A practical framework for classrooms where students own their learning

So much of how educators currently teach is based on pedagogical models and practices commonly used in classrooms of the last century. Information can be unidirectional as it flows through the classroom: the teacher serves as the conveyer of knowledge, with students receiving, replicating, and duplicating knowledge. In both traditional and non-traditional classrooms, we see the prevalence of strict adherence to a rigid curriculum, set deadlines, and teacher-defined assessments.

Students are entering a fast-paced, dynamic, and uncertain world, and they will be tasked with addressing increasingly complex problems. They need to develop skills and a mindset that will help them navigate this changing environment. Agile Education more effectively prepares students for the 21st-century lives and careers they are destined to enter.

This guide will help you move your students along a continuum toward increased agility in your classroom. Agility gives students the capacity to self-direct their learning and collaborate effectively. Agile in the classroom can manifest in a variety of ways, including in individual projects, project- or problem-based learning, inquiry-based learning, or as the main vehicle for students to meet content standards aligned with curriculum.

The Agile Educator Guide provides educators a quick-start approach to implementing agility in the classroom. This guide is divided into two major sections: The Learning Sprint and The Spectrums of Choice and Collaboration.

In The Learning Sprint, you will receive an overview of the structures and cadence of an agile classroom. By learning in-depth about each of the five primary self-directed learning routines, you'll gain insight into how to implement agility in your classroom. Each routine includes an overview as well as targeted Student Learning Objectives. In addition, this section provides guidance on seven Visible Learning Artifacts that support students throughout the Learning Sprint.

The Spectrums of Choice and Collaboration provide guidance on scaffolding the implementation of these two primary components of an agile classroom. In this section, you will gain insight into how to incrementally work toward increased choice and collaboration, starting at a level that is comfortable for you and your students.

The Learning Sprint is an iterative and timeboxed learning cycle composed of five self-directed learning routines:

1 — Refine

The routine of clearly expressing, prioritizing, and breaking down objectives into smaller achievable chunks. This can happen at any time within the Sprint to prepare for future sprints.

2 — Plan

The routine of determining what will be achieved by the end of the Sprint and how the work will be accomplished.

3 — Check-In

Short and frequent conversations around the learning to align, check progress, adapt, address impediments, and provide support.

4 — Review

The process of assessing, validating, and providing feedback on the learning in the Sprint.

5 — Retrospect

The process of reflecting on the Sprint and identifying actionable commitments to improve how we learn and collaborate.

Educators find it helpful to follow the structure above, but the particular cadence of the self-directed routines in your classroom may vary based on context. Each routine in the Learning Sprint is an opportunity to build clarity, choice, and collaboration.

A Learning Sprint should not exceed four weeks so that students can practice the routines frequently. It should be short enough for frequent feedback and improvement, while long enough for incremental progress to occur. When one sprint ends, the next begins.

An Agile Educator ensures visible artifacts are used to support learning, choice, and collaboration throughout the Learning Sprint. There are five visible learning artifacts:

1 — Learning Backlog

The Learning Backlog is an adaptable, prioritized, and visible list of goals, skills, and/or products to be accomplished by students.

2 — Learning Backlog Item

Everything in the Learning Backlog is considered a Learning Backlog Item. Items may take many forms, such as learning objectives, standards, skills, and/or project deliverables/outcomes. Learning Backlog Items are progressively refined to ensure clarity and achievability in a Learning Sprint.

3 — Success Criteria

Success Criteria are the evidence that must be provided to demonstrate achievement of a Learning Backlog Item. Each Learning Backlog Item should have Success Criteria before being pulled into a Learning Sprint.

4 — Sprint Backlog

The Sprint Backlog is the visual representation of the plan for what will be learned and how it will be accomplished by the end of the Sprint. The Sprint Backlog is updated throughout the Sprint to reflect current progress.

5 — Progress Increment

When students complete a Learning Backlog Item and it meets the Success Criteria, the result is a demonstrable Progress Increment. Each Sprint should result in a Progress Increment that builds off the last. Progress Increments are helpful for gauging overall progress and eliciting feedback.

Overview

The Learning Backlog is an adaptable, prioritized, and shared list of goals, skills, and/or products to be accomplished by students. All elements in the Learning Backlog are considered Learning Backlog Items. A Learning Backlog Item can include, but is not limited to: learning objectives, standards, skills, and/or project deliverables/outcomes. Each Learning Backlog Item should have clear Success Criteria to determine success.

The Learning Backlog is continually assessed for relevance and adapted as needed. This process is called Learning Backlog Refinement, which can happen at any time. Learning Backlog Items may be reprioritized, broken down, combined, or removed.

Student Learning Objectives

In Refine, students will grow in their capacity to:

• Set their own goals and objectives
• Evaluate and choose the order of their learning
• Revise the learning backlog, by adding, adapting, or deleting items as work evolves
• Use insights from prior learning to inform future learning goals

Once the Learning Backlog is initially built and prioritized, students move into a Learning Sprint. The Learning Sprint begins with Plan, which consists of three steps: Why, What, and How.

Why is the learning valuable?

A Learning Sprint Goal is determined to make learning cohesive and relevant to students throughout the Sprint. The Sprint Goal often takes the form of an essential question, big idea, unit objective, or "the big why." If needed, the Learning Backlog is reprioritized to reflect the Learning Sprint Goal.

What can be accomplished during this Sprint?

Learning Backlog Items are selected from the top of the Learning Backlog. The number of Learning Backlog Items should be achievable during the Sprint based on perceived student capacity.

How will the Learning Backlog Items get done?

