Artwork for podcast Tech Tools for Teachers
Baamboozle & Beyond!
Episode 208 • 31st March 2025 • Tech Tools for Teachers • Shanna Martin
00:00:00 00:16:08

Share Episode

Shownotes

In this episode, we're boosting classroom energy with the game-based platforms Baamboozle and Blooket! Discover how Baamboozle's teacher-created games can be easily integrated into any content area for both whole-class and independent activities. We also cover exciting new updates from Blooket, including its connection to Khan Academy, the thrilling Laser Tag game mode, and a fresh new look!

Mentioned in this episode:

Education Podcast Network

Tech Tools for Teachers is part of the Education Podcast Network. https://www.edupodcastnetwork.com/



This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

Podcorn - https://podcorn.com/privacy
Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp

Transcripts

Shanna Martin:

Thanks for listening to the Tech Tools for Teachers

2

:

podcast, where each week we talk about

a free piece or tool of technology

3

:

that you can use in your classroom.

4

:

I'm your host, Shanna Martin.

5

:

I'm a middle school teacher, technology

instructional coach for my district,

6

:

Fuzz Martin: and I'm our producer

and husband, Fuzz Martin.

7

:

And I promise not to Baamboozle the

audio unless it's for dramatic effect.

8

:

Shanna Martin: Hi.

9

:

Fuzz Martin: Hey, how are you?

10

:

Shanna Martin: Great

11

:

Fuzz Martin: here.

12

:

How are you?

13

:

We went to Minnesota, so now

I have to talk like this,

14

:

Shanna Martin: Minnesota.

15

:

Even though

16

:

Fuzz Martin: Wisconsin's

not much different.

17

:

Shanna Martin: I love that

we go for spring break.

18

:

And instead of going like Florida

or Arizona like everybody else does,

19

:

like, oh, we're in the Midwest.

20

:

Let's go to a Midwestern

state that's colder than ours.

21

:

Fuzz Martin: Let's go farther north.

22

:

Shanna Martin: But so much

fun and very spring breaky.

23

:

So, but the summers

24

:

Fuzz Martin: are great.

25

:

That's what I just, I

tell that's my mantra.

26

:

Here

27

:

Shanna Martin: we are, episode 2 0 8.

28

:

2 0 8.

29

:

It's fabulous because.

30

:

We're heading into fourth quarter.

31

:

Mm-hmm.

32

:

I do know that some, some school

districts do spring break differently,

33

:

where you might have it kind of over

the Easter week or sometime in April.

34

:

Some people have it where you

have a break in February and a

35

:

break in April, you go till June.

36

:

Fuzz Martin: Yep.

37

:

Shanna Martin: Here Wisconsin, most of

the, around our area, we all have spring

38

:

break about the same time, and it's

always towards the end of third quarter,

39

:

if not the very end of third quarter.

40

:

Fuzz Martin: Mm-hmm.

41

:

Shanna Martin: And then

we'd charge back into fourth

42

:

quarter to survive school year.

43

:

Yay.

44

:

And it'll be great.

45

:

So I thought I'd do a fun

one to kinda liven things up

46

:

for fourth, fourth quarter.

47

:

And if you're in the middle of third

quarter or a try a second trimester

48

:

and third trimester, hopefully

these will be fun and exciting.

49

:

Mm-hmm.

50

:

To be sparkly about.

51

:

So.

52

:

Baamboozle, we're gonna talk about

Baamboozle and just a quick review of

53

:

the lookit updates that are happening.

54

:

Baamboozle is super fun.

55

:

It's a fun little gaming site, not gaming,

I mean, you do play games, but it's great

56

:

for review and for vocabulary stuff.

57

:

So highlighting Baamboozle, um.

58

:

Baamboozle and so I should like clarify.

59

:

Baamboozle.

60

:

Fuzz Martin: Baamboozle

61

:

Shanna Martin: is B-A-A-M-B-O-O-Z-L e.com.

62

:

Fuzz Martin: Yep.

