Directions: This month, you are asked to submit one lesson that features an online problem-solving experience using any of the tools listed below. Your submission should include the problem-solving tool, lesson objective/goal, TEKS, and photos and/or videos demonstrating student engagement and learning.

Choose any resource that aligns with a meaningful problem-solving task. Whether students are debugging code, navigating escape room puzzles, engineering solutions, or experimenting with robotics, the goal is to highlight student reasoning, strategy use, and perseverance in the digital realm.

🧭 Problem-Solving Tools & Ideas

• Digital Escape Rooms

  • Have students collaborate to solve clues and unlock digital combinations and break free from a virtual escape room

  • Use Google Forms or Genially to build your experience 

  • Choose from a wide number of pre-made resources! (Note: not all of these escape rooms are suitable for every grade level, so use at your discretion) 

    • Madison County Public Library offers Family Fun Escape Rooms in a variety of categories

    • Fairfax County Library has Free Virtual Escape Challenges

    • Peters Township Public Library has a Google Site of Virtual Escape Rooms in SEVERAL languages!

• VEX Robotics

  • Create engineering challenges

  • Use iterative testing to solve complex tasks

  • Here is a list of fairly easy build challenges to approach with your students:

    • Tallest tower challenge

    • Animal Rescue Series

      1. Ladder Rescue / Raft Rescue

      2. Island Expedition

    • Build It, Make It, Engineer It (House Building Challenge)

    • Covered Maze Box

  • Reach out to your DLS if you want to get some VEX GO robots to use in your class

• Bee-Bots

  • Design problem-solving mats or maze challenges

  • Encourage debugging and sequencing strategies

  • Check out this Snowman Sequencing guide for a December-themed activity for your students

  • Need Bee-Bots? Want help making a Bee-Bots lesson? Reach out!

• Canva Code

  • Have students write simple code blocks to animate objects

  • Challenge students to build an interactive solution or digital model

  • Learn more about Canva's AI Code Generator, and be amazed at what your students can create

The canvas assignment for the November 🎨 Creating Mastery: Student as Designers of Learning will be open for submissions on November 1st and will close at 11:59pm on November 30th. 

Participants will be notified of Badges earned the week of December 1st. Physical Badges will be delivered by your DLS during December.