As everyone is embarking on e-learning, I have been amazed at the resourcefulness of the teaching community. It goes without being said these teachers have had to step up and be agile to figure out how to move their classrooms and students online. As I have been watching this week, I have drawn many similarities to agile software development.
My son’s class meets virtually every school morning at 10 for a daily check-in or scrum call. They go over what they are working on that day and ask questions to the teacher or other class members; in other words, remove blockers. This call runs roughly fifteen minutes. The class is then off to work on their set assignment list for the week or sprint tasks. The students are allowed to work at their own pace as long as they have their assignments completed by the end of the week or sprint. The teacher has an open chat session available for the day where students can help each other resolve issues, or the teacher can answer questions, just like the rest of us use Slack or Teams. Once assignments are complete, the student clicks done, and it moves to the next step or for us onto the next column on the virtual Jira board. The teacher then grades assignments as a product owner would accept or reject the task. Next week, the students will all start over with a fresh set of assignments or move onto the next sprint. The ultimate release will be at the end of this grading period as grades are rewarded or moved into production.
I am amazed at the agility and skill of the teaching community. Teachers are building a transferable skill set for themselves and equipping our children with skills they will use in the workforce. Thanks to the teachers and educators for leading by example and being a positive force of normalcy in our children’s lives during this uncertain time. I have no doubt we will all come out of this with more agility and many with new skill sets.
