Teacher is "pulled" when needed by students. Learners develop own goals with agreed upon checkpoints with the teacher for coaching. Learners are in control of their own learning and are achieving their learning outcomes in their own way.

Future:

1. Clearer and simpler descriptions for the cards. 
2. Develop clear and fun rules to play the game in multiple contexts.
3. Obviously need to make the look and feel better.
4. A Self-Directedness Board for the classroom (See the Jurgen's Authority Board), with the goal of having the students at Stage 4 in each context. The excitement builds as the class goes from Stage1 in most areas in the beginning of the year to Stage 4 in almost all areas at the end of the year.
5. May add more stages, as there may be some smaller increments that may be valuable, see Delegation Poker's 7 Levels.
6. Specific actions to take in the Agile Learning Framework. For example. Stage 1 for Sprint Planning looks like..., Stage 4 Sprint Planning looks like.....
7. Perhaps a Self-Directedness Burn up Chart, charting the progress of the classroom's journey throughout the year, and using it as a Retrospective tool for how to increase student Self-Directedness.

What are your ideas in developing the Student Self-Directedness Card Game?

Let me know if you you might want to give this a try in your classroom, I would love to get your feedback on your experience.

Agile Principal Interview

Introducing Principal  3.0

Christopher R. Barnes, award winning principal of Cortes Sierra Elementary School in Arizona, is a different kind of  principal. He has lead his school to two A+ awards, is currently a finalist for the National Distinguished Principal Award, and has established an amazing shared culture with staff, students, and the community.  His greatest legacy may be leading a new way of thinking about how learning and school operations should be conducted in the 21st Century for a vibrant learning experience and a vibrant future. He is Principal 3.0, an Agile Principal, one that harness the power of Agile thinking to innovate education.

Scrum as Game Changer in Education

Chris was so inspired by the success of Scrum in one of his 4th grade classrooms, he invited me to help him transition his entire school to Agile thinking, from leadership council, staff professional learning communities, Principal leadership, and classrooms.  He has always believed in a culture where students and staff are empowered, passionate, and innovate to reach their unique destiny. This Principal 3.0 has witnessed firsthand how Scrum is the ultimate framework to bring these values to maximum fruition. 
Chris exclaims, "Scrum is a game-changer in education!". Spearheading through the 21st Century" is his powerful vision for the school, and Scrum is what powers that spear. He sees that Agile is making a great school into the innovative leader in education, developing real life skills for students to thrive and lead in the world, a true love of learning, mastery of standards, and character development for the 21st Century (Character 3.0).

Flip the Economy

Agile is the business framework of the future. For the first time, schools have the opportunity to be in the lead with the world's most innovative businesses. Rather than business telling schools how to run, schools that adopt an Agile transformation will flip this equation on its head, being the model for business to emulate. Cortes Sierra Elementary, with Agile, will not be benchmarked against other schools, but, will benchmark themselves with the most innovative organizations in the world, such as Google, Yahoo, GE, and Ericsson. The students and staff from Cortes Sierra Elementary can walk into Agile team at one of these businesses and feel right at home. Better yet, these students could be unleashed into the business world and teach and transform businesses stuck in old management paradigms. Imagine, a concept I call the "reverse internship", where Agile students are placed in business to transform the business.  Perhaps businesses will start placing their leaders into internship programs at Cortes Sierra Elementary to learn from students and teachers the power of Agile cultural transformation.

Principal 3.0 Interview

Here is the interview I did with Mr. Barnes, perhaps the first Agile Principal, recently after his Common Core workshop. Pardon the bad production quality, I am not a skilled videographer or interviewer. You will witness how he is spearheading through the 21st Century as a pioneer in Agile Based Learning Environments (ABLE). l.  Note: You will mention he references his "interview" in the video. Mr. Barnes is referring to his interview as a finalist as a National Distinguished Principal he had recently.

Vibrant Students: Notes from an Agile Classroom:

A report from an amazing 4th Grade teacher using Scrum in the Classroom:

My students surprise me everyday with what they can do with this process.  I am especially impressed with how motivated and driven they are.  This past Friday they were begging me to let them use the Scrum to complete their projects.  I gave them thirty minutes in the morning and then we continued our daily routine.  I had a sub come into my class that afternoon.  When I came into my class Monday morning I noticed that there were a few more projects started by two groups of students.  I couldn't figure it out since I gave them time and they didn't do it when I was there.  The rest of the afternoon was Math, Writing, and their monthly reward time at the end of the day.

I asked the students when they did it and they said that they asked the sub if they could come into the class during their reward time to work on their projects.  The sub had workroom for students with missing work or behavior.  These students were neither type but chose to come in. I was amazed! They chose their topic, groups, and when to do it with out me even being there.  My students love this process and it is such a joy to see them excited to come to school everyday.

4th Grade Teacher and Certified Scrum Master