The Bulldog's Adventure

The Bulldog's Adventure

Back in May 2017, I read a post by teacher Lisa Davis on Google+. She was seeking teachers who would be interested in participating in her "Bulldog's Adventure" project/activity.  You may ask yourself, what is Google+?  It is a Google-based social networking platform where people, including thousands of teachers worldwide, connect, share ideas and begin their collaboration with others.

I contacted Lisa and asked for more detail in regards to her project.  After reading her response, her project reminded me of the "Flat Stanley" projects our 3rd-grade teachers and students at Ballard have been doing for many years.  The thing I liked about the Bulldog's Adventure was that it was going to allow our students to see this similar project from a different point of view.  Instead of being the person who begins the project, students are participating and collaborating with another class to help them complete their project. At the same time, they also learn about their own state and other places around the world.

The month of May can be, let me rephrase that, the month of May is one of the busiest months for a classroom teacher, yet I went out on a limb and wanted to share this idea with our Ballard teachers.  I was hoping this would do one of two things: 1) allow teachers to see and hear about this opportunity or 2) inspire a teacher or two to participate.  I did receive three responses from different teachers stating that they were interested in participating in this activity.  I thanked them and wished them a fantastic summer break, while also sharing that I would be in touch at the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year with more details to follow.

Just like clockwork, summer break flashed in front of us for a brief moment and then we found ourselves back at school.  In August 2017, I received another email from Lisa Davis.  This email was addressed to all those who showed interest in her Bulldog's Adventure project.  She shared the finalized planning stages and included a shared Google Doc that combined the directions and ideas for the project.  The basics for each teacher/class were to contribute at least one slide to the shared Google Slide journal that shows a picture of the Bulldog in a significant location near their school (or in a classroom) and a short narrative about the picture.  (Monument, landmark, a body of water, mountains, historical location, national park, etc.) You can also include a picture of your school on a new slide or picture of your class that is participating!  Partner classes were also asked to mail the Bulldog to his next location which will be noted on the shared Google Sheet.  

The originating classroom planned to log the Bulldog's journey on a large map with push pins and string while reviewing the travel journal (Google Slideshow) each week on the morning announcements (the originating school records their announcements).  They also have been asking a weekly math question for the students to answer (ex. how many miles did the bulldog travel between point A and point B, if the UPS truck gets 10 miles per gallon of gas, how many gallons of gas did it use to bring the bulldog to his next location, etc.) 

Lisa shared a link to the postcards she used for her map.  Thank You, Lisa!

Other possible activities that could be done with this project include but are not limited to the following:

• Use the Google Slideshow to share information about each location.
• Have a weekly math challenge related to the miles the Bulldog travels. (how many miles did the bulldog travel between point A and point B, if the UPS truck gets 10 miles per gallon of gas, how many gallons of gas did it use to bring the bulldog to his next location, etc.)
• Have students participate in a Genius Hour and research a location that they would like to know more about.  Present some interesting facts about what they find out to their classmates.
• Make a travel board and include the interesting facts they researched as well as pictures of those locations students may want to visit!
• Participate in a Google Hangout with a partner school to compare and contrast communities.

Similar to May, August is nonetheless another time of the school year where there is definitely not enough hours in a day for teachers, administrators or parents.  Yet, once again, I dared to do the unthinkable and reached out to the three teachers that had shared an interest in participating in the Bulldog's Adventure this school year.  In this email, I  shared the original and newly developed details in regards to the project and the tentative, most things are tentative for educators, Bulldog arrival date of April 2018. 

Unfortunately, the Bulldog had a rough winter break and found a new home in which no one quite knows his address yet.  So, as all teachers do (day in and day out), Lisa was flexible and made adjustments to her initial plans.  She purchased a few more "Bulldogs" and readjusted the "itinerary" for the Bulldog's travels.

Here you will find a shared doc of all the different locations the Bulldog will/had travel(ed) this school year, here. (http://bit.ly/2rM4L48 )

Due to the fact that the Google Slide shares pictures of students around the world, I will not be sharing this part of the project.  I did share it with each classroom teacher who participated in the project. Below are the slides from the two Ballard third grade classes (Jordison and DeHamer) created together.

BreakoutEDU

BreakoutEDU

In October of this year, I attended an ITEC ( Iowa Technology Education Connection) conference along with Ms. Amanda Eller, Ballard Middle School teacher, at the Iowa Events Center in Des Moines.  It was a fantastic conference with many takeaways about meaningful digital learning.  My biggest takeaway was from my last session which was entitled BreakoutEDU and facilitated by Jamie Fath.  Jamie asked, "If your curiosity was triggered in this activity, how do you think students will react to this type of activity?"  This activity covered the 4Cs (-"super skills" for the 21st Century  1) critical thinking 2) collaboration 3) communication 4) creativity) and empowered each team member with proper facilitation.

