We had a lot of fun this week! I am a new convert to Jamboard and am so thankful to Bertha Delgadillo for her excellent Jamboard tutorial. Jamboard is a FREE Google app! It’s the perfect collaboration tool for synchronous, asynchronous, or hybrid teaching. It is also has limited functionality, which I find to be a blessing right now. The last thing I need is another complicated techy gadget that I have to struggle to master / spend excessive time teaching students to use.

One of the first things you learn from Bertha’s video is how to create an SEL check-in. Typically, I check in about once each week. But since Jamboard is new to me and my students, I decided this activity would start each day.

Students all said they enjoyed it and wanted to do it again – always a good sign! By the end of the week, they were having so much fun that they were leaving messages for each other, playing with the laser pointer, and messing with the sizes of their post-it notes. Jamboard gave them some freedom we have been lacking since we can’t get up and move around the room to interact with eachother.

Then, on Thursday, inspiration hit!

Jamboard and one of my all-time favorite games:

The Unfair Game

(If you are unfamiliar with this game, I got the idea originally from the Comprehensible Classroom. Click here for that post.)

Setting Up the Game

First, I jotted down 20 questions from our most recent story. Then I randomly assigned both positive and negative point values to the questions.

The next step is where Jamboard came in. The afternoon before, I created three blank boards per class period, one for each of three teams, and a scorecard.

When class started, I asked for a volunteer to be the scorekeeper.
I shared a Jamboard Scorecard with that student.
The Jamboard Scorecard was projected in the front of the room.
Then I quickly divided students into three groups, including remote students.
I shared a Jamboard with each group and gave everyone editing privileges so remote students could collaborate with f2f students and be part of the game.

Here is a picture of our scorecard:

So simple to make! Add:

Numbers 1-20.
A Sticky note with an X on it.
Three teams.

The Scorekeeper’s Job

When a question is used, the Scorekeeper drags the sticky note to cover the corresponding question number and makes a duplicate sticky note to use for covering the next question number. The Scorekeeper also does the math for me because NO ONE wants Señora doing math and keeps track of team scores.

Playing the Game

The team who gives me the best SCHOOL-APPROPRIATE compliment, gets to go first. I learned to throw school-appropriate in there a few years ago after a rather unfortunate incident with a boisterous class…. live and learn, right?

The team with the best compliment selects their first question.
The Scorekeeper covers that number on the score card.
Before hearing the point value or question, teams have to choose if they are going to keep the points or give them to another team.
Teams answer the question and find out the point value that they either chose to keep or give away.
The team with the score closest to zero at the end of the game, wins.

It sounds a little complicated but you and your students will quickly get the hang of it. Then the real fun begins! Groups start strategizing to take each other out.

What if you don’t finish the game in one period?

You have the Jamboard Scorecard saved and pick up where you left off on the next school day. This is what we are doing Monday – finishing our game from Friday.