63

:

Shanna Martin: Bam.

64

:

Bam.

65

:

Fuzz Martin: BAA though.

66

:

You got two as in there?

67

:

Shanna Martin: Yes.

68

:

BAA, Baamboozle.

69

:

Mm-hmm.

70

:

Dot com.

71

:

And it's made for teachers,

like it's made by teachers.

72

:

For teachers.

73

:

It's one of those.

74

:

Cool educator things.

75

:

So Baamboozle very cool things.

76

:

It's easy.

77

:

You can create stuff however you want to.

78

:

So it's created by other teachers,

which I love because then as you're

79

:

pulling things as a teacher, you

know that other educators are the

80

:

ones that are creating this stuff.

81

:

It can be used in any content area.

82

:

So if you have from elementary students

through high school students, you can

83

:

load the content in as you need to, and

you can search other teachers' content.

84

:

So you can look for like, um.

85

:

Sell respiration or nouns and verbs,

like whatever you're looking for,

86

:

you'll find resources from other

teachers as a starting point.

87

:

The game can be played as a

whole class, like on your smart

88

:

board, almost like Jeopardy.

89

:

That's the free version.

90

:

And I'll highlight too, like there's

obviously a paid version, but the

91

:

free version's kind of like a Jeopardy

game where you click on it and there's

92

:

teams and they answer the question.

93

:

You click on it again,

it'll say yes or no.

94

:

There's also options to

review or study independently.

95

:

Mm-hmm.

96

:

While you're doing it.

97

:

And you can send out the link.

98

:

So it's just if people have the link that

they can use it or you can make it public.

99

:

And then it also connects

with Quizlet or Kahoot.

100

:

So if you have those already

created, you can link those

101

:

in, which is really helpful.

102

:

So you don't have to start from

scratch if you already have those

103

:

things made, which is kind of nice.

104

:

So if you go to Baamboozle, Baamboozle,

105

:

Fuzz Martin: Baamboozle, it's kind of

106

:

Shanna Martin: fun just

to say Baamboozle.com,

107

:

and it starts with, you have

a little login, so you log in.

108

:

You can join for free.

109

:

Fuzz Martin: Okay.

110

:

Shanna Martin: And then you can go

to games where they have like that

111

:

game option I was talking about,

which is like a Jeopardy game.

112

:

And you can make your own,

you can borrow other people's.

113

:

So let's type in a topic.

114

:

I actually was searching, the Great

Depression before, 'cause it happens

115

:

to be the unit I just finished.

116

:

Sure.

117

:

But if I type in cells.

118

:

For science.

119

:

Fuzz Martin: Okay.

120

:

Shanna Martin: It's kind of

funny 'cause if you look, it'll

121

:

bring up cell phone things.

122

:

Alright.

123

:

And then also it brings up science things.

124

:

So if I wanna go under cells, I

can check it out and I can, there's

125

:

a game code, it'll load right in.

126

:

If I wanted to, I can play study.

127

:

There's a slide show that kind of does a

slide deck going through, similar to I'd

128

:

say like Quizlet, where you can go through

and quiz yourself on like what stores?

129

:

Water, food, and waste.

130

:

Living things are made up of, and

you click on it and it'll like give

131

:

you the questions, which is cool.

132

:

And so you have the option of checking

all those questions first as a teacher.

133

:

So there's a game preview.

134

:

And then you can see are the

question, what are all the questions?

135

:

And then also what are the answer is to

make sure that whatever the other teacher

136

:

has loaded in is what you want your

students to know for that information.

137

:

It's like what stores?

138

:

Water, food and waste.

139

:

S living things are made up of

140

:

Fuzz Martin: cells.

141

:

Shanna Martin: Hey, look at that.

142

:

I put you on the spot there.

143

:

Inside every cell is a

jelly-like material called.

144

:

Cytoplasm.

145

:

So stuff, all cells have a

blank around the cytoplasm.

146

:

A

147

:

Fuzz Martin: wall.

