Tuesday’s rate limit, run slowly, with a partner you’ll work with for three weeks.
Before the lab#
Nothing to prepare. Partners are assigned by the tutor, deliberately mixed. Week 11 explains why.
The pass rule#
Any card can be passed. Say “pass” and the next card comes up. No reason, no follow-up question, no face. This is a lab rule, and it is also the first clause every pair starts with: either of us can decline a topic without explaining why.
No card in this room goes above level 2. You have been assigned a lab partner, not agreed to discuss your family or health.
Run sheet#
Times below run from the 14:05 start; finish at 14:55.
| Time | What happens |
|---|---|
| 0:00–0:05 | Meet your partner. The tutor reads both parts of a scripted exchange: “Tea or coffee?” — “pass” — then moves to the next card without a question or comment. |
| 0:05–0:23 | The ladder. Six minutes per level, using the four cards below. Both people get a turn to answer or pass each card; one or two sentences is enough. A pass uses the turn. |
| 0:23–0:27 | Alone: note where the conversation got easier or harder, and a card you passed or would have passed on, or “none”. This stays yours. |
| 0:27–0:45 | Draft the shared protocol. Three clauses the two of you can both check. Suggestions: reply time between you; how either of you says “I need a pause”; what depth your working conversations stay at. Keep the pass clause. |
| 0:45–0:50 | Each person records one concession, or an unresolved request if you have not agreed yet. An unresolved request is data; inventing agreement is not. |
Question cards#
These are practice prompts, not a demand for a particular kind of answer. Passing a whole level is allowed.
| Level | Four cards |
|---|---|
| 0 | Which lab are you in? · Which week introduced the ledger? · Where do you find the report brief? · What is its due date? |
| 1 | Tea, coffee, or neither? · Paper notes or a screen? · Quiet work or background sound? · Which small campus convenience would you add? |
| 2 | What was a small plan that changed this week? · What took longer than you expected? · What did you try and decide not to repeat? · What made a routine task easier? |
What leaves the room#
A partner, three draft clauses, and a private note. Next week’s lab tests the clauses against a week of actually working together.