Just discovered #BreakoutEDU and super excited! #busedu

Our district technology facilitator posted a summer workshop that included a "breakout box" the other day. So, I Googled it, as I often do. I learned about BreakoutEDU, which is apparently a big deal thing that somehow wasn't on my radar.

Essentially, you purchase locks and boxes or bags or something to put the locks on and send your students on a classroom mission to find clues (hopefully related to your lesson) to unlock the boxes (to decipher the lock codes, alphabetic, numeric, etc.). It's like those "Escape the Room" activities but in reverse.

Of course, that costs some money to buy all the stuff. And, you want locks you can reprogram with various "new" codes, so not just any lock will do. The setup sounds a bit time consuming. But, it sounds like a highly engaging activity. I plan to attend a PD this summer and participate in one.

However, that lead me to the DIGITAL version of BreakoutEDU. And, wow! That really intrigued me being that I'm in a lab and it can all be done basically through Google (Docs, Slides, Maps, Forms, etc.), which means FREE. So, I found this site loaded with some digital breakouts.

http://www.breakoutedu.com/digital 

It. Is. Cool. I tried my first one yesterday, but I was only able to figure out 3 of the 4 codes. I was so frustrated. So, I wrote it down and came back to it today. And, I solved it! Woo hoo! It was quite the feeling of accomplishment. And, they emailed me a badge. Yay.


So, my Web Design 2 kiddos finished their final exam a little while ago and I let them try it, as a class, to earn phone time the rest of the hour today (we have long block finals). They are working pretty hard right now and have 26 minutes left of class, so hopefully they solve soon. Waiting on two more codes!

I totally plan to try to create some digital breakouts this summer to use in the fall. They had some great and super useful ideas on the one I tried (like using a Google Sheet with conditional formatting... genius). And, they have a website that gives you tips for creating digital breakouts, too.  I think having them work in teams would be most ideal as some will struggle and others will excel. Now, I just have to figure out what units of instruction to try to tie this to.

Oh, and they have figured out 3 of the 4 now.... it's getting real in here! :) Happy Thursday, friends!

EDITED: So, they finally figured it out (it took them teaming up to do it) with 10 minutes to spare in class. And, I tried another one today that really stumped me on one of the clues, but finally accomplished it! I think the students are really going to enjoy this next school year!

Smashing Windows? #busedu #appsmash

I get envious sometimes of all the cool "class activities" surrounding App Smashing and the cool teacher who use Ryan Read's App Dice. I don't have classroom iPads to do those cool things. But, I do have a big room full of Windows computers. Why can't I have fun, too?!?!

So, I decided to start Googling. Windows smashing. The Google results weren't quite what I was looking for, but the first thing I clicked on was quite amusing and my first hour class got a kick out of it... check it out. Apparently, there's a fast food window smashing "alleged gas leak so you should bust out the windows" prank happening. Classic.

But, I digress.

I started thinking about how I use various websites, since it would be more of a website-smashing instead of "app smash" in my classroom. I need in-browser things to smash together. So, what are some fun items we can smash in the browser?

• To record a "webcam" video from the browser, try Clipchamp. It has easy share options to upload straight to Vimeo, YouTube, Facebook or Google Drive. Then, you can embed it onto a webpage or blog post. Or, you can download it and use it in an editing app or program.
• To record the screen, I like the Google Chrome plugin called Screencastify. The lite is limited to 10 minutes and you can even add a webcam.
• A fun way to create a cartoon image of yourself is using Bitmoji. They have a Chrome plugin (and it works great with Gmail, too... I constantly put them at the bottom of e-mails) and apps at Google Play and iTunes.
• How about putting it all together in Blogger or Microsoft Sway? You can embed videos into both! (NOTE: Blogger uses Google logins and obviously you'll need a Microsoft login for Sway, but Sway is pretty neat if you've never tried it). 

I love Tellagami, but it's an Apple app, so naturally I can't use it in my classroom. I'd love to know if someone knows a program like that for the browser!

I'd love your feedback! Certainly, I know it's important not to use tech for the sake of using tech, but the use of app dice is intriguing to me and I think would help students become more creative in applying knowledge in a way to help reinforce their learning in other classes or with specific concepts.

Got any good ideas to share?

PowerPoint Kiosk Project #busedu

Well, it's getting near the end of the school year and our days are numbered. And, that means I don't have sufficient time for the project we did last semester in Advanced Computer Apps for our PowerPoint unit... so, I made a new one!

This is my example (made up today) for my "Personal Kiosk" Project. It's a timed PowerPoint with specific "rules" and requirements.  It shouldn't look like a traditional PowerPoint and not a bunch of bulleted lists. They must:

• Teach me something “star quality” about yourself
• Give me some FACTS (if you are a video game star, it could be all about that… or a mix of things)
• Tell a personal story through fast-moving imagery
• Keep me entertained
• Make it professional (think “infographic” and visual and less “text” and PowerPoint-y)

The scoring guide, if you wish to use or adapt for your own classroom, is here. I will have my students drop theirs into a Google Drive folder for grading (and I am old school and have a USB drive we'll float around). They must export it as a movie file so it plays automatically. I hope you enjoy!