Breakout Edu Tips

I first learned about Breakout Edu at the Ed Tech Team's Google Apps Summit in July 2015.  I was excited to try it out with my own class, but I had just left the classroom.  I felt the idea of using Breakouts is such a great engaging way to provide content to students, as a intro to a unit or as a review, while also allowing students to practice communication, collaboration, and critical thinking skills.  I purchased a box, and decided to use it to train teachers in my district.  I set up a few games and tested it out with teachers, but they were always small groups.  Returning to the classroom this year, I finally got to run Breakouts in a real classroom full of high school students, and I learned a lot through trial and error about how to set things up to run with a larger class size.  I will share some of the things that I have found work for me.

• I bought four kits, so I could break up my classes into groups of around 8-9 students.  I found that to keep the most students engaged, I need them to work in smaller groups.  I researched the ticket system, and it seemed a little to complicated for me.  
• I color code EVERYTHING.  One kit and all of it's handouts and materials are all the same color.  Green, Red, Yellow, or Blue.  I bought reams of the four colors of cardstock.  
• I laminate everything.  I could not live with out my laminator, card stock, and paper cutter.  Laminating protects it from students, and also allows me to easily reuse things in the future.
  
• I give each group a set of wet erase markers, so they can write on the laminated papers.  They have to clean and dry them at the end of each period.  This saves me the time of having to replace papers each period if they just used pen/pencil.
• All materials for a group are placed on a colored tray which goes on their table, inside of an envelope, with a label that includes their color and a list all the materials that should be returned to the envelope.  Sticker Dots make great labels for items too.
• I create an envelope with all things that go into the locked boxes, and that envelope has a list of materials and other things I may need to set up.  There is another envelope with the answers to puzzles.  All of these envelopes for a game are kept together so I can reuse them in the future.
• I create a new Lock Parking Lot for each game, displaying the locks used in each game.  It's color coded, laminated, and in the same color box.  When students open a lock, I have them put the lock on the tracker, still open, still on the combo.  They can turn the lock upside down, so other's can't peek.  This makes it way easier for me to put everything back together during the quick passing period between classes.  It also prevents some types of locks to being accidentally reset to an unknown combination.
• I create a Lock Tracker Sheet (one of each color) that goes on a clipboard (matching color) for each team.  I make a new one for each game, that shows the locks that they will have to solve.  When they think they have solved a clue, they need to write the combo and reason for the combo on the tracker.  Then, they can go to the locks.  I had a problem of students just hanging out and trying random combinations.  The lock tracker helped.
• I came up with a Locksmith role, with a name tag, on a lanyard (color coded, of
  
  course).  Each team chooses a locksmith, and they are the only student that can go to the lock and try to open it.  They must take the clipboard with them, and can only try that code.  I had too many students at the locks, trying random codes, and this has helped, in addition to using the lock tracker sheet.
• When a team finishes, I reset all their materials and locks.  Resetting four boxes at once is hard, so I need to work quickly and take advantage of a team finishing early.
• I like to mix students up, so I use little table cards at the center of each table.  I have
  
  
  four at a desk, and they each have a color or shape.  I split up those teams by color, and students go to the assigned color's box work area.  I can use it for other groupings or to assign roles using the color or shapes during other activities.  I made them using bamboo coasters, printed cardstock, mod podge and modpodge sealer,
  
  and velcro.
• I create a "cheat sheet" for the lab using Google Drawings.  It shows all the boxes, where the locks are, and the clues/combos.  It helps me set up, and remember what everything is for when students ask for clues. It also helps me as I am making my own breakouts, or using and modifying ones I find online.   
• I space out the four boxes at one side of my room, using a variety of things - Chromebook cart, rolling cart, teacher demo station, etc.  I want to easily monitor the locks, but space them out far enough so their aren't any wandering eyes.  This also helps me reset things between classes, because everything is on one side of the room.  
  
• I need to have games where the clues aren't directly linear.  I need a bunch of "active clues" so groups can break up and tackle things in small sub groups.  If all 8 or 9 students were working on one clue at once, students can get bored or restless.  I have found some linear games that I modified so that my students had access to multiple puzzles at once.
• Reset all of your locks after each game to a generic code.  Write it down somewhere safe.

My students have really enjoyed the Breakout activities we have done this school year.  It's so amazing to see so much creativity and critical thinking.  I am doing my last one for this school year tomorrow, and have so many ideas for how to incorporate more into my classes next year.