Help me give my students an escape room experience that can be used time after time throughout the curriculum using lock boxes, black lights, and more.
Our district is full of amazing students and educators, but is extremely lacking in funding. I teach in a rural, east Texas town. I have eighty-five students that I see on a daily basis. Of those eighty-five students, fifty-five are economically disadvantaged.
Unlocking the potential you see in every math student may be difficult, but is a vital piece to each student's future.
Just a short drive away from us, other school districts have Virtual Reality goggles in classrooms, and their superintendent hands out multiple bonus checks to every teacher throughout the year. My kids are capable of achieving so much, yet economic status will be a huge hurdle for most of them.
So many of my students came into my class feeling defeated in math before day 1. I need these students to get away from the typical paper and pencil and tune into engaging, rigorous learning that shows them what they're capable of achieving.
My Project
Though my students are born in a tech savvy generation, a majority of them do not have access to technology at home. This can be stunting for digital literacy, homework, and exploring and answering their own questions.
Giving my students a hands-on escape room will help them grow confident in their math fluency, problem solving abilities, and teach them to think on their feet.
Solving riddles, figuring out puzzles, cracking ciphers, etc. is all part of the fun of the escape room experience. I intend to expand this to at least one escape room per unit in our curriculum!
In typical escape rooms you are locked in a room given no directions except to use any clues you can find in your environment to open locks, find combinations, and decode ciphers. I want them to think outside of the box so I picked a set of 3 Invisible UV blacklight markers and Findway 5 UV Ultra Violet Blacklight 9 LED Flashlight Torches. I chose Stanley tool boxes we can lock with Wordlocks, directional locks, or the MasterLock Hasp. With these I can give the students problems to solve that will provide them with clues and codes to open the locks on the boxes to get another set of clues or "escape the classroom."
Stanley 026301R 26-Inch Pro Toolbox
• Amazon Business
$24.19
2
$48.38
Metal Lock Box with Folding Handle and Stackable Design- Durable Portable Locking Storage to Secure Valuables, Cash, Jewelry, Knives, More by Stalwart
• Amazon Business
$11.98
2
$23.96
Extra Pig Pen Grid Key Panel For Escape Rooms
• Amazon Business
$10.99
2
$21.98
Jssmst Small Locking Cash Box with Money Tray, Lock Money Box for Kids Blue, 5.9 x 4.7 x 3.2 inches, CB013-L
• Amazon Business
$10.95
2
$21.90
Medication Zipper Hood Security Bag (Purple)
• Amazon Business
$8.99
2
$17.98
Blank Puzzle - 36-Pack White Jigsaw Puzzles for DIY, Kids Color-in Crafts Projects, Weddings, 48 Pieces Each, 8.5 x 11 Inches
• Amazon Business
$16.99
1
$16.99
Wordlock PL-004-BK 5-Dial Combination Padlock, Black
• Amazon Business
$8.34
2
$16.68
Master Lock 1500iD Set Your Own Directional Combination Padlock, 1-Pack, Assorted Colors
• Amazon Business
$7.98
2
$15.96
Southwest Speciality Products 51003C Dr Pepper Diversion Can Safe, 12 fl oz/ 355 ml
• Amazon Business
$7.19
2
$14.38
Findway 5 UV Ultra Violet Blacklight 9 LED Flashlight Torch Light Outdoors,Pet Urine Detector for Dog Urine,Pet Stains and Bed Bug Detector,Dog Urine Remover
• Amazon Business
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