Morning Meetings and Daily Scrums

I was amazed the other day when my daughter Melanie (currently a student teacher) and I had a discussion of a technique she is using in her classrooms called the Morning Meeting. The morning meeting is a new strategy being used in schools to get kids engaged and focused on the goals for the day. We both had a good laugh as she explained that process, and then I explained how I have to teach adults to do the exact same thing in something we call the Daily Scrum. We ordered a couple books from Amazon on the subject of Morning Meetings and I began to browse through them to see what the objectives of the process were from a teachers perspective. The main point is to bring in the socialization of children and learning the learning experience as a critical piece in addition to the content of the subject.

In the book "The Morning Meeting Book" by Roxann Kriete she lays out the purpose of the Morning Meeting as follows:

1. Morning Meeting sets the tone for respectful learning and establishes a climate of trust.
2. The tone and climate of Morning Meeting extend beyond the Meeting.
3. Morning Meeting motivates children by addressing two human needs: the need to feel a sense of significance and belonging and the need to have fun.
4. The repetition of many ordinary moments of respectful interaction in Morning Meeting enables some extraordinary moments.
5. Morning Meeting merges social, emotional, and intellectual learning.

That is exactly why we have Daily Scrums. Sure we need to know about where we all are in accomplishing a goal, but the REAL purpose is the same set of points above. Creating that environment everyday leads to better results and a more engaged, energized team. I can't wait to see these kids grow up and enter the workforce with that level of social skills! It will be very interesting.

In the meantime, you may want to take a look at what teachers use as tools for Morning Meetings and see if you can't apply that to your Daily Scrums. Go talk to your son or daughter about this and see if they are doing it at school. The next time you have a parent-teacher conference, ask the teacher about Morning Meetings. I find it fascinating how our childhood is so tightly linked to adulthood even though most of us never make the connection.