148

:

So, membrane.

149

:

Membrane.

150

:

I used to be so,

151

:

Shanna Martin: uh,

152

:

Fuzz Martin: I used to be a science.

153

:

So weren't you

154

:

Shanna Martin: gonna school for, uh,

155

:

Fuzz Martin: pharmacy?

156

:

Yes, pharmacy.

157

:

Shanna Martin: Okay.

158

:

So again, it's cool 'cause as

a teacher you can see like,

159

:

here's all the questions.

160

:

Okay, here's all the answers.

161

:

And then you can make sure that that

has everything in it that you need

162

:

before you start quizzing your super.

163

:

Students play study slideshow or share it.

164

:

If you go to share it, you can

make a little class pin on or off.

165

:

And then, if you're gonna do, go

that way with it, if you're not

166

:

just sharing the link, you can share

the game link to your students.

167

:

Like drop that into Google

Classroom if you choose to.

168

:

And they have a link directly to

Google Classroom, which is nice.

169

:

They also have options to like email it

or, drop that in however you choose to.

170

:

So there's options to do it that way.

171

:

Now if you're gonna like create your

own game, you would go to my library.

172

:

Okay.

173

:

When you have your little free

account, and then in my library,

174

:

it's blank until you click plus game.

175

:

Once you do, you can put in your title.

176

:

So I'm going to stay.

177

:

Things in Minnesota.

178

:

Fuzz Martin: Things in Minnesota,

179

:

Shanna Martin: yeah.

180

:

Description what we saw.

181

:

In Minnesota.

182

:

What are the sound effects going on?

183

:

Are you playing?

184

:

Fuzz Martin: I'm, I'm pretending to

play to give you some dramatic effect.

185

:

I said at the beginning I was

gonna give some dramatic effect.

186

:

Now I'm bamboozling the audio.

187

:

Shanna Martin: Oh, nice.

188

:

Fuzz Martin: Good job.

189

:

Thank you.

190

:

Shanna Martin: What's very cool, Uhhuh

is that you can choose a language.

191

:

So if you want to.

192

:

Support students in a variety of

ways in your classroom, or if you're

193

:

teaching a world language class, you

can also set up questions that way.

194

:

So you can go ahead and pick your language

if you choose to, and then, you can tag

195

:

whatever you choose to, again, public.

196

:

And then if you have the paid version,

you can go on list or private.

197

:

I'm going to click Make My Game.

198

:

Oh, the other option is they have this

huge image library, and you will notice

199

:

there are so many gifs and memes on

every single thing that you create.

200

:

'cause as a teacher

201

:

Fuzz Martin: Yep.

202

:

Shanna Martin: You can click a

button and you can add a gif.

203

:

Fuzz Martin: Nice.

204

:

Shanna Martin: And so there are gifts.

205

:

We got big bird going on here.

206

:

You have different ones.

207

:

You can pick one.

208

:

There you go.

209

:

Make it go.

210

:

Okay.

211

:

Now, I will say with some of those, the

gif come from Giffy, so not all of them

212

:

would be like, oh yeah, I definitely

wanna drop this GIF on my student's.

213

:

Like, oh yeah, game, right?

214

:

So just be aware of that, like

that's one of those where you

215

:

can put a GIF on there or not.

216

:

And if you do, obviously it's

a teacher creating it, but it

217

:

does open up every GIF on Giy.

218

:

Fuzz Martin: So

219

:

Shanna Martin: up.

220

:

Fuzz Martin: Sorry that that was

what happens if you put the wrong

221

:

GIF on there and it's inappropriate.

222

:

Shanna Martin: Oh my goodness.

223

:

And so, or what, somebody gets

224

:

Fuzz Martin: a question wrong in a quiz.

225

:

Shanna Martin: Are you, are

you, we still bamboozling here.

226

:

Oh, of course.

227

:

Yes.

228

:

Okay.

229

:

Yeah.

230

:

Gonna make my game.