Each Learning Backlog Item selected for the Sprint is broken down into smaller, more actionable tasks. Tasks should be sufficient for meeting each Learning Backlog Item's Success Criteria, resulting in a demonstrable Progress Increment by the end of the Sprint. The time it will take to complete each task may be estimated to check whether the plan is achievable by the end of the Sprint.

The Why, What, and How are visibly expressed in the Learning Sprint Backlog.

Student Learning Objectives

In Plan, students will grow in their capacity to:

• Interpret what they want to learn and what they need to learn
• Deconstruct larger pieces of work or information into smaller, more manageable chunks
• Formulate a goal based on prior learning or completed work
• Demonstrate prioritization skills
• Develop self-awareness of capacity
• Estimate effort of work
• Manage scope of work/learning in relation to time constraints
• Apply initiative and self-direction

The Check-In is a timeboxed routine, often 5-15 minutes, to monitor and adjust the progress toward the Learning Sprint Goal. This routine gives students a frequent opportunity to reflect on their individual contributions, hold themselves and others accountable, and provide support to others. This routine is also used to address any impediments that may prevent the Learning Sprint Goal from getting done. During this time, updates to the Sprint Backlog may occur.

A Check-In format may include the following three questions:

Student Learning Objectives

In the Check-In, students will grow in their capacity to:

• Monitor and articulate the progress of work during the Learning Sprint
• Identify impediments
• Articulate need for support through self-advocacy
• Be accountable to self and others
• Provide support to others
• Adjust their learning plan

The Review is an informal opportunity, but not the only opportunity, in the Learning Sprint for students to demonstrate evidence of learning and receive feedback. Each Learning Backlog Item is demonstrated and assessed against pre-established Success Criteria. Learning Items that have met the Success Criteria produce a validated Progress Increment and are considered "done." Based on the feedback of the Progress Increment, the Learning Backlog is refined to determine what to do next.

Student Learning Objectives

In the Sprint Review, students will grow in their capacity to:

• Present work that has been completed and meets Success Criteria
• Assess completed work against Success Criteria
• Provide constructive feedback
• Filter most valuable feedback to use for improvement
• Iterate and improve work based on feedback
• Effectively refine the Learning Backlog based on feedback and progress

In Retrospect, the goal is to explore what went well and what could be improved in order to create actionable commitments for future work. While the Review is an opportunity to reflect on Learning Items, Retrospect is a time to reflect and improve on the learning process, student choice, and collaboration. In this way, Retrospect is a powerful opportunity for students to build metacognition, practice self-reflection, and exercise self-agency toward continuous improvement.

Student Learning Objectives

In Retrospect, students will grow in their capacity to:

• Practice effective conflict resolution skills
• Develop strategies for giving and receiving critical feedback
• Curate a toolkit of introspective tools
• Objectively evaluate group dynamics
• Reflect on their learning and fail forward
• Plan improvement strategies
• Apply problem-solving strategies

The Spectrums of Choice and Collaboration help educators gradually scaffold greater student ownership, responsibility, and collaboration over time. Rather than expecting students to immediately manage learning and teamwork on their own, Agile Classrooms supports growth through structured levels of support and shared responsibility.

Educators may begin with more teacher direction and gradually shift greater ownership to students as readiness develops.

Agile Classrooms commonly introduces the spectrums using a simplified three-level scaffold to reduce cognitive load during implementation. The expanded five-level progressions in the appendix provide additional precision for coaching, observation, reflection, and long-term classroom growth.

The Spectrums of Choice and Collaboration help educators gradually scaffold greater student ownership, responsibility, and collaboration over time. Rather than expecting students to immediately manage learning and teamwork on their own, Agile Classrooms supports growth through structured levels of support and shared responsibility.

Educators may begin with more teacher direction and gradually shift greater ownership to students as readiness develops.

Agile Classrooms commonly introduces the spectrums using a simplified three-level scaffold to reduce cognitive load during implementation. The expanded five-level progressions in the appendix provide additional precision for coaching, observation, reflection, and long-term classroom growth.

Educators looking to deepen their understanding and the application of Agile Education can pursue the Certified Agile Classrooms Teacher credential. These are highly engaging and hands on workshops, online and in person

Please visit www.AgileClassrooms.com for upcoming courses.

The Agile Educator Guide - Agile Classrooms Edition is offered free in order to help transform the world of education.

This work is adapted from the Agile Education Guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Agile Classrooms commonly introduces the spectrums using a simplified three-level scaffold to reduce cognitive load during implementation. The expanded five-level progressions below provide additional precision for coaching, observation, reflection, and long-term classroom growth.

Spectrum of Choice - Expanded Progression

The Spectrum of Choice is a dynamic tool designed to facilitate understanding and application of these key aspects:

• The level of decision-making autonomy granted to a student.
• The degree of the teacher's involvement in both decision-making and facilitation of learning processes.
• The areas in the learning process where students are offered options to choose from.

This instrument classifies student autonomy into five stages, each corresponding to a different level of student decision-making involvement and the teacher's role in the process. These stages range from 'Observing and Demonstrating', where teacher control is high and student input is low, to 'Creating and Supporting', where students have the most decision-making power and teachers provide consultation and support as needed.

At each stage, the Spectrum of Choice outlines the roles of students and teachers in two key aspects: decision-making and facilitation of the Learning Sprint Routine. By using this tool, teachers can better identify, monitor, and adjust their classroom's level of student autonomy in a structured and gradual way, facilitating a smooth transition from teacher-led to student-led learning.

Spectrum of Collaboration - Expanded Progression

By selecting the appropriate levels in the spectrum, classrooms can define, measure, monitor, and adjust their student collaboration. The level of collaboration is set for the entirety of a Learning Sprint. Collaboration may be evaluated and adjusted to the appropriate level before the start of each Learning Sprint.