Set professional tone. Facilitate smoothly. Ask probing questions. Maintain energy.
Help pods refine narratives. Provide actionable feedback. Build confidence before presentations.
Evaluate against rubric. Identify competency development. Document follow-up needs.
Professional-quality portfolio pieces
Articulate problems & solutions
Learn from different approaches
Understand "portfolio-ready" standard
What was broken? Who felt it? Why does it matter?
What you did. Tools used. Biggest blockers & how you solved them.
What you discovered. Show the artifact. One key insight.
Nobody cares how many lines of code you wrote. They care:
✓ Is the problem important?
✓ Did you actually solve it?
✓ What can we learn from it?
That's what a professional communicates.
See their work in professional showcase context
Learn to articulate technical work clearly
See how peers solved similar problems differently
Understand completing complex projects independently
Your move: Celebrate effort AND completion as much as polish. Use rubric to distinguish "unfinished" vs "finished but rough."
Your move: Normalize nervousness. Frame as "sharing learning," not "being judged." Give positive feedback on effort.
Your move: Distribute speaking roles during BUILD phase. Ensure everyone has ownership area.
Your move: Have them present what they accomplished. Frame as teaching moment about scoping and time management.
"If you had to explain this problem to your mom in one sentence, what would you say?"
"Who would benefit from solving this? Who's your customer?"
"When you hit [blocker], what exactly did you try first?"
"Why did you choose [tool] instead of [alternative]?"
"What's the one number that matters most in your results?"
"This is excellent. You understand your work and can explain it clearly. What I'd suggest: Practice one more time. Focus on your energy level. Make them feel your excitement about what you discovered."
"Overall this is great. One thing: [specific feedback]. Here's what I suggest: [actionable fix]. Let's hear that section again."
"Let's anchor this. The biggest blocker was [X]. That's your story. Tell me exactly how you solved it. Here's your structure: Problem (60s) → Approach with blocker story (90s) → Results (90s). Let's hear it again."
"Let's do triage. What work DID you do? Show me right now. We'll present what you have honestly. Don't pretend to have finished work you didn't do."
"Stop. A marketing manager is listening. She doesn't know what 'F1 score' means. What does your model MEAN for her business? Start there."
"Hey [name], what's your part? Okay, YOU explain [section]. Here's what you say... [guide them]."
"You have 5 minutes. Here's what's essential: [3 things]. Cut everything else. Let's hear it again."
"Of course you're nervous. Everyone's nervous. You completed a 7-day project. You have real work to show. The presentation is just showing your work. You've got this."
Call them out privately: "You're doing great work. Everyone needs a speaking role and ownership area."
Separate them: "You work on Problem. You on Approach. This forces collaboration."
Encourage: "Good. Run both approaches. Pick the one with better results. That's professional."
If absent: redistribute work. If disengaged: assign clear role with talking points.
"Pause. Everyone contributed or you wouldn't have a finished project. Now: who explains Problem? Approach? Results? Go."
Excellent: Complete, polished, portfolio-ready
Good: Complete, needs minor polish
Developing: Complete but rough
Excellent: Business context, impact quantified
Good: Context explained, approximate impact
Developing: Explained but significance unclear
Excellent: Complete, tested, mastery shown
Good: Complete, demonstrates understanding
Developing: Shows effort but has gaps
Excellent: Clear independent decision-making
Good: Some evidence of problem-solving
Developing: Work appears largely guided
Excellent: Clear, confident, engaging delivery
Good: Clear with minor pacing issues
Developing: Hesitant or rushed
Don't formally score during session. Take brief notes:
✓ Excellent | ○ Good | △ Developing
✓ Visible timer: Use projected smartphone timer
✓ At 4:50: Signal "wrap up"
✓ At 5:00: Gently: "Thank you. That's time. Great work."
✓ Move immediately: Don't dwell between pods
✓ Introduce each pod: Personalize why their problem matters
"What was the moment you realized your initial approach wasn't working? How did you pivot?"
