Clarify the work
Help students and teachers turn broad learning goals into clearer outcomes, questions, and next steps.
Guide
Routine #1 — Refine Guide
A practical guide for helping students and teachers clarify, update, and prioritize learning goals before a sprint begins.
Best for
- Classroom
- Learning Sprints
- Goal Setting
- Student Ownership
- Visible Learning
Use During
- Refine
- Plan
What it helps with
Update goals before planning
Make sure the class is planning from the current reality, not from stale assumptions.
Build student ownership
Give students a structured way to notice what matters, name what is unclear, and shape the next sprint.
Preview the guide
When to use it
- Before launching a new Learning Sprint.
- When project goals, standards, or deliverables feel too broad.
- After feedback changes what students need to focus on next.
- When students need help turning learning goals into clearer work.
- Before planning so the sprint starts with shared clarity.
How it works
Review the learning focus.
Start with the current goal, standard, problem, project outcome, or deliverable.
Break it down.
Identify smaller outcomes, questions, skills, or pieces of work students can actually act on.
Prioritize what matters now.
Decide what belongs in the next sprint and what can wait.
Surface questions and roadblocks.
Name what is unclear, risky, missing, or likely to need support.
Update the visible artifacts.
Move the refined work into the Learning Canvas, backlog, or planning space before the sprint begins.
Why the Refine routine works
Planning gets better when the work is clearer first. The Refine routine gives students and teachers a moment to inspect the learning target before committing to a sprint plan. Instead of jumping straight into tasks, the class clarifies what matters, what changed, what needs support, and what should happen next. This keeps the sprint from becoming a list of disconnected activities. Students practice sensemaking, prioritization, and ownership before the work begins.
Skills & Alignment
This resource supports communication, thinking, self-management, reflection, and collaborative planning. These are suggested connections, not a formal standards alignment.
IB Learner Profile
- Thinkers
- Communicators
- Reflective
- Principled
IB Approaches to Learning
- Thinking skills
- Communication skills
- Self-management skills
- Social skills
21st Century Skills
- Critical thinking
- Communication
- Collaboration
- Adaptability
Inquiry Practices
- Questioning
- Planning
- Reflection
- Revision
- Evidence-informed improvement
What's included
- A downloadable Refine routine guide with prompts and facilitation support for clarifying learning goals before sprint planning.
Related resources
Ready to refine the work?
Download the free Refine guide and help students start the next sprint with clearer goals, better questions, and shared direction.
Download for free