Our Breakout EDU Kit Came!

For a long time, I have been hearing teachers tell stories about their Breakout EDU experiences. They created games, or used the existing ones, so that their kiddos would have a cool problem-solving challenge. One time last year during our social studies PD day, Chris McGee (@cmcgee200), our coordinator, had us play a game of Breakout. It was fascinating to see how each of us thought through the problem, how we collaborated and worked to solve it and how we treated it as a game instead of a traditional learning experience. We know that gaming in the classroom brings learning to a new level; the kiddos don't even realize that they are learning.

I want that experience for my kiddos. I want my kids to learn through play. I always mix traditional learning with new experiences in class. The kids prefer the new and different experiences and I don't blame them. Trying to create new experiences for them is my challenge. I must admit that I have been relying more on traditional learning experiences than fun learning experiences this year because I was trying to get my bearings in my new school. Now, I feel much more comfortable in my new role, have launched a couple of new projects and even started a Genius Hour program here. It's time to change things up in the regular classroom as well.

I ordered a Breakout EDU kit a few weeks ago. I hoped that I would have enough time to prepare a session with the kiddos before break but alas, we are running out of time. The kit came a few days ago and instead of trying to rush and get a session in, I'll use winter break to really plan a session so that kids have a fun and challenging day when they return to school. If it is well-planned, challenging and fun, kids will want to do it more. I don't want the Breakout EDU session to be a bad one for the kids because of my poor planning. The first time doing something is always the most important time. It is the time that kids assess whether or not they like the activity and whether they will have positive or negative feelings toward it in the future. It's like winning them over all over again.

Over break, I'm going to investigate Breakout EDU more, the website, and the games. I'll find or create a game that I think is great for my kiddos and plan it out. Upon returning to school, we'll start the new semester with a challenge. Hopefully this will set the tone for the rest of the school year.