"If you had another week, what would you build next?"
"Tell the class one insight from your data that surprised you."
"You mentioned your initial model was [issue]. How did you detect that?"
"Walk us through how your solution would actually be used in practice."
Make them feel seen
One sentence highlighting what impressed you
✓ "I was impressed by how you handled the [specific blocker]. That's real problem-solving."
✓ "Your results made the business impact really clear. You articulated why it matters."
✓ "The energy you brought showed you own this work. That confidence is contagious."
Personalize: "Pod 1 chose Customer Churn because they're interested in retention strategy."
Lean back & nod. After: "Notice how they framed the blocker as learning? That's professional."
Show you listened: "You mentioned overfitting. How did you detect that?"
Pod A: "Methodologically rigorous." Pod B: "Creatively scoped." Pod C: "Well-communicated."
1. Collect All Artifacts - Make sure each pod submitted final work
2. Complete Assessment Notes - While fresh, score each pod on rubric
3. Segment Pods Into 3 Groups:
No follow-up needed. Archive artifact.
Schedule 15-min polish call. Fix 1-2 specific items.
Schedule 30-min completion call. Create realistic plan.
"You selected a real, complex problem and executed a 7-day project to completion. That's genuine professional capability."
Show you paid attention. Reference specific moments from their presentation and work.
Clear, actionable, positive. If portfolio-ready: "This goes to your portfolio." If needs work: concrete next steps.
Celebration: "Excellent work. You selected a real, complex problem and executed a 7-day project to completion. That's genuine professional capability."
Strengths:
• Your presentation was clear and confident. You articulated business impact (15% churn = $500K lost) in the first minute.
• Your handling of the class imbalance blocker showed real problem-solving. You explained why you chose that approach.
• Your artifact is polished and portfolio-ready. You can show this to employers with pride.
Growth: "Next time, document what went wrong, what you tried, and why it worked. This helps in interviews."
Next Steps: "Your artifact goes to your portfolio for Week 8. Bring PDF export Monday. Great work."
Celebration: "Good work. You tackled a complex, real-world problem and created a working solution."
Observations:
• Your data exploration was thorough. Identifying 5 product segments clearly is good analytical thinking.
• You faced a blocker with data consistency and debugged independently. That's professional problem-solving.
• Your presentation structure was solid but you rushed results (90 sec into 30 sec). Slow down; let numbers land.
Polish Needed: "Visualizations need clearer colors. Recommendations need specificity: 'Recommend 15% markdown on [products]' not 'better marketing.'"
Next Steps: "15-min call [day/time]. Fix these two things and your artifact is portfolio-ready for Week 8."
Celebration: "You put real effort into your project. I want to help you finish strong and get this portfolio-ready."
What I Observed:
• Your problem understanding was solid. You clearly articulated why recommendations matter.
• Your approach was sophisticated. Collaborative filtering on 25M rows is ambitious and shows thinking.
• You hit a blocker: large dataset requires advanced tools. You worked on it but didn't fully complete.
What Needs to Happen: "Your artifact is ~70% complete. Two options: (1) Adjust scope to smaller dataset and finish model, or (2) Pivot to simpler content-based filtering."
Next Steps: "20-min call [day/time] to clarify path. You did good work; let's get this across the finish line."
Final artifact, slides, supporting files
Document Artifact #11 completion status
Coaching calls for pods needing completion
Every student receives personalized email
Of what they built independently
About how to improve & what portfolio-ready means
They can communicate technical work professionally
To transition to Week 8 with momentum
🎤 As MC: Set professional tone. Facilitate smoothly. Celebrate work. Maintain energy and timing discipline.
🏋️ As Coach: Help pods refine narratives. Give specific, actionable feedback. Build confidence. Redistribute airtime.
📊 As Assessor: Evaluate against rubric. Identify development. Document follow-ups. Recognize standout work.