Session 2

Make it answer back

Who
Anyone aged 13 and up. Complete on its own. Somebody who was not here for session one loses nothing except a second go at the loop.
Where this sits
Define and Decompose and Direct and Discern and Develop
They leave with
  • A page that reacts to what a visitor does
  • A board, going home
  • Cards showing at least one round that was not accepted first time

The arc: 90 minutes

  1. 5 min

    Newcomers get a board and the one-line version. Returners get theirs out.

  2. 15 min

    Pick the subject. Newcomers pick fresh; returners can extend last time or start again.

    What do you know about this that nobody else in the room does?

  3. 10 min

    The ladder, and the Respond rung specifically. One example built in front of the room.

  4. 10 min

    Card on paper. The third line is the one that matters at this rung.

    What does a good version look like? Two things, specific.

  5. 30 min

    Build. Card, ask, judge, circle a verb. More rounds than last session, on purpose.

    How would you know if that came back wrong?

  6. 15 min

    Run the drill, then pass the screen to somebody who did not make it.

  7. 5 min

    Boards into bags. Next session is the one where the page keeps things.

Look for

  • Pages that work on the one path the maker tried. At this rung that is the normal starting state, which is what the drill is for.
  • Cards where line three says "it works". A page that responds can work and still answer the wrong question.
  • Answers accepted because they arrived quickly. Ask what the second-best version would have looked like.
  • Returners rebuilding last session's page from scratch rather than extending it. Both are fine; worth checking it is a choice.
  • Somebody who has moved to Remix or Generate on their own. That is next session, and they have just found out why it needs one.
  • Ask about the empty case before anything else. What does a visitor see if they answer nothing? A page at this rung that has no answer for that has not been checked.

Tips

  • Newcomers and returners in the same room is the normal state. Pair them and the returner explains the loop, which is better for both than you explaining it twice.
  • The drill matters more here than at the bottom rungs. A page that reacts has more ways to be wrong and most of them are off the happy path.
  • Build the Respond example in front of the room rather than describing it. Two minutes of watching beats five of explanation.
  • Running short, cut the ladder demonstration and shorten the build. Keep the drill; it is the part this rung adds.

Print before the session

The print pack: this plan and its sheets

Same loop as last session, one rung up. The page now reacts to what somebody does, which means it can be wrong in ways a page that only reveals cannot.

Everything a visitor can do is a thing that has to work when they do it unexpectedly, and that is what the drill is for.

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