In & Out Demo

At the end of each sprint, the student teams need to present their findings. These presentations are done through In & Out Demo.

See The Dayton Practice for context.

The work tables in the classroom are organized into a circle. Half of the teams start out as "Insiders". The rest of the teams are "Outsiders".

The Insider teams find their seats together inside the circle of tables, paired with Outsider teams that ring the outside of the tables.

The timer begins. For three minutes the Insider teams present their creation and share their findings to the Outsiders. The Outsiders listen and ask questions, making sure that all of the Insiders team members are participating in the presentation.

After three minutes, the discussion ends, and the Insiders shift to the next Outsider team. The clock starts and the process is repeated. After four or so of these presentations, the Insiders become Outsiders and the process is repeated.

At the end, the best team presentation is voted on and that team selects the "base" topic for the next learning sprint.

Many students often find presentations in front of their classmates intimidating. This process of small group presentations helps them build their verbal communication skills. Further, by repeating these quick presentations multiple times, teams are able to quickly learn what works and doesn't work during them and make adjustments on the fly. While the first presentation is often rough, by their fourth iteration is has significantly improved.

The students are graded not only for their roles as Insiders, but also as Outsiders. That is, both for their presentation skills and their listening skills. Through this process, these students are learning the important skill of active listening.

Using their creation to tell the story of the findings from their research, it becomes, in a sense, their "ultimate boon" in what has been a Hero's Journey of learning that has sparked their Curiosity, opening the door to life of learning.