It's Time for Something Different...It's Time for a Breakout!

What you are about to read are real quotes, from real students...

    

"It was the best time I have ever had in a class." 

    "Interacting with others and working as a team to me is all what learning is about."

    "It was a fun surprise and really made me think out of the box."

While I would like to think that this is how my students describe each of my classes, I recognize that probably isn't the case.  So what was it that got my students demonstrating creative problem solving and collaboration?...(insert drum roll) Breakout EDU!

So what exactly is a breakout and why should you consider doing one in your classroom?  Breakout Edu is an immersive learning experience based on the problem solving and collaborate experiences of an escape room.    This fully customizable experience allows your students to truly push their cognitive limits while engaging them!  As with anything that we incorporate for student learning, it has to be about more than just student engagement and fun.  While your students will experience both, it has to be about student learning and achieving your learning objectives.

Now that you have been fully convinced to take the leap, let's talk setup.  Creating and setting up a breakout can be time consuming.  Fortunately, everyday educators from all over the country are creating new breakouts that can be used or customized for your own classroom use.  My suggestion is to start with that idea.  Breakout Edu has a resource website that lists all of the different "Breakouts" that are available (click here to visit the page).  To get more information about a game, you will need Breakout EDU's super secretive password (cough, cough, "showyourwork").

Once you have looked at a couple of examples, it's time to get started.  I have customized a Breakout EDU game template that can help you organize your breakout.  Before you check out the kits for classroom use, we will meet to either review your breakout template or I can assist you in developing/completing the template.  The more organized your breakout, the smoother the activity will go with your students.  For tips on designing and running your breakout, check out the Breakout EDU page on the new Res Instructional Technology website.  

So now that you have designed your breakout, it's time for setup.  If possible, I recommend setting up the day before or before school the morning of.  Additionally, if requested, I can certainly come help setup.  I think a breakout works well if, from the moment the students come into the room, they are immersed in the experience.  That being said, depending on content or student ability, you may need to spend some time doing pre-breakout preparation.  

I decided to play things safe and chose a breakout based around the idea of a zombie apocalypse.  So, when the students arrived for their zero period class, I had the doors locked (with signs that said "Contamination Zone, beware of zombies"), lights off and scary music playing.  When the bell rang, I opened my classroom door and read them the story for our breakout.  Long story short...evil doctor, forty-five minutes until we're all zombies, antidote locked in the box, figure out how to get it and save Resurrection!

The whole experience really was terrific.  Did I have to provide a couple subtle hints? Sure.  Did everything go exactly how I expected to? Of course not.  That being said, I had one hour of complete student engagement that also helped us work on skills that are very important for the course.  Most importantly, the students walked away from the experience with memories (and skills!) that they will always carry with them.  As I reflect on the experience, these are the kind of moments that remind me of how powerful and amazing education can be!