The useful part

Browse activities built for the actual school day.

For staff meetings, professional learning, school teams, classroom community building, and quick brain breaks—from elementary through high school.

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89 activitiesEvery activity is free during this first chapter.
01Free

Staff meeting · Professional learning

The Useful Question Swap

Pairs trade one question that reveals something useful—not their spirit animal.

610 min2+ peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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02Free

Staff meeting · Beginning of year

This or That: Schoolday Edition

Make quick, school-day choices and find the staff’s surprising points of agreement.

38 min2+ peoplePlayfulness 2/4
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03Free

PLC or department · Staff meeting

The 90-Second Bright Spot

Name one recent classroom or school bright spot and the tiny action that helped.

48 min2–100 peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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04Free

Staff meeting · PLC or department

One-Star Schoolday Review

Write a dramatic one-star review of a harmless school-day annoyance, then rewrite it as advice.

1018 min3–50 peoplePlayfulness 3/4
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05Free

Beginning of year · New teacher orientation

Common Ground, No Cheating

Uncover three things the group shares, with the obvious answers taken off the table.

812 min3+ peoplePlayfulness 2/4
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06Free

Professional learning · PLC or department

Pass the Plot Twist

Build a wildly impractical solution one sentence at a time, then salvage its best idea.

1018 min3–50 peoplePlayfulness 4/4
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07Free

PLC or department · Leadership or admin

Evidence or Instinct?

Find the beliefs beneath a school plan and decide which ones need evidence first.

1525 min3–50 peoplePlayfulness 2/4
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08Free

Staff meeting · End-of-year reflection

The Small-Thing Thank You

Recognize one small action that made a classroom, meeting, or school day easier.

712 min3–100 peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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09Free

PLC or department · Staff meeting

Tomorrow-Morning Tweak

Choose one small change the team could realistically try with students tomorrow.

510 min2–50 peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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10Free

Staff meeting · PLC or department

3–2–1 Roll Call

Share three words, two recent wins, and one thing you need from the room today.

812 min3–40 peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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11Free

Staff meeting · New teacher orientation

The Sub Would Never

Name one piece of invisible knowledge your substitute or replacement would never discover on their own.

610 min4–100 peoplePlayfulness 2/4
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12Free

Leadership or admin · Coaching cohort

The Learning Résumé

Write the professional résumé nobody sees: the attempt, miss, revision, and lesson that changed your practice.

1825 min3–24 peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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13Free

Leadership or admin · Student-support team

Assumption Audit

Examine one professional assumption, where it came from, and what evidence could test it.

2230 min4–24 peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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14Free

Professional learning · Instructional design

Pitch the Impossible

Design a surprisingly workable response to an absurdly difficult school constraint.

2432 min4–100 peoplePlayfulness 4/4
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15Free

Coaching cohort · PLC or department

Consultancy Speed Round

Bring a real dilemma. Receive only clarifying and probing questions—no drive-by advice.

1830 min3–24 peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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16Free

Team retreat · Midyear reset

Crossroads Map

Sketch one professional fork in the road and the path you chose—or are still choosing.

1825 min4–40 peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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17Free

Leadership or admin · Team retreat

Values Auction

Spend a limited budget on the values your team will actually protect when everything cannot be first.

4055 min6–40 peoplePlayfulness 3/4
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18Free

Leadership or admin · Student-support team

The Student Seat Check

Keep student impact visibly present during a real team decision—without pretending to speak for students.

2540 min4–30 peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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19Free

End-of-year reflection · Team retreat

The Legacy Note

Write a specific note to an educator, coach, or mentor whose actions changed what became possible.

2235 min3–100 peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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20Free

New leadership team · Beginning of year

Working With Me, Minus the Memoir

Share a few practical work preferences your teammates can actually use—without writing a personality manifesto.

2535 min3–24 peoplePlayfulness 2/4
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21Free

Conference or workshop · Professional learning

The Table Census

Turn introductions into three quick numbers that reveal the experience gathered at the table.

