Better Than BingoActivity slides
Better Than Bingo · Activity Slides
Evidence or Instinct?
Find the beliefs beneath a school plan and decide which ones need evidence first.
15–25 min3–50 peopleSmall groups
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Facilitator prep · Do not project yet
Set the room up for success.
Materials
- Sticky notes or a shared board
- Ten imaginary budget points per group
Before you begin
- Name the instructional decision, student-support plan, or school initiative to examine
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Facilitator language · Do not project yet
What to say
“Every plan rests on assumptions. We have ten imaginary dollars to spend on the ones most worth testing—not the ones we most enjoy debating.”
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Facilitator notes · Do not project yet
Keep it comfortable and useful.
Make room for everyone
- Allow silent idea generation before discussion.
- Read all assumptions aloud before voting.
- Separate critique of an assumption from critique of the person who voiced it.
Watch out for
- Do not use voting to declare an assumption false.
- Avoid letting seniority determine which assumptions are allowed onto the list.
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For the group
Here’s what to do.
- 1
State the plan or decision clearly.
- 2
Groups write one assumption per note.
- 3
Combine duplicates and clarify wording without debating truth yet.
- 4
Give each group ten budget points to distribute across assumptions.
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For the group
Keep going.
- 5
Identify the top two assumptions and name one piece of evidence that would test each.
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Prompt 01
What must be true for this plan to work?
Take a moment to think. Passing or writing instead is always okay.
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Prompt 02
What are we treating as a fact without evidence?
Take a moment to think. Passing or writing instead is always okay.
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Prompt 03
Which assumption would be most costly if wrong?
Take a moment to think. Passing or writing instead is always okay.
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Wrap it up
One last thought.
- What assumption attracted the most investment?
- What is the smallest credible test we could run?