We’ve all been there: the time has ticked down to mere seconds remaining, the last lock has been removed, and all hands are on the hasp; it’s time for the big reveal! The lid begins to open and out comes . . . <<insert SOMETHING>>.
As for filling in that blank, the answers seem to vary widely among Breakout EDU game facilitators. In my personal experience (in my former role as a Technology Integration Specialist), I found that including prizes not only got to be pretty spendy, but it also changed the focus of the game; if I rewarded players with sweets or trinkets the first time I brought a kit to a classroom, then the next time I visited, the kids only seemed to be in it for the candy, pencils, stickers, or scented erasers. At the end of one particularly memorable game, I actually saw a kid do a spread-eagled belly flop onto a desk just to grab the first mittful of the bounty! It was in that moment that I began to question… what is the final reveal? What should go in the box? What is my ultimate purpose, and what is the ultimate reward?
To this day, I still don’t know the “correct” answer, and in asking our community members, it sounds like maybe there isn’t one. Click here to see what our Facebook community members had to say. We reached out to one of our fantastic game designers and Breakout EDU power-users, Tracy Pierce, to see what she had to say about it. Here are her thoughts on the matter:
“I am a gifted resource teacher for elementary grades K-5. I attended a session on Breakout EDU at the Florida Educators Technology Conference in 2016 and was immediately hooked on the idea! Since then my students have been playing Breakout EDU games quite regularly in the variety of ways that the games can be presented, many of the games I have created myself. I started designing games early on when the concept was new and there weren’t many elementary level games available. Eventually, I became an official Breakout EDU game designer, one of the most satisfying, fun, and rewarding jobs I have ever had! I have introduced Breakout EDU to many of the teachers on my school campus as well as all of my fellow elementary gifted resource teachers in my district. Most of them have gone on to share Breakout EDU in their classrooms and school campuses as well.
When I facilitate a Breakout with my students, they have come to expect the satisfaction of breaking out as their reward. In the final box, I usually put the “We Broke Out” sign and a few of the reflection cards for discussion after the game. Then I take a picture of the first team to break out holding the signs (like they do at escape rooms) and I hang their pictures in my classroom. Rarely, for a special treat, I will surprise them with candy or pencils, but I have found that students are just as excited to open that last lock to get the “We Broke Out” sign, and be the first ones to do it!”
In the end, it’s really your call. While our hope is that the students/players go through these Breakout EDU challenges knowing that the reward is found in the teamwork, the freedom to think creatively, and the ability to feel that sense of triumph from all that goes with it, we believe that Breakout EDU has the power to transform your classroom the way YOU see fit.