33 min4+ peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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22Free

Conference or workshop · Professional learning

Job Title Translation

Say your official title, then translate what you actually do into one clear sentence.

45 min4+ peoplePlayfulness 2/4
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23Free

Conference or workshop · Professional learning

Superlatives Round

Find the table's harmless professional extremes without putting anyone through a formal introduction.

34 min4+ peoplePlayfulness 2/4
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24Free

Conference or workshop · Professional learning

First Job, Before Education

Share one specific detail from an early paid or volunteer responsibility.

45 min4+ peoplePlayfulness 2/4
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25Free

Conference or workshop · Professional learning

Who Would You Call?

Choose the school-day scenario you would willingly help handle, then learn who else complements you.

45 min4+ peoplePlayfulness 2/4
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26Free

Conference or workshop · Professional learning

Two Minutes of Overlap

Find one unexpected thing everyone at the table genuinely has in common.

33 min4+ peoplePlayfulness 2/4
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27Free

Conference or workshop · Professional learning

Jargon Amnesty

Translate one acronym or initiative name your department uses as though everyone already understands it.

45 min4+ peoplePlayfulness 3/4
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28Free

Conference or workshop · Professional learning

9:15 on a Tuesday

Describe one ordinary Tuesday-morning snapshot so other roles can picture your real work.

45 min4+ peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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29Free

Conference or workshop · Professional learning

You’d Never Guess

Share one safe, surprising fact or tradition about your campus or department.

34 min4+ peoplePlayfulness 2/4
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30Free

Conference or workshop · Professional learning

The Trading Post

Name one thing you could use help with and one thing you could help someone else do.

45 min4+ peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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31Free

Conference or workshop · Professional learning

Strong Opinion Roll Call

Pair your name and role with one confidently held opinion about something that does not matter.

34 min4+ peoplePlayfulness 3/4
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32Free

Conference or workshop · Professional learning

Three Rooms

Describe three workspaces from your education career with one word for each.

45 min4+ peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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33Free

Conference or workshop · Professional learning

Best Thing You Heard

Bring one useful, funny, or interesting thing from the break back to your table.

23 min4+ peoplePlayfulness 2/4
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34Free

Conference or workshop · Professional learning

Make Room First

Reconstruct the previous segment by inviting a contribution that has not had much airtime yet.

34 min4+ peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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35Free

Conference or workshop · Professional learning

The Question You Had

Say the question that occurred to you earlier but never made it into the room.

23 min4+ peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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36Free

Back-to-school · Beginning of year

Postcard from May

Write a short message from your future end-of-year self about what mattered most.

1015 min2+ peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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37Free

Back-to-school · Professional learning

One Tab Worth Sharing

Show a partner one bookmarked tool, resource, or shortcut that earns its place on your laptop.

812 min2–100 peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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38Free

Back-to-school · Beginning of year

The Six-Word School Year

Capture a hope, prediction, or intention for the year in exactly six words.

610 min2+ peoplePlayfulness 2/4
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39Free

Back-to-school · New teacher orientation

Welcome Wagon Questions

New and returning staff swap the practical answers people usually have to discover the hard way.

1520 min4–100 peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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40Free

Back-to-school · Staff meeting

One-Word Weather Report

Describe your current school-year weather in one word, with explanation strictly optional.

25 min2+ peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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41Free

Back-to-school · Beginning of year

Team Mascot in Ten

Invent a delightfully unofficial mascot that captures how your group wants to work together.

1015 min3–50 peoplePlayfulness 4/4
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42Free

Back-to-school · Beginning of year

Three Things on My Desk

Choose three nearby objects that tell a tiny, optional story about how you work or what matters to you.

812 min3–50 peoplePlayfulness 2/4
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43Free

Elementary classroom · First week of school

Our Class Recipe

Turn students’ ideas about a great classroom into a playful recipe the class can actually use.

