On Thursday, I received a text message from my former mentor (and current member of my accountability tripod) Aubrey (@AubreyEMc). She had contacted me a few weeks prior and explained she had found a web-based learning game called Baamboozle and would send me a video of her students playing. If you know anything about me, you know I love a great game in the classroom. I find games to be a great way to get students engaged in content and use their competitive energy for good instead of evil. Immediately I was intrigued by what I saw happening in Aubrey's classroom and knew I needed to start preparing to use Baamboozle in mine.
Baamboozle is a different format from other formative assessment games like Kahoot! and Quizizz. Students do not need a device to play the game, as it is run directly through the teacher's computer. The format of the game is team based, so students will need to be split into 2-4 teams. They will need to collaborate in order to answer the questions provided. Next, students are shown a grid of either 16 or 24 boxes. Each box is linked to an open-ended question (versus the selected response questions of other quiz game tools), which can easily be created by the teacher (need an sign up for an account) or chosen from the library of Baamboozle games from the website (sidenote: there are not many Featured Games on the website, so creating your own content is probably going to be the most beneficial for your classroom).
Baamboozle is a different format from other formative assessment games like Kahoot! and Quizizz. Students do not need a device to play the game, as it is run directly through the teacher's computer. The format of the game is team based, so students will need to be split into 2-4 teams. They will need to collaborate in order to answer the questions provided. Next, students are shown a grid of either 16 or 24 boxes. Each box is linked to an open-ended question (versus the selected response questions of other quiz game tools), which can easily be created by the teacher (need an sign up for an account) or chosen from the library of Baamboozle games from the website (sidenote: there are not many Featured Games on the website, so creating your own content is probably going to be the most beneficial for your classroom).
Prior to playing the game with my students, I provided each group with a list of the questions and allowed them to work together to answer them. This allowed everyone to take part in learning the material and discussing the answers before actually playing the game. When it came to game play, we were able to run through the questions much more quickly than if they discussed them on the fly. I also had each group select a rotating team captain role so everyone had the opportunity to speak and explain why they chose the answer they did.
Teams will work one at a time to answer the questions. Allow students in Team 1 to determine which number they would like you to click to reveal a question. When the teacher clicks on the number, a question will appear. Because they team was given the questions ahead of time in my game, they were able to quickly respond.
When the team gives their answer, you will ask if that is their final answer. To build keep the other teams interested when not answering questions, I would ask if they agree or disagree with the answer Team 1 gave. This allows for discussion to take place and we can work on providing reasoning behind their answers. Once the discussion is waning, click the check button to see if Team 1 got the correct answer.
If Team 1 got their answer correct, click the green Okay! button and they will receive the point total assigned to the question (when you create your questions, you can set the value in 5 point increments up to 25). If they get the question wrong, click the red Oops! button and no points will be awarded. Then, continue on to the next team.
I have not worked a whole lot with Baamboozle in my classroom yet, but I can see it being of value to me and my students. As I do with any tool I bring to the classroom, I asked my students to critique our game play. They said they liked this game better than others because they were not necessarily able to guess on questions like they could on other game-based learning tools. The downfall for them was that they had to go one team at a time through the game. Even though we were quick through the answers and had discussion during the game, I could see some students drifting away from the conversation.
If you are looking for a great new tool to try in your classroom, I think Baamboozle is definitely worth it. Please feel free to share feedback with me in the comments section and let me know the wins and challenges you faced while playing. Happy gaming, everyone!
I have not worked a whole lot with Baamboozle in my classroom yet, but I can see it being of value to me and my students. As I do with any tool I bring to the classroom, I asked my students to critique our game play. They said they liked this game better than others because they were not necessarily able to guess on questions like they could on other game-based learning tools. The downfall for them was that they had to go one team at a time through the game. Even though we were quick through the answers and had discussion during the game, I could see some students drifting away from the conversation.
If you are looking for a great new tool to try in your classroom, I think Baamboozle is definitely worth it. Please feel free to share feedback with me in the comments section and let me know the wins and challenges you faced while playing. Happy gaming, everyone!