Teaching math often involves a wide range of methods, including direct instruction, hands-on activities, and practice to drive student progress towards year-end learning goals. Explaining concepts, demonstrating how to solve problems, and allowing for physical manipulation of objects are core pedagogical practices.
Students need practice to solidify their understanding, improve their skills, and build the cognitive scaffolding necessary to support them in meeting grade-level standards. Practice means many things: completing worksheets, solving practice problems, or even playing Breakout EDU games!
In this episode of GAME ON, Adam Bellow interviews Gary Winnick. Gary is an artist and one of the true pioneers of the Point+Click adventure game genre who brought the Lucasarts game Maniac Mansion to life. Gary has had a long career creating artwork for comics and a catalog of computer and video games. Adam’s favorite computer game growing up was Maniac Mansion and he grew up playing games like them. These have served as an inspiration for the upcoming Breakout+ Games that will be coming to Breakout EDU later this year.
The Academic Bowl is a district-wide competition where students are grouped according to grade bands (kdg-3, 4-6, 7-8) and schools compete against each other. Teams solved "locks" from BreakoutEDU that were appropriate for the team grade bands. Kdg-3 used paper copies, while all others utilized the BreakoutEDU platform on devices.
Breakout EDU games are engaging, collaborative, and fun! Our digital and kit-based games transform traditional teaching methods by prioritizing student engagement, inclusion, collaboration, and critical thinking.
As educators begin thinking about new tools and instructional approaches for fall 2023, here are 4 unique ways Breakout EDU can unlock back-to-school success:
At Breakout EDU, our mission is to create immersive and engaging experiences to nurture critical thinking, collaboration, and creativity in a unique way.
Our interactive games and challenges allow students to actively participate in their education, breaking away from traditional methods of instruction. Students become active problem solvers, using creativity and critical thinking skills to unlock clues and solve puzzles. The uniquely tangible nature of our activities makes learning a dynamic and memorable experience for students of all ages.
Teachers spend countless hours planning and preparing for lessons each day - and countless more analyzing the impact of those lessons on student learning. That’s why Breakout EDU has developed global features to ensure our games can be used with minimal time investment for teachers while providing a maximum return for students.
Every year towards the end of August, like many schools, my district provided back-to-school professional development (PD). About five years ago, the PD rocked my pedagogical core.
Typically, these back-to-school sessions would kick off with a motivational speaker. A similar theme year-to-year was that students need to be engaged to learn. While the message was appreciated, none of the speakers I heard ever shared the secret sauce for engagement. Regardless, we were all able to agree on the dream of students arriving each day wanting to learn. It was the HOW to achieve this that remained elusive.
The most impactful aspect is how students have to work as a team, communicate, think outside the box, and persevere when things get tough. My favorite part is always seeing how they work together for a common goal of breaking out!
The Academic Bowl is a district-wide competition where students are grouped according to grade bands (kdg-3, 4-6, 7-8) and schools compete against each other. Teams solved "locks" from BreakoutEDU that were appropriate for the team grade bands. Kdg-3 used paper copies, while all others utilized the BreakoutEDU platform on devices.
It seems like you can’t go very far these days without hearing about AI. Whether it is a debate about what AI will do to jobs, or how it can impact (positively or negatively) teachers and students, one thing is for sure - the idea of using AI is here to stay and the technology is getting better with each passing moment.
In this episode of GAME ON, Adam Bellow interviews Matthew Farber, an expert in gaming and educational games. The two discuss the importance of play and his work on social and emotional learning (SEL) competencies in games. Farber describes his Gaming SEL Lab, which studies and develops curriculum around games that enhance SEL skills such as empathy, compassion, and perspective-taking. He also discusses his favorite childhood games, including board games, Choose Your Own Adventure books, and Commodore 64 computer games, as well as his recent gaming experiences with Life is Strange 2 and Before Your Eyes, a game in which players relive and redo moments in their life every time they blink. Farber explains that his path to studying games and learning began with the educational game iCivics, which he used as a social studies teacher, and led to his interest in project-based learning and writing for Edutopia.