231

:

And then you just do question

how many points it's worth.

232

:

You can choose an image, you can

answer, you can choose a question image

233

:

or an answer image if you want to.

234

:

Question, answer, question, answer,

question, answer, load it all in.

235

:

You can also, like I said before, you

can import from, actually chat, GTP,

236

:

Quizlet, word, Excel, Google Docs, you

can load in your own question, answer

237

:

as long as you comma between them.

238

:

It does allow you to do that.

239

:

You still have to obviously go back

and double check things to make

240

:

sure it works the way you want it

to be, and then boom, game created.

241

:

And then you are right in the place

where you can go ahead and guess the

242

:

words and play the games and do all of

the things so it loads in all of your

243

:

information and makes it easy to play

244

:

Fuzz Martin: nice.

245

:

Shanna Martin: Yeah, so it is pretty cool.

246

:

I like Baamboozle.

247

:

There's a lot of different ways

you can use it in your classroom.

248

:

Like I said, any content area, can play.

249

:

You're probably gonna want like middle,

elementary up just because of it's a

250

:

lot of reading or self based stuff,

unless you're leading it as a class.

251

:

If you're gonna lead it as a class

and just do the Jeopardy board game.

252

:

Fuzz Martin: Yep.

253

:

Shanna Martin: You can definitely

do that with younger students.

254

:

It's more or less they have to

just be able to kinda read the

255

:

different questions as you go.

256

:

And then those are all the free things

and you can see all the different free

257

:

things offered from other teachers.

258

:

If you want something more detailed

or you want more game options.

259

:

Mm-hmm.

260

:

And then go into like the

collections and stuff.

261

:

Then if you wanna play different

games, you will need to

262

:

have the paid version of it.

263

:

So there's just lots of

cool options with that.

264

:

So go ahead and check out Baamboozle.com.

265

:

Again, they're games created

for teachers, for classrooms by

266

:

teachers, which is super helpful.

267

:

Yeah,

268

:

Fuzz Martin: and

269

:

Shanna Martin: you can review all

the content from cells to nouns and

270

:

verbs to our visit to Minnesota.

271

:

As you find the most perfect sound effect.

272

:

Fuzz Martin: Here we go.

273

:

Here we go.

274

:

Here we go.

275

:

What is the powerhouse of the cell?

276

:

What is the powerhouse of the cell?

277

:

Shanna Martin: Oh, you're asking me?

278

:

Yeah.

279

:

I don't know.

280

:

Fuzz Martin: Mitochondria.

281

:

My,

282

:

Shanna Martin: I was gonna say that,

but you put me under like pressure.

283

:

Fuzz Martin: Okay.

284

:

Oh, you want 25 points there?

285

:

Um,

286

:

Shanna Martin: beyond Baamboozle.

287

:

Fuzz Martin: Yes.

288

:

Shanna Martin: I have some

other fun things to talk about.

289

:

Oh,

290

:

Fuzz Martin: yeah, let's,

291

:

Shanna Martin: when we're

talking about, look, it.

292

:

I will highlight is one of

my go-tos all of the time.

293

:

If you're not a Blit user, I understand.

294

:

But blit is my go-to.

295

:

I have all my stuff in IT for my

classroom and I use it year to year

296

:

and I use it actually unit to unit.

297

:

I use it all the time.

298

:

Blit has some upgrades.

299

:

Yeah.

300

:

Yeah.

301

:

I would like to point out, I

have talked about book it before

302

:

in like episodes 82 and 97.

303

:

I've talked a little bit about it or

I've gone through like step by step.

304

:

Fuzz Martin: Yep.

305

:

Shanna Martin: There's some cool things

that Lookit has upgraded since like

306

:

my, you know, episode like 90 some

episodes ago, that I've talked about.

307

:

So just some cool things if you

are not a lookit user, but maybe

308

:

interested or maybe you are a Lookit

user and you don't know it, lookit

309

:

has now teamed up with Khan Academy

to help you with a lookit generator.

