Scrum in the Classroom: Teaching Kids about Collaboration - Gina Parcells

Scrum in the Classroom: Teaching Kids about Collaboration

Gina Parcells learned about Scrum from Jeremy Webb at Organizational Engineering and Jeff and J.J. Sutherland's book "Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time." She wanted to see how Scrum might work in a high level math classroom so she re-engineered her two week unit on Vectors to help small teams learn from and respond to unpredictability in learning through incremental, iterative work cadences. In groups of four, kids taught each other the vector math and collaborated to develop presentations that far exceeded expectations.

• "In 25 years of observing classes, I have never been more impressed with the caliber of student presentations." Dr. David Judge, Assistant Principal

• "Projects were filled with higher level thinking skills that incorporated not only math skills but also technology, speaking, critical thinking, and collaboration." Beverly Anderson, Vice Chair, Virginia Beach School Board

• "This technique showed them how to clearly identify a goal, and as a team develop a structure that allowed each of them to contribute daily to that goal based upon individual strength and interest." Angelique Phillips, Legal Studies Academy Coordinator

• "Learning the material in this fashion made the topic interesting to each of the teams, helped them understand the real world application, and taught them how to work together and present." William Mackey, Senior VP Kimley-Horn

• "This is the type of learning experience that develops our students' 21st Century skills while they address curricular objectives in a way that makes the content relevant." Jennifer Kelly, Teacher of the Year, Library Media Specialist

About the Presenter:

Gina Parcells is a dedicated former Certified Public Accountant with National Board Certification and 15 years of accomplished teaching in the high school setting. She is a vibrant, confident, positive motivator able to engage and educate individuals and groups, and she possesses a keen ability to discern, isolate, emphasize, and communicate key ideas. She has trained her Pre-Calculus students in Virginia Beach to work smarter with the AGILE methodology, specifically using Scrum. Gina inspires positivity and leadership with kids, with coworkers, and even with perfect strangers.