As I looked back at my notes, this is the last thing I had typed..."Must implement a BreakoutEDU when I return to school." - Jamie shared with us this breakout room idea and gave us a little background about how this all came about.  She went on to explain to us that there are these escape rooms around the world where you pay money to get "locked in" a room with friends, family members, and/or even co-workers and try to escape by solving puzzles and unlocking codes.

                                         

Soon after ITEC, I had launched a BreakoutEDU activity with Mrs. JoEllen Wesselmann’s class! Mrs. Wesselmann teaches both at Ballard East and the Ballard Middle School.

General info about BreakoutEDU:

How does it work? These are challenge escape games. Players solve clues in order to open locks and "breakout" of a room. Watch this quick video from the BreakoutEDU site to learn more: How BreakoutEDU Works

Why play? BreakoutEDU offers players a fun and exciting way to strengthen skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, logic, creativity, communication, collaboration... so many skills necessary to for us to have. Did I mention fun? Playing a challenging BreakoutEDU game is such a fun and exciting way to strengthen skills without even realizing learning is happening.

Who can play? BreakoutEDU games can be played by adults for team-building and collaboration or in class with students. Playing with adults is not only so much fun, but also a great way to have them experience it first hand so if they want to have students play, they understand exactly what it entails. And, giving students this fun learning experience which can be so different from what they’re used to, sparks a new energy and excitement for them.

What subjects can you use these games in? Although many of the games available on BreakoutEDU are linked to a specific content area, they can be played by any subject. The beauty of these challenge games are the higher-order thinking skills involved and because of this they can be integrated many ways.

Right after ITEC, I purchased a BreakoutEDU kit. The only fall back was that it was going to take two weeks for the kit to arrive. As of today, my kit still has not arrived but I did receive an email stating that due to a high demand for the kits my delivery has been pushed back a few weeks. I then began to create my own kit by duct taking shoe boxes, sparking curiosity (creating clues while integrating curriculum and technology), purchasing different padlocks and reaching out to teachers. I figured once my kit arrived teachers would be able to check out the kit I made to use in their classrooms.

How we planned:

First, I collaborated with a willing teacher, Mrs. Wesselmann, to begin creating clues connected to what they were currently doing in the classroom. One can also search for the right game to use. On the BreakoutEDU site you’ll find the games available now. New games will be added as they are developed. We decided on using “The Wolf’s Den” a game where players are the “little pigs” and locked in the “wolf’s den” from the Three Little Pigs. The students, or should I say “little pigs” are to decipher the clues (both literature and math) to unlock each box and collect the parts of the code and unlock the door. (The door is not really locked.)

Next, we started organizing the materials needed for the game and developing “boxes” out of cardboard shoe boxes and decorated them with fun patterns of duct tape. Once my kit arrives it will come standard with items in it such as locks, a black flashlight, an invisible pen, hint cards, and more. All of these items can be used with each of the different challenge games. In addition to the items in the kit, the game instructed us to print out various digital items that we’d use.

Finally, to make things even more fun, we made some signs for the players to hold up afterwards. Signs were made for a successful escape and unsuccessful escape.

The day came to play BreakoutEDU with the students! Mrs. Wesselmann and I, as the facilitators, introduced the game to the group and explained the objective which was to solve the clues in order to unlock the BreakoutEDU box so they could escape. We started the game timer and let them go. It was fascinating to see how things rolled out. Their energy and dedication to succeed were exciting to witness. What a fantastic way to use logic and higher-order thinking and such a great way to work as a team.

With 24 seconds left on the clock, they didn’t give up. They worked until the very last second and did not escape. Since they worked so hard and brainstormed a plan on what they would do if given a chance to do it over. Mrs. Wesselmann and I surprised them with a second chance. Guess what? They broke out because they improved their skills of collaboration, communication, critical thinking and creativity.

The feedback we heard from students was so positive. We heard they couldn’t wait to do this again, that it was so much fun doing something different like this, they loved that they had to “think out-of-the-box”, and they were so intrigued after solving one clue that they couldn’t wait to try solving the next. After debriefing with Mrs. Wesselmann, one exciting takeaway was that she wants to design her own game to use in her future lessons. At some point, our hope is to give students an option to design their own game to put the learning in their own hands. The wonderful thing about this is that when we give students chances like this, what they show us in return can be pretty amazing.

We are already planning our next lesson with a 6th-grade group and Mrs. Zielke is planning one with a group of 2nd graders. Hearing and seeing the students reactions reinforced that playing BreakoutEDU escape games could bring so much to learning. How great it is to be given an opportunity to apply past knowledge and make connections in order to solve new problems. Using problem-solving, critical thinking, logic, creativity, communication, collaboration...these are the skills we strive to have in our lives!