Thing 46: Breakout EDU
I'm so excited to have an option to explore Breakout EDU more completely. I actually first became interested in Breakout a year and a half ago. It was one of the first things that caught my eye as something that looked interesting when I first became a teacher librarian. I joined the Facebook group and "stalked" people on there and my interest grew. Last school year I wanted to go to a workshop to learn about it, but it conflicted with something else so I was not able to. In December of this school year, I was able to go to a day long workshop and experienced three different breakout games. One was my first experience with a digital breakout. We also learned about setting and resetting locks at the workshop which I think was so valuable.
Through that workshop I received one breakout kit, and my principal approved the purchase of another. Later in December I asked if I could share a couple of breakouts with the faculty at the end of January Superintendent's Conference Day. The principal agreed that it would be fun and gave me the go ahead to set up three sessions for that day. I was very nervous about finding games that would be interesting for staff, and would also promote their interest in using them with their students. While I was looking into that, I had a day where two unexpected classes came to the library with nothing to do. I put the Frosty digital breakout up on the screen and the students had a great time playing it. I also used the game with a self-contained special education class and they loved it!
For the Superintendent's Day I ended up using the games "What's the Matter?" and "Shakespeare: Lost in Time." I sent out a form for staff to sign up and was pleasantly surprised (the principal did not require anyone to attend) to have 35 people participate in a total of six breakouts. A couple people enjoyed one breakout so much they came back for another! Due to that day, I have had six teachers talk with me about completing breakouts with their classes. As Amy Carpenter mentioned, math teachers are not always the easiest to find things to do with and I have a math teacher interested in trying a calculus game. This coming week I'll be using a Spanish game with a senior class. I've also been looking into the "Confucius Says" game to use with social studies classes. The teacher chose the game and it is looking very cumbersome and difficult right now. I'll be studying it more to see if it will be doable.
The Spanish breakout went really well. Students were a bit hesitant at first, but once they got into it they had fun and a couple who saw me later in the day asked to do more. The teacher has decided to repeat the game with her 9th grade class. I made the suggestion that a couple of her seniors help to facilitate. We'll be splitting the class in half with one group in the classroom with her, and the other group in the library with me. Having the seniors will be a great help to me as I cannot read the clues so can't give hints if the students need them!
Since beginning this post, I saw Amy Carpenter at a Communication Coordinator's meeting. I asked about a game that she mentioned last year involving money and pizza. I've been working on money with a special education class, and am looking forward to borrowing the materials from Amy to try that game with them later this year.
I'm going to share the link to the subject centered breakout groups with all of our teachers. I couldn't handle joining all of the separate groups as it would take too much time to keep up with them all. However if interested teachers joined the group applicable to them, they can share/ask me about things they find. It might be a great way for all of us to learn more about the subject specific information.
I have a question about the part of the breakout info posted below. How does each group see the clue for the lock that they are to work on if the game is on the main screen?
You may also want to check out a digital game. These can be played individually or as a team. One of our favorite things with digital games is project them onto the screen at the front of the room, then break the class into groups and assign each group a lock. This way each group has a goal, but all are working together to solve the whole game. If a group solves their lock, they put the code into the main computer so everyone can see that it has been solved, then they can move on and try another puzzle.
Amy also mentions not looking at answers for a digital game. I know I've seen it posted somewhere that there is a way to look up the answers, but can't recall where or how. Can someone help with that?
I'm looking forward to continuing use of Breakout EDU. I've suggested to one teacher that she have her students create her own and I'm thinking I might suggest that to our tech teacher also. Thanks for the opportunity to delve more into Breakout. It's so much fun! :)
I'm so excited to have an option to explore Breakout EDU more completely. I actually first became interested in Breakout a year and a half ago. It was one of the first things that caught my eye as something that looked interesting when I first became a teacher librarian. I joined the Facebook group and "stalked" people on there and my interest grew. Last school year I wanted to go to a workshop to learn about it, but it conflicted with something else so I was not able to. In December of this school year, I was able to go to a day long workshop and experienced three different breakout games. One was my first experience with a digital breakout. We also learned about setting and resetting locks at the workshop which I think was so valuable.
Through that workshop I received one breakout kit, and my principal approved the purchase of another. Later in December I asked if I could share a couple of breakouts with the faculty at the end of January Superintendent's Conference Day. The principal agreed that it would be fun and gave me the go ahead to set up three sessions for that day. I was very nervous about finding games that would be interesting for staff, and would also promote their interest in using them with their students. While I was looking into that, I had a day where two unexpected classes came to the library with nothing to do. I put the Frosty digital breakout up on the screen and the students had a great time playing it. I also used the game with a self-contained special education class and they loved it!
For the Superintendent's Day I ended up using the games "What's the Matter?" and "Shakespeare: Lost in Time." I sent out a form for staff to sign up and was pleasantly surprised (the principal did not require anyone to attend) to have 35 people participate in a total of six breakouts. A couple people enjoyed one breakout so much they came back for another! Due to that day, I have had six teachers talk with me about completing breakouts with their classes. As Amy Carpenter mentioned, math teachers are not always the easiest to find things to do with and I have a math teacher interested in trying a calculus game. This coming week I'll be using a Spanish game with a senior class. I've also been looking into the "Confucius Says" game to use with social studies classes. The teacher chose the game and it is looking very cumbersome and difficult right now. I'll be studying it more to see if it will be doable.
The Spanish breakout went really well. Students were a bit hesitant at first, but once they got into it they had fun and a couple who saw me later in the day asked to do more. The teacher has decided to repeat the game with her 9th grade class. I made the suggestion that a couple of her seniors help to facilitate. We'll be splitting the class in half with one group in the classroom with her, and the other group in the library with me. Having the seniors will be a great help to me as I cannot read the clues so can't give hints if the students need them!
Since beginning this post, I saw Amy Carpenter at a Communication Coordinator's meeting. I asked about a game that she mentioned last year involving money and pizza. I've been working on money with a special education class, and am looking forward to borrowing the materials from Amy to try that game with them later this year.
I'm going to share the link to the subject centered breakout groups with all of our teachers. I couldn't handle joining all of the separate groups as it would take too much time to keep up with them all. However if interested teachers joined the group applicable to them, they can share/ask me about things they find. It might be a great way for all of us to learn more about the subject specific information.
I have a question about the part of the breakout info posted below. How does each group see the clue for the lock that they are to work on if the game is on the main screen?
You may also want to check out a digital game. These can be played individually or as a team. One of our favorite things with digital games is project them onto the screen at the front of the room, then break the class into groups and assign each group a lock. This way each group has a goal, but all are working together to solve the whole game. If a group solves their lock, they put the code into the main computer so everyone can see that it has been solved, then they can move on and try another puzzle.
Amy also mentions not looking at answers for a digital game. I know I've seen it posted somewhere that there is a way to look up the answers, but can't recall where or how. Can someone help with that?
I'm looking forward to continuing use of Breakout EDU. I've suggested to one teacher that she have her students create her own and I'm thinking I might suggest that to our tech teacher also. Thanks for the opportunity to delve more into Breakout. It's so much fun! :)
Great that you were able to this with faculty and such a success!! Woot! And 6 teachers wanting to collaborate? Can we yell SUCCESS? Did you get in touch with Amy about your question on how to see the clues?
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