2535 min8–35 peoplePlayfulness 2/4
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44Free

High school classroom · First week of school

The Class Field Guide

Collect anonymous student wisdom about what helps a class work—then turn it into a useful guide.

2540 min8–40 peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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45Free

High school classroom · First week of school

Last-Week Headlines

Imagine the headline this class earns by the end of the year, then reverse-engineer how to make it true.

1830 min8–40 peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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46Free

K–2 classroom · Elementary classroom

The Classroom Rainstorm

Build a layered rainstorm together using a wave of quiet body sounds.

58 min6–35 peoplePlayfulness 2/4
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47Free

Grades 3–5 classroom · Elementary classroom

One-Word Story Circle

Build one unpredictable story, adding exactly one word at a time.

1015 min5–30 peoplePlayfulness 4/4
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48Free

Grades 3–5 classroom · Elementary classroom

Back-to-Back Draw

Describe a hidden drawing, compare the result, then try again with better questions.

1520 min4–36 peoplePlayfulness 3/4
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49Free

Middle school classroom · First week of school

Guess the Class

Predict how the class answered anonymous, low-stakes polls.

1520 min8–40 peoplePlayfulness 3/4
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50Free

Middle school classroom · Class celebration

The Village: Mystery Roles

Use observation, questions, and bluffing to uncover two hidden roles.

2025 min10–30 peoplePlayfulness 4/4
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51Free

Middle school classroom · Classroom reset

Count to Twenty

Count as a class with no assigned order—and restart whenever two voices overlap.

69 min6–35 peoplePlayfulness 2/4
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52Free

Middle school classroom · First week of school

Claim It or Leave It

Read anonymous class answers and let each writer decide whether to reveal themselves.

1520 min8–36 peoplePlayfulness 3/4
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53Free

High school classroom · First week of school

Tier List Battle

Rank a harmless list, reach team consensus, and defend one controversial placement.

2025 min8–40 peoplePlayfulness 4/4
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54Free

High school classroom · Classroom reset

The Wiki Race

Navigate from one curated Wikipedia page to another using only links inside the articles.

1015 min4–36 peoplePlayfulness 3/4
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55Free

Campus-wide · K–12 classroom

Six Words, Whole Campus

One prompt, one shared wall, and a version that scales from kindergarten through senior year.

1025 min5+ peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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56Free

Classroom · Classroom community

Room Read

Five fast, private ways for students to show how they are arriving without explaining themselves to the class.

25 min5–40 peoplePlayfulness 2/4
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57Free

Classroom reset · Classroom community

After Something Happens

A plain, bounded classroom reset for the day after difficult news, a conflict, or a room that came apart.

1020 min5–40 peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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58Free

Classroom · No-prep backup

The Emergency Page

Five no-prep activities for the drill, outage, transition, sub day, or unexpected ten minutes.

520 min5–40 peoplePlayfulness 3/4
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59Free

Classroom · Midyear reset

Day Forty-One

Audit the agreements, routines, and assumptions that made sense in August but no longer fit the class.

1522 min8–40 peoplePlayfulness 2/4
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60Free

Classroom · Classroom community

The Class Archive

Make one two-minute deposit each week until the class has a year that only this room could have created.

220 min5–40 peoplePlayfulness 2/4
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61Free

Staff meeting · Professional learning

Box Breathing

Four quiet rounds: breathe in for four, hold for four, out for four, and hold for four.

11 min1–100 peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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62Free

Staff meeting · Professional learning

The Two-Minute Rant

Take thirty seconds each to complain dramatically about something completely trivial.

12 min1–100 peoplePlayfulness 4/4
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63Free

Classroom · Between lessons

Squeeze and Melt

Tighten every comfortable muscle for five counts, then melt back into the chair.

12 min1–100 peoplePlayfulness 2/4
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64Free

Classroom · Between lessons

The Stare Down

Try not to laugh, smile, or look away while facing a partner for ninety seconds.

12 min1–100 peoplePlayfulness 4/4
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65Free

Classroom · Between lessons

The Focus Reset

Four box-breathing rounds framed like resetting before the next play, shot, or match.