310

:

So, it will like use

Khan Academy's AI tools.

311

:

It's called Coning Cano.

312

:

Nice.

313

:

And it will help create

questions for Bookit as well.

314

:

So that's something you like.

315

:

You can export the questions you make

in Con to Bookit, and there's like a

316

:

cool thing that they do back and forth.

317

:

And that's been out for, I don't

know, about a month and a half or so.

318

:

And then of course, they always

have their fun little books,

319

:

which are the little animal guys.

320

:

My students are very into collecting

them and decorating their books.

321

:

So when we compete in class and then

everyone wants the cow, I don't know why.

322

:

Why we all have to have the cow can tell

you why mean, there's so many cute ones.

323

:

I know it's because we live in

Wisconsin, but there's so many

324

:

like cute other ones that I'm like,

Hey, doesn't anybody want this one?

325

:

And I've like made my own

and they're like, Mrs.

326

:

Merri, that one's not cool.

327

:

But you know, I teach middle school.

328

:

And then there's other cute books.

329

:

There's special ones for obviously St.

330

:

Patrick's Day.

331

:

They had some, they have some coming up

for Spring, which are super fun and cute.

332

:

Then also if you have upgraded

your version of Bookit, they also

333

:

have, new, like a beta version,

a laser tag that's coming out.

334

:

And so that's happening like a laser

tag game to play within Bookit.

335

:

So there are just some cool upgrades

to Bookit if you are a Bookit

336

:

user or haven't been for a while.

337

:

Um, it's worth checking out.

338

:

And again, book, it's one of

those where you go to create.

339

:

You choose your cover image, you

load in all of your information.

340

:

You can also input from Quizlet

into bookit, just like you can

341

:

upload from Quizlet to Baamboozle.

342

:

So you can go ahead and upload

questions you already have created.

343

:

You can import them or you can

manually enter them, and then you can

344

:

upload your files as you choose to.

345

:

You can make them public or

private, and then you can go

346

:

ahead and create your questions.

347

:

That's for your students.

348

:

So.

349

:

Check out the new upgrades to

block it if you haven't lately.

350

:

And check out Baamboozle as you can,

Baamboozle all the ideas you have

351

:

and ask all of the fun questions.

352

:

Fuzz Martin: Yes.

353

:

Shanna Martin: And those

are all the fun things.

354

:

Fuzz Martin: All right.

355

:

Shanna Martin: To get you

moving and started into fourth

356

:

quarter, finishing third quarter.

357

:

We're getting you through

the end of the school year,

358

:

Fuzz Martin: getting you

through the end Baamboozle

359

:

Shanna Martin: and look at upgrades.

360

:

Thank you all.

361

:

Thanks for tuning in.

362

:

This has been the Tech

Tools Teachers podcast.

363

:

If you ever have any questions, you can

find me on Blue Sky Threads, blue Sky,

364

:

Facebook, Instagram, and Spartan wi,

and if you wanna get more information.

365

:

On the links to the technology discussing

this episode, you can visit smart nwi.com.

366

:

If you like to support the show, please

consider buying me a coffee or two.

367

:

Visit.

368

:

Buy me a coffee.com/smart

369

:

nwi or visit smart nwi.com

370

:

and click on the cute

little purple coffee cup.

371

:

Your donations help keep the show going.

372

:

New episodes each week.

373

:

Thanks for listening.

374

:

Go educate and innovate.

375

:

Fuzz Martin: The ideas and

opinions expressed on this podcast

376

:

and the smartinwi website are

those of the authors, Shanna

377

:

Martin, and not of her employer.

378

:

Prior to using any of the technologies

discussed on this podcast, please

379

:

consult with your employer regulations.

380

:

This podcast offers no guarantee

that these tools will work for you

381

:

as described, but we hope they do.

382

:

That's why we do this show, and

we'll talk to you next time here on

383

:

the Tech Tools for Teachers Podcast.

Links

Chapters

Video

More from YouTube