Three years ago, I used the majority of my teaching budget (very small) to buy a Breakout Edu Kit. It was, and still is, one of the best teaching tools I have ever invested in.
If you still haven’t heard of this awesome teaching tool, the concept is a little bit like the popular escape rooms popping up all over the world.
My first Escape Room experience was mind-blowing, like going to Disneyland, super crazy fun.
After paying for our tickets, our little group was invited into a small room together, where we were asked to give up our cell phones. We listened for a few minutes as the game master explained the rules of the game, and also how he would be available for support if needed. We then followed him into another small room where we were left with one hour to figure things out and get our picture taken to admit defeat or claim ourselves geniuses.
Ok, now can you just read that paragraph again with your teaching lenses on?
I am resisting the urge to italicize the entire paragraph for emphasis. Is this not everything we want in education, maybe minus the small rooms?
My escape room experience left me with no choice but to find a way to recreate as much of it as possible in my classroom. Thankfully, I discovered BreakoutEDU!
So… here are my three BIGGEST reasons for loving Breakout EDU.
Stickers to decorate my box are on the way! 
Backward planning 
The more boxes, the better!
1. Reason #1- Competent and Connected
The way to motivate people to work hard is to give them challenging tasks that they can figure out for themselves while making them feel competent and connected.
USA Today
Struggle doesn’t feel good. That’s why it works. Sometimes we just want people to give us the answers. Actually, I wish someone would please tell me what to do everyday to be blissfully happy, content, successful, and to finally have the carefully sculpted arms of an athlete.
We do have to work for things, especially the things I mentioned above. Work can be a struggle, but it can also be fun. There is nothing more powerful than knowing you can do something. Independence is not about never asking for help, its about being a good learner.
How much could you accomplish if you felt competent and connected? Feeling competent means you are willing to recognize that you do have skills and apply them to the current situation. It may take a loving nudge or an encouraging word, but you can do it! You got this.
Feeling connected means you can also appreciate and recognize that other people have skills and perspectives that can also be applied to the current situation. Collaboration is not just a nice thing to try, it is absolutely essential, especially when solving problems.
Reason #2- Curiosity and Urgency
The concept for Breakout Edu’s kit is a bit different from an escape room in that you aren’t actually trying to break out of a room. Instead, you are working to break into a box.
Why would you want to break into a locked box? What could be so great about whatever is in that box that you need to spend all this time trying to get locks open to get into it? Aha! Your wondering right now aren’t you?
Curiosity. This is what led Alice down the rabbit hole. This is what killed the cat. This is what… ok, ok. You get the point.
This quote is one of my all-time favorites. I might have a thing for Godmothers lately, which you can read about in my previous post, How to Teach Like Cinderella.
Speaking of Cinderella, another important element that is a big part of the breakout experience is the sense of urgency.
Urgency makes things important. Cinderella had to get away from the castle before the clock struck twelve, or…her horses would turn into mice, and all that.
I currently have a Breakout Edu game going at a friend’s house. It’s been over a month now and they still haven’t solved the puzzles. This is not for lack of curiosity. The last game I set up for them had them working on it relentlessly and solved within a couple of hours.
This time, there isn’t a sense of urgency. There really wasn’t before, but it was new and novelty trumps most things. I guess I need to go get my box.
Reason #3- Backward Design and Failure
Every Breakout Edu game starts with backward design. Backward design is the first element of effective instruction and a best practice for planning. It provides the structure, and when you have structure you allow for creativity.
Solving all the puzzles leads to opening all the locks, which leads to getting the box open. When you plan your first breakout, you will start with the final box. You’ve got to think through the game from end to beginning. Now, don’t let your control freak come out here. You are simply setting up a pathway, the absolute magic happens when your players collaborate, problem-solve, create strategies, and fail. They fail and they fail and they fail until they get it right.
The funny thing is failing doesn’t feel so bad when you don’t have time for it. Sulking is a complete and utter waste of time and everyone understands that pretty quickly in a timed breakout.
However, your first breakout should be set up in a way that is building the stamina of your players. Even better if you have players that have done something similar in the past. Do you not love that we are calling our students players now?
#4 When Time Runs Out
Time. The thing we all want more of, and the thing we fear the most. You know that feeling when you have a room full of energetic kids and nothing planned to fill that time? Yikes.
When the time runs out on your Breakout Edu game, it runs out. Your players may not have gotten into that box, and this is actually a good thing. Kids, and adults, are so used to getting what they want, when they want it. That feeling you get when you realize its not happening is a healthy thing.
Its called following through with what you said, and also reality. We are not always going to solve everything. What we can do is play a new game and apply what we learned from the last one. This is one of the best parts of the game. Do not let your game end without a discussion about what went well, and what wasn’t working. This is called learning.
I can’t wait to hear about your experiences using a breakout style lesson in your classroom, or with your friends at your local escape room! What if we changed the way education is done by calling ourselves players instead of students.