# 03. Insight Gathering *[**Here**](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1V6dGOoqxotUINtZinT7B1tc7zX-V3ceK/view?usp=sharing) are the Insight Gathering slides from your Examina training. Consider reviewing and sharing these slides with your Council before facilitating gameplay.* # Insight Gathering Deck Objective This deck invites us to explore the question “What's been happening in my life?” by exploring the impacts that our recent life experiences are having on us. By the end of the game each player should be able to articulate what's been happening in their life, how these experiences have been impacting them, and a meaningful insight they want to take with them moving forward.  # Insight Gathering Process There are three rounds in gameplay. Each round is focused on a guiding question: - Round 1: What's been happening in my life? - Round 2: How has this been impacting me? - Round 3: What do I want to take away from this experience?  # Set Up **Materials**: Index cards and pens for each player. A timer. There are three different types of cards and each is used for the three rounds of the game. Separate the cards into three piles, going from left to right on the field of play:  - Round 1: Insight Prompts - Round 2: Core Impact - Round 3: Impact Insights ![[2 1.png]] # Round 1  ##### The purpose of this round is to share the recent experiences that have been affecting us. #### Play Your Cards 1. Deal four Insight Prompt cards to each player. 2. **The person who most recently called or texted a family member goes first.**  On their turn, each player selects one card from their hand and plays it in the center of the table face up, creating the field of play. Play continues clockwise until each player has played one card.  - **How do players choose a card?** Players should choose a card that is most interesting to them. This could be because it evokes an interesting answer or they are interested in discovering what others’ responses might be. - **What if a player doesn’t have a card they want to play?** Anyone can choose to pass and draw a new card. > [!INFO]+ Facilitator Note > The “Play Your Cards” phase involves simply choosing cards for the field of play, not responding to prompts on cards. This phase sets up the next phase where players will respond and share to the prompts selected for the field of play. #### Select & Share  3. After all cards are on the field, each player will choose one prompt from the field to respond to.  4. Going in the same order, players take turns responding to their chosen prompt. 5. Round 1 ends when each player has shared a response. # Round 2  ##### The purpose of this round is for each player to identify the impacts of what they shared in Round 1. #### Play Your Cards 1. Deal four Core Impact cards to each player. If a player gets a duplicate card, they can discard and draw a new one.  2. **The player to the left of the player who went first in Round 1 will go first.** Each player plays a card that represents a part of them that is directly impacted by their response from Round 1. That impact can be a positive impact, a negative impact, a mixed impact (both positive and negative).  - **What if a player doesn’t have a card they want to play?** Anyone can choose to pass and draw a new card. - **What if a player wants to play the same card as someone else?** If the card has already been played by another player, they place it on top of the existing card.  3. Play continues until each player has played 3 Core Impact cards.  #### Select & Share  4. After all cards are on the field, players will take turns choosing cards from the field of play that represent parts of them that have been most impacted by the experience they shared in Round 1.  5. The player who began this round goes first again. They choose one Core Impact card that represents what is most impacted by what they shared in Round 1, and share why they chose that card.  6. Then, the same player chooses another Core Impact card that represents the impact that the first selected Core Impact card has had on them. This is called an impact connection. Each player makes three impact connections before the next player shares. - **What’s an example of an impact connection?**  A player might say: “***My thoughts*** are more negative, and this has been impacting ***my energy***. I’ve been more low energy lately.”   8. Round 2 ends when each player has shared three impact connections. Discard all cards and continue to Round 3. # Round 3  ##### The purpose of this phase is to identify the insight or learning each player wants to take with them from this experience.  #### Select & Ask  1. Deal four Impact Insight cards to each player.  2. **The player to the left of the player who went first in Round 2 will go first.** This player plays an Impact Insight card from their hand and asks that question to the player to their left. - **How do players choose a question?** The goal is to ask another player a question that will help them generate meaningful insight about their experience. 4. Once the player has responded to the question, they play their own Insight Impact card addressed to the player to their left. 5. Play continues until each person has asked one question and answered one question. Discard all cards and continue to the closing.  # Closing 1. Hand an index card to each player.  2. Each player writes a summary insight from this session, then takes turns sharing their insight with the group. 3. Close by taking turns sharing a gratitude or shout-out to another player. Players can share gratitude for a player's vulnerability, for helping deepen the group’s reflection, for playing aligned with their core values, and more. 4. Play ends. # Game Variations ### Adjusting for Group Size **For groups of four players or fewer:** In each “Play Your Cards” round, players can play until there are four prompts on the field of play.  **For multiple groups of 4 players:** In each round, adjust the number of cards dealt to each council based on the number of councils and cards available. You may need to skip the “Play Your Cards” phase and deal cards directly onto their field of play. Use the table below to find how many cards you can deal depending on group size. | Examina Councils <br>4 players per council | Round 1<br>32 cards total | Round 2 <br>64 cards total | Round 3 <br>32 cards total | | ------------------------------------------ | ------------------------- | -------------------------- | -------------------------- | | 1 council | 16 cards/council | 16 cards/council | 16 cards/council | | 2 councils | 16 cards/council | 16 cards/council | 16 cards/council | | 3 councils | 10 cards/council | 16 cards/council | 10 cards/council | | 4 councils | 8 cards/council | 12 cards/council | 8 cards/council | # Game Focuses We invite you to let your Insight Gathering gameplay be open to reflection in both personal and professional realms when you are beginning your journey with your Examina Council. For subsequent play sessions with this deck, consider exploring different focuses. For example, you may want to focus on insights arising from what’s happening in school, work, on a sports team, or you may have a specific shared experience you want to debrief together (a conference, summer break, a global or national event).  #### Insight Gathering for a Specific Event or Experience If you are interested in exploring a specific experience using the Insight Gathering process, you can easily modify gameplay to align with this focus. First, invite players to share if they would like to reflect on a particular experience or if they would like to engage with regular gameplay to see what arises from the prompts. If any number of players feels moved to reflect on a particular experience, you can modify Round 1 such that players with pre-identified experiences to share are invited to use the Insight Prompts in the field of play as inspiration to begin their share, rather than selecting one particular prompt to respond to (unless it happens to be relevant to what they desire to share). **