Each week, Instant Meeting presents an idea or activity that you might use to make staff meetings
more interesting, teacher-centered, educational, or fun.
Brief Description/Purpose
This activity can be used to "break the ice" in a new group; use it to learn participants' names and something about
them.
And don't miss our Great Meeting series. Dee Kelsey
and Pam Plumb offer a short course on creating meetings that work, based on their popular guide, Great
Meetings. They present ideas to help you learn how to lead meetings that generate ideas; analyze problems;
define a vision; evaluate ideas and make decisions; plan for long-range needs; encourage group participation
and keep groups on track; and much more.
Have you an "Instant Meeting" idea that you would like to share. Send your idea to editor@educationworld.com.
Type Instant Meeting Idea in the Subject line of your email.
Depending on the size of the group, this exercise will take 10-30 minutes.
"Instant Meeting" Idea
Before You Begin
Prepare 3 different BINGO cards, each with 5 spaces across and 5 down. In each space, include a blank line (on which
participants will write a person's name) and then a descriptive phrase, for example: --- went hiking this summer,
--- visited a library within the last 10 days, or
--- has a dog.
See additional BINGO-card ideas below.
The Activity
Warm-up activities give people a structured way to interact and create a level of familiarity. This activity is especially
valuable for a newly-formed group, for example teachers coming together for the new year, a new parent support group,
a fund-raising committee, and so on. Providing a goal and a time limit encourages people to engage in the exercise.
Ahead of time shuffle the three versions of the BINGO card, and write instructions on a flipchart as follows:
Introduce yourself to another group member and find out if any of the BINGO statements fits that person.
If so, write that person's name in the space. (If the group is small, let people know they can use one person up
to 3 times; if the group is larger, use each person only one time.)
Move on to a new person and repeat the process until you have a full card.
You might provide small prizes for people as they get BINGO (5 down, across or diagonally), or encourage them to
join someone who hasn't finished to help them get all their spaces filled.
Partial Example:
B
I
N
G
O
Has run in a
Road race
________
Likes to
snowboard
________
Has never
been to Calif.
________
Has performed
on a stage
________
Went to summer
camp
________
Has held
public office
________
Has coached
a sport
________
Loves warm
weather
________
Has 2 children
________
Is a vegetarian
________
Still has a
friend from
junior high
________
Favorite color
is yellow
________
Visited the
library in the
last 10 days
________
Has traveled cross country
________
Likes Monopoly
________
This idea was submitted by Dee Kelsey and Pam Plumb, authors of Great
Meetings, Great Results! Be sure to visit the Great
Meetings Web site to learn more about Dee and Pam, their book, workshops, and other products and services.
