Daily Scrum

A short, regular round at the start of every work session in a project. The team stands in a circle, and in turn everyone answers three questions in one minute: what have I done since last time, what am I going to do now, and where am I stuck? Whoever is stuck says so; solving it happens after the circle, with those it concerns. The structure comes from Scrum, a way of working for teams that work in short cycles; in many teams it is simply called the stand-up.

With the default settings the whole structure takes ± 7 minutes: 4 rounds, briefing and look-back included.

One minute per person. A team of four therefore has four minutes of turns; the preparation adds a minute for standing up and forming a circle, and two minutes of reflection at the end: about seven minutes in all. With a team of eight it takes about eleven minutes. You set the time per turn yourself, in steps of fifteen seconds, and the player hands the turn on to the next person by itself. Above eight the round lasts longer than it promises; split the team into two circles then.

The default questions are: what have I done since last time, what am I going to do now, and where am I stuck? They are not worded that way by accident: the first makes visible what is finished, the second what is happening now, the third where someone is stuck. You may change them, in the preparation under "Ask different questions", for example into words younger students use. Do keep the third question, in whatever form: it is the reason the team is standing together. Without it, the circle becomes a round of progress reports.

Because nobody makes a speech on their feet. Whoever stands says what they have to say and is done; whoever sits leans back and tells a story. So standing is an aid, not a rule: if it cannot be done, because the room is full or someone cannot stand, it works seated too, but then watch the minute all the more closely.

You note it, and you pick it up after the circle. In the circle someone only says where they are stuck; the conversation about the solution comes afterwards, with the two or three it concerns. A board with a "parking lot" helps: that is where you write what needs discussing after the circle. For you as the teacher this is the most valuable minute of the lesson: you hear exactly where help is needed.

Each team stands in its own circle, and all the circles stand at the same time. The screen counts the turns ("Turn 3 of 4") and hands on the turn for all circles at once. If the teams are not the same size, set the size of the largest team; a smaller team then finishes first and waits. You walk round the circles and listen above all to the answers to the third question.

No. You keep the time, and you listen. A teacher in the circle turns it into a progress interview in which everyone reports to you instead of to the team. What you hear in the circle, especially at the third question, you use afterwards: that is how you know whom to help first.

It is one part of it. Scrum is a way of working for teams that work in short cycles, described by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland in the Scrum Guide; in it the Daily Scrum is the short, daily moment in which the team coordinates. The three questions are no longer in that guide (since 2020 the team chooses its own format), but they are its classic shape. eduScrum, which started in the Netherlands, brought the way of working into the classroom, with a short stand-up at the start of the lesson. LudensFlow borrows only the Daily Scrum, and puts it in the language of a class: no sprints and no jargon, just the three questions and the agreement that solving happens after the circle.

Taking Turns collects many short answers to one open question, in groups of two to six, in any lesson and on any topic. The Daily Scrum always asks the same three questions about your own work, in a fixed project team, at the start of every work session. The first is a way to give everyone a say; the second is a way to keep a project on course.

Beforehand: fixed teams, and if you like a goal for the week on the screen. At the start: have the teams stand up and form a circle, and say that nothing gets solved in the circle. During the turns: keep the time, do not take part, and note what is stuck. After the circle: first pick up what was stuck, with only those involved. And do it again every lesson: the third time already goes quicker than the first.