In & Out Demo

At the end of each sprint in The Dayton Practice, the student teams present their findings. These presentations are done through an In & Out Demo, a practice developed by Jenny for her Genius Hour class.

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, facing Outsider teams that ring the outside of the tables.

The timer begins. For three minutes the Insider teams use their creation to present to the Outsiders what they learned. The Outsiders listen and then have two minutes to ask questions.

After the second bell goes off, 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 of the class period, the best team presentation is voted on for the DaVinci Award and that team selects the ‘base’ topic for the next learning sprint.

Many students find presentations in front of their classmates intimidating. This process of small group presentations helps them build their verbal communication skills. In addition, by repeating these quick presentations multiple times, teams are able to quickly learn what works and what doesn’t, and make adjustments on the fly. While the first presentations are often rough, by their fourth iteration they have 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 for the questions they ask. Through this process, these students were learning the important skill of active listening.

By 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 igniting, once again, a Curiosity that guides real learning.