It was a hot summer’s day (August 21st to be exact) when a JAMS teacher retweeted Dave Burgess’s retweet of Misty White’s APP-Mazing Race idea! “This could be fun!” is what the teacher posted. Little did we know then JUST how much fun we’d have...from the planning, to the set-up, to the implementation, to reviewing the feedback - a #JAMazing time was had by all!
The timing was perfect since the 2015-2016 school year was about to start and we would begin a 1:1 device initiative using chromebooks. In order to succeed with this extremely exciting journey, we needed our teachers to be open-minded, flexible, and supported More importantly, we wanted to create something awesome that teachers would find relevant, meaningful, and useful for classroom use. After all, our kids deserve the very best! #Makingmemories
The original plan Misty created was spread over the course of a few days. Our version would need revision since it would serve as this year’s PLC kick-off where time is always of the essence! PLC start time begins at 3:15 and ends at 4:30 so the planning needed to be perfect.
The first planning day took place in September. We discussed our vision: allowing staff to work together as a team while learning about different APPS and having fun! FUN was a key component! We discussed challenges, clues, team captains, prizes and t-shirts - the list goes on and on. To really get the excitement going we wanted to place a bug in their ear to get them thinking about what they were going to experience during the #JAMazing Race. Thank you Twitter!
During our intense brainstorming session we created five challenges that we felt would help our teachers learn but also could be replicated in the classroom. Each challenge seemed to have a stamp of approval from each member of the planning team. Some of us were way more enthused than others but having someone who wasn’t overly enthused on the team was helpful, this allowed us to anticipate how some staff members may react. Those moments didn’t bring us down though, we knew some wouldn’t like the plan but we also guessed that the majority would love it.
Here’s what we created:
- Challenge 1: Discover a platform to share their learning.
- Challenge 2: Embrace the power of a Selfie
- Challenge 3: Create an Edpuzzle
- Challenge 4: Have a Google Hangout
- Challenge 5: Tweet out their Learning
As the day drew near, we worked feverishly to make sure all the details were covered: teachers had to form teams, we created hints that would be fun by using youtube videos and QR codes. The weekend before the JAMazing Race took place we had a working brunch where we made t-shirts for JAMazing Race Facilitators and Champs. Every aspect had to be FUN...if the teachers were having fun then we were hoping it would mirror in their classrooms.
After some smack-talk in the twitter universe, the day arrived and the excitement was contagious. Some staff came dressed in team colors, others created team names; ALL came to win! The start of the race was pretty simple. The staff convened in the cafeteria and were given a brief overview of the rules: they must collaborate, follow their team color-coded QR codes, not to coerce the judges in any way but most of importantly have FUN!!! With only one hour and fifteen minutes….every minute mattered!!!
With the sound of the whistle, the teams began the first challenge like their lives depended on it. The challenges were varied in that team clues lead them to different locations around the campus. This allowed no teams to just follow one another. Once at that location, they would use the Scan QR app to open the challenge doc and get to work.
The timing was planned perfectly! Although groups finished at varying times, we set up a short reflection piece for each team to complete after passing through the finish line. Meanwhile, the other teams were able to complete their mission while our judges kept tally of who was in the lead. (This is an important part to note since at first, it seemed confusing to a few of our teams. The team who finished first may have initially thought they won the race but because our challenges were based upon varying point totals, it was the team with the highest number of points who won the race.)
While challenges took place, race facilitators were stationed in each challenge location. The facilitators were not privy to the details of the race, this allowed us to create authentic learning experiences where teams worked together...and did they ever! The excitement, fun, laughter, and silly moments were never lacking!
Once all the teams finished, they were directed to reconvene in the cafeteria where first, second, and third place winners were announced - along with their point totals since the scores were so close! A round of applause was provided to the first place team along with their choice of two prizes and the JAMazing Race Champs 2015 t-shirts!
One of the best parts of the whole JAMazing race experience was what later happened in clasrooms. Teachers were so excited with what they learned that we started to see some of the challenges revisited throughout the school; teachers took the concept and made it their own in and out of the classroom. Students scurried through the hallways to find different QR codes and excitedly shared what they were doing and why. Word traveled and soon, other students knew what they would encounter as they got to certain classes throughout the day - it truly was #JAMazing!
