TMST: Digital BreakoutEDU

-
I'd love to blame this late Teach Me Tuesday post on the STAAR tests we gave this week, but truthfully, there is another reason I am a couple days late - my new obsession with helping educators create digital BreakoutEDU experiences.

What is a Digital Breakout? Well, think escape room for education.  Learners are challenged to "unlock" a series of puzzles tied to their content using different Web 2.0 sites and Google forms.  When they successfully complete the challenges, they have "broken out".  

Take this one for example...I worked with some 4th grade educators on one to help kick off their Life Science unit. Learners are partnered up and must complete the scenario of being lost at the zoo using only the clues provided and what they know about adaptations, producers and consumers to figure out how to unlock a Google Form using codes.

Digital Breakouts can be a great way to switch things up and keep kids engaged and active as they construct meaning in your class!  Our 4th graders at Lee went "all in" while working on this one that connected to their Storyworks paired passages!

Shoutout to Ms. Knight, who co-designed this with me and tried it live in the classroom!

I learned a ton from the Digital Breakout site, exploring the ones already built and using this resource which provides help tutorials and different suggested tools that can be used to build!


The site is great, but as always, never underestimate the power of a thought partner. Collaboration with my DLC partners, Amanda and Megan, as well as some risk-taking educators was the key for me as I began creating my own Breakouts. After learning with them, I was able to create a quick checklist of things to think about when preparing to design one.


As your DLC, it helps me learn when I am helping you.  If you are interested in trying out this format for instruction, don't hesitate to let me know or join me next time we do FedEX to learn more!

This session will be rescheduled soon!  Keep an eye out for more details!

What excites YOU about Digital BreakoutEDU?  Let me know in the comments!





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

All About Me with Keynote

-
Image
Hi Readers! After being in Everyone Can Code training for the last few days, you could say I am in an Apple state of mind.  Last night, I came across a tweet from Apple in Education about a new lesson experience/template available at appleteacher.apple.com  Check out the video on the tweet to see the lesson in action:   https://twitter.com/AppleEDU/status/912804768057143296  Using Keynote in a project like this would be a great way to kick off Genius Hour, help learners get to know each other at the beginning of the year, or as a visual cue for learners to use during learner led conferences. It was so easy to try - all I did was login to appleteacher.apple.com, download the Keynote template and follow the instructions to customize the slide of my choice using shapes.  Can you guess what I am passionate about? Sometimes the best way to learn is to play and try it out so my challenge to you on this fun Friday is to create your own, take a screenshot and share it w
Read more

TMST: An Apple A Day

-
Image
I was once told that it is important for us as educators to remember what learning feels like .  To do this, we must actively involve ourselves in learning new things.   Last week, Apple released its Apple Teacher program , which is a professional learning challenge to help educators learn more about using iPads and Macs in an educational setting.   This self-paced challenge provides educators several modes  (Multi-touch book, help site, or from the Apple store)   in which to learn about using Mac and iPad in education.  Upon successful completion of a quick 5 question assessment for different skills, educators earn electronic badges.   To me, this was a perfect way for me to remember what learning feels like.   I immediately went into NERD mode and began the program.  On a Friday night.   Yep, I'm super cool.  But the neat part was that a few of my awesome CISD friends were also doing it too.  Back and forth we went on Twitter and I was reminded how fun learning can be when
Read more

Jamming out with Jamboard

-
Image
This post originally appeared on megankozar.weebly.com and was written by my teammate,    Megan Kozar   I am so excited to share a new creative collaboration tool from Google called Jamboard! The Jamboard app works like a digital whiteboard BUT it allows multiple people to work on the same "Jam" at one time and gives you the ability to insert content from the web and/or Google Drive.  You can create a new jam or join an existing one to take collaborative notes, share project ideas, or teach a new idea live. Users do not have to be in the same room together to work inside of a Jam! https://jamboard.google.com/   Note: Google has made a physical board called a Jamboard that works with the Jamboard app. The Jamboard app can be used as a stand alone tool without the physical board.      Learn how to use some of the features in the Jamboard app by watching the quick 5 minute video! If you need more support, visit the Jam
Read more