Stand Up For Yourself!

Or...The Big Importance of the Little Things

I learned about the daily stand-up when talking with a colleague about her work with a major electrical goods company. Each day would begin with a few moments for each team member to stand up and run through their current work. The more I thought about this idea, the more I was convinced of its value not just in the business world, but also in the educational setting.

During our first project together I asked children to stand at the beginning of the day and say a little something about what we named ‘The 3 Ps’ – progress, problems and plan. This allowed children to begin their day by re-centering and refocussing. My Grade 5s were able to celebrate forward steps that they had made towards their goals which they reported as giving them encouragement while also being able to see their achievements alongside their peers. They could already think ahead towards possible obstacles and barriers to learning or progress – which in my classroom gave rise to other children offering and advertising their help or expertise (a wonderful unexpected side-effect!) and finally children were plotting their next steps – their ‘way for the day’. This helped them already have a daily target in mind and structure their own learning.

The daily stand-up lasted no more than 1 - 2 minutes per child but the results were incredible to see and also follow! This opportunity for children to set themselves up for the day encouraged much more than the ‘reminder’ effect that I was initially hoping for. Children were training metacognition skills, they were collaborating, celebrating strengths and asking for feedback and assistance with their weaknesses. Children were developing empathy, becoming more organised and more disciplined and learning to solve their problems.

As an 'agile' class, we decided together that this was a very useful and effective practice which we were happy to assimilate into our every day routine!