OBSERVED LESSON - OBSERVERS NOTES

Instructor: Adam Dovico Date: 10th January, 2017

Observer: Amine Bouhzam Level & class: Intro to Secondary Education, Section A
Duration: 50 minutes N. of students: 09
Topic: Escape Rooms Breakout Classes

Overview:

A class about to open their locked Breakout EDU box during a game. Photo by Stephanie Harman

The lesson I observed was very engaging and critical. I choose to reflect on this lesson in that the idea is new and Im planning to implement it in my efl future
classrooms.

What is interesting about this lesson is that I took part in it and I was among those students. Escape rooms have been popping up many schools in the US.
Thats where a group of people are willingly locked in and given an hour to break out. They follow clues posted or hidden in the room, sidestep the red
herrings, and work together to beat the clock.

The breakout class is a very playful and exciting educational model in the classroom environment with kits. These items can be used to create puzzles and
treasure hunts for your students to discover content.

As a teacher, I realized that these activities teach teamwork, problem solving, critical thinking, and troubleshooting by presenting students with challenges that
ignite their natural drive to problem solve.

This new concept can be used to introduce a new lesson or concept, to reinforce and strengthen learning, or at the end of a unit to bring closure to a lesson
and reinforce skills and concepts learned, all in a fun way. There are several age ranges to choose from: early childhood, elementary, middle school, high
school, even adult. I think our instructor was looking for an activity that promoted some of his beginning-of-the-year goals of collaboration, prediction, and
problem solving for his culturally and mix ability diverse class.

In this activity, we were immediately curious and our problem-solving skills soon kicked in. We worked independently and together to solve clues. We made
mistakes, backtracked, and tried again, moving from one clue to the next. As the game evolved, the excitement grew and even initially reluctant members
gained confidence and began taking active roles in the quest for solutions.

The following are some instructions of the game:

First day of class Escape Room!

Group receives the package and letter upon starting. By putting the pieces (15) in order they have the call number to Essential 55
Add riddle: These dudes all led the country, throughout our history, put them in order and turn them over to figure out the first
mystery
Inside Essential 55 is a strip of paper.
The strip of paper is cut to y x z and has the quote Find these dimensions, then take a look, at the areas total in the Professors Book. A
message you will find, though it may not seem clear, but fear not, a special light will make it appear. There is a ruler and black light on the
table.
On that page, have a post-it note that requires a black light. The note will have numbers and a message that will unlock a box. Keep these
numbers in mind, they will come in use, but first find the door keeping Deacons friends from getting loose.
Pick a page in Inside the Trenches that will direct the group to the cabinets that open. Snakes p. 7
Inside the cabinet will be the lockbox that opens with the numbers from the page in Inside the Trenches

Essential 55 - LB1025.3 .C534 2003

Inside the Trenches LC1025.3. D69 2014
Greetings! And congratulations! You have an opportunity to unlock a great mystery to the Tribble Dungeon. Great history and mystique rests in the basement
of this building. To begin your quest, open the envelope and get set, twenty minutes is all you get! Go!

Personal Reflection:

Overall I felt that our lesson on went very well. I felt that we made a great team because everyone put forth much effort and there was a sense of
shared responsibility and cohesiveness. I especially enjoyed the collaborative planning process, which consisted of students with different learning styles, the
exchange of several ideas, and sharing our instructions. In general, Im not fond of group work due to past experiences where the group was inefficient and
the division of students was unbalanced. However, this particular experience proved otherwise. There seemed to be a natural flow in the planning process
where individual ideas contributed to a unified whole. Due to effective planning, the lesson was well organized and flowed together as if the I had taught it.

Faculty Initials: AB Date: 11th March, 2017