In this episode of GAME ON, Adam Bellow interviews Toby Price, an educator and former elementary school principal who made national headlines for reading a children’s book called “I Need A New Butt” to his students. Price shares his origin story, his passion for teaching, and how he became a principal. He also talks about the challenges he faced and how he overcame them, including his dismissal for reading the children's book.
Despite the setback, Price remains optimistic about the future and the opportunities that lie ahead. He has continued his path to being an advocate for diversity and inclusion in education. He has also written a series of children’s book starring “Titus the Monkey” which he hopes will promote kindness and understanding. Despite the challenges he has faced, Price remains committed to his passion for education and helping children succeed while having fun.
tudies show that the use of positive reinforcement leads to heightened enthusiasm in students. Who doesn’t love a pat on the back and validation that they did a great job?
Along with breaking out, students can also feel the sweet victory of collecting badges earned for a variety of fundamental skills! We are (extra) excited about this latest feature available - digital badges designed to reward the 4Cs and SEL skills to complement any kit-based games, digital games, or student-designed games!
What is your favorite thing about Breakout EDU?
My favorite thing about Breakout EDU is its unique educational experience. Having to solve educational puzzles using content knowledge and critical thinking in an immersive game is such a fantastic idea. Students need to be involved in their learning, and Breakout EDU does it best. When I first heard about Breakout EDU, I was blown away by how original and exciting it is. I knew I had to get a Breakout EDU Kit in my classroom as soon as possible.
Kathy Schrock has been a school district Director of Technology, an instructional technology specialist, and a middle school, academic, museum, and public library librarian. She is currently an online adjunct graduate-level professor for Wilkes University (PA) and an independent educational technologist. Kathy is known for her practical presentations dealing with pedagogically-sound practices for the infusing of technology seamlessly into teaching and learning. Her passions are online tools to enhance classroom instruction, the role of emerging technologies in the classroom, infographics, tablets in the classroom, assessment and rubrics, copyright and intellectual property, and gadgets of any type!
What is your favorite thing about Breakout EDU?
My favorite thing about Breakout EDU is that it truly is an engaging experience for ALL of my students. There is something for everyone and an opportunity for each of my students to be able to discover new skills and build confidence. It is an experience that is student-led and allows my students to feel empowered through every challenge.
Lucas Gillispie is Director of Technology and Media for Surry County Schools in North Carolina. A passionate educator and gamer, Lucas explores the intersection of games and learning. He is the creator of the WoWinSchool Project, exploring the educational potential of online games like World of Warcraft with middle schoolers, was one of the earliest pioneers to bring Minecraft into classrooms, and is working to build game-inspired professional development for teachers in his district through his EPIC Academy program. As an international speaker and facilitator, Lucas explores all things related to games and learning, from board games to esports, and shares a variety of resources with educators on his website: http://www.edurealms.com.
Foundations are the underpinning of emotional, social, and academic intelligence in early childhood education. With rising social complexities and global interdependence, it is more important than ever for today’s youth to have a firm foundation upon which to build higher-level thinking skills to support them as they grow and progress throughout their schooling, college, careers, and beyond. This journey begins in early childhood.
Carl Hooker is an educational consultant and speaker from Austin, TX. He spent the past 23 years as a teacher and administrator building successful mobile learning programs for schools. He also serves as an advisor for multiple ed tech companies and is the co-founder of the social media platform K12Leaders.com.
He has written 6 books on mobile learning as well as being a named a National Faculty Member Emeritus for Future Ready Schools out of Washington, D.C. He hosts two podcasts (ISTE’s Learning UnLeashed and The UnDisruptED podcast) and his latest book Ready, Set, FAIL! is intended for teachers and school leaders looking to unlock creativity and innovation in their schools and classrooms. For full bio go to https://CarlHooker.com
Few people would say they love their coach in the midst of a particularly grueling workout. Fewer still would claim to appreciate a failing grade or losing a game for the umpteenth time. As we grow older (and hopefully wiser), we realize (painfully) that failure can actually be a gift.