12 min1–100 peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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66Free

Classroom · Between lessons

Ninety Seconds of Nothing

Lights down, phones away, no talking, no assignment—just an actual ninety-second break.

12 min1–100 peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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67Free

Classroom · Between lessons

The Double Breath

Take two inhales through the nose, then one long slow exhale through the mouth—five rounds.

11 min1–100 peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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68Free

Classroom · Between lessons

The Sixty-Second Rant

Complain for thirty seconds each about something that absolutely does not matter.

12 min1–100 peoplePlayfulness 4/4
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69Free

Classroom · Between lessons

Desk Isometrics

Four fifteen-second strength holds at the desk—no standing or silliness required.

11 min1–100 peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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70Free

PLC or department · Staff meeting

Dashboard Warning Lights

Choose the dashboard light that best matches how you are arriving today.

13 min2+ peoplePlayfulness 3/4
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71Free

PLC or department · Staff meeting

Roller Coaster Position

Choose where you are on the roller coaster—not merely how the ride feels.

13 min2+ peoplePlayfulness 3/4
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72Free

PLC or department · Staff meeting

Battery Level

Pick a battery level from fully charged to red-zone—or choose the charging cable.

12 min2+ peoplePlayfulness 2/4
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73Free

PLC or department · Staff meeting

The Character Grid

Choose one image from a monthly grid showing the same object in eight different states.

13 min2+ peoplePlayfulness 4/4
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74Free

PLC or department · Staff meeting

Two Numbers

Give two numbers out of ten: your energy and your capacity for new information.

14 min2+ peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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75Free

PLC or department · Staff meeting

Traffic Light + One Word

Name red, yellow, or green for the week, then add exactly one word.

25 min2+ peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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76Free

PLC or department · Staff meeting

Fingers Up

On three, show one to five fingers for how you are doing—then simply look around.

11 min2+ peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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77Free

PLC or department · Staff meeting

Star Rating + One-Line Review

Rate the week one to five stars and give it a one-line review.

35 min2+ peoplePlayfulness 3/4
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78Free

PLC or department · Staff meeting

First Word

Say the first word that came to mind when this meeting appeared on your calendar.

24 min2+ peoplePlayfulness 2/4
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79Free

PLC or department · Staff meeting

Album Title

If this week were an album, give it a title.

25 min2+ peoplePlayfulness 4/4
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80Free

PLC or department · Staff meeting

Today’s Headline

Write the local-paper headline that would run about your week.

35 min2+ peoplePlayfulness 3/4
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81Free

PLC or department · Staff meeting

The Group Text

If you sent this team one text right now, what would it say?

35 min2+ peoplePlayfulness 2/4
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82Free

PLC or department · Staff meeting

Song of the Week

Name one song title that describes the week—no explanation unless you choose.

25 min2+ peoplePlayfulness 3/4
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83Free

PLC or department · Staff meeting

Rate the Room

Rate the team’s week—not your own—from one to ten.

13 min2+ peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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84Free

PLC or department · Staff meeting

What I’m Bringing

Name one word for what you are bringing into the meeting—including “nothing.”

35 min2+ peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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85Free

PLC or department · Staff meeting

Win + Weight

Share one deliberately small win and, optionally, one thing you are carrying.

45 min2+ peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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86Free

PLC or department · Staff meeting

Cup Check

Say how full your cup is and one thing that could put something back in it.

45 min2+ peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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87Free

PLC or department · Staff meeting

Deposit or Withdrawal

Name one deposit from the week and one withdrawal—without explaining either.

45 min2+ peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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88Free

PLC or department · Staff meeting

What I Need From This Hour

Name one thing the meeting needs to provide to be worth leaving your room.

35 min2+ peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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89Free

PLC or department · Staff meeting

The Pass Round

Use any check-in prompt while making “pass” a complete, respected answer.

25 min2+ peoplePlayfulness 1/4
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