In May, my dear friend and cofounder of
Breakout EDU,
Adam Bellow, traveled all the way from New York to Van Meter to visit with our students, teachers and a community he has been hearing a lot about for the last 12 years of our friendship. It was such an honor having Adam here at our school and in Iowa.
You see, our students have been using BreakoutEDU for several years but now
Breakout EDU Digital is a BIG hit with our students and teachers too.
With Breakout EDU Digital, teachers can create classes and assign digital games; students can create and share digital games with peers; and teachers can build and use the digital game builder for quick assignments and assessments.
And that is just what we have been doing at Van Meter, Adam came to join us for the day to see how we were using Breakout EDU Digital and hear from the students and teachers. He also gave us lots of incredible information and tips along the way.
To kick off the day, he started with Kate Lamoureux and her 4th graders. Kate uses Breakout EDU with her students often and taught them how to create their very own Breakout EDU Digital games this year.
They were so excited to show Adam what they created and....
...loved it when he tried to breakout.
The 4th graders explained the process....
...and loved getting feedback on what they already created and how they could make their Breakout EDU Digital games better.
Next, we went to 5th graders where Megan Algreen and I were kicking off a new game PBL with all three sections.
In this PBL, the students were going to be working on creating either a board game with the new...
a BreakoutEDU Digital game or a combination of both.
Before Adam came, we told them about the project, got them into groups and they chose which type of game they were going to create.
Adam taught them how to create a BreakoutEDU Digital game.
It was awesome learning with Adam about Breakout EDU and creating games.
And it was so fun seeing the 5th graders brainstorm and collaborate as they came up with their ideas.
Next, it was up to Abby Tibbetts room in our secondary where we visited with her freshman science class. Abby and her students have been creating Breakout EDU Digital games so the students had a chance to show Adam and get feedback.
He had a great conversation with Abby about this process.
While we were in Abby's room, we got a big surprise and were invited down to the green screen room where the 5th grade TAG students were completing a Breakout Room created by other TAG students at Van Meter.
Adam loved seeing that they were using one of the older version of the Breakout EDU boxes and had a fun time helping...
...with a little hidden code.
After that, Adam spent time with more of the students in our elementary and enjoyed....
...hearing what they loved about creating their own Breakout EDU Digital games.
We ended our school day with two more sections of 5th graders as they...
...worked on the game project in...
..Megan's room. We couldn't wait to see what they created.
After school, Adam joined our Girls Who Code Club and shared his story. The girls loved asking Adam lots of questions.
I am thankful Adam came to Van Meter to share this special resource he has helped bring to education, students, teachers and community around the world.
And I am especially thankful for his friendship and all he does to inspire me and others.
Thank you, friend. We can't wait to see where Breakout EDU will take us and our learning next year.
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