With our theatre season on hold and classes being held virtually, I recently decided to change my entire curriculum. I had a meeting with some students about the upcoming year and their main concerns were missing the community/socialization aspect of theatre, and collaborating on creating art. In thinking about the best way to continue teaching about theatre (performance, storytelling, artistic design) in a virtual setting, I have decided to incorporate D&D.
So my plan is to create West Marches Campaign where I provide the students with a map of the terrain and their jobs will be to create dungeons/quests as well as playable characters that can then jump around to complete each others quests. I know there are a lot of logistics to work out and I am making my way through that right now.
What I really need help with right now is how to best advocate for my new curriculum to other teachers, my principal, parents, and students who may not be interested in playing.
Classes start on the 20th and as I am running out of time, I'm hoping y'all could help me out? I am looking for any videos, articles, blogs, data, about the impact D&D can have on education and student well being.
Do you know of any studies that link D&D to increased test scores or better in class performance?
What about personal accounts of people who were refusing to play, but once they played it changed their life?
Maybe some celebrities or successful people who credit D&D for some of their success?
News stories about communities or groups that started playing D&D and it helped them?
Maybe you know of a better way to advocate? Just remember, some people are data driven, others only care about their emotions so I need to find away to appease both.
I plan on linking articles/videos/info into my syllabus under a section called "Why D&D?"
Thank you for taking the time to read my post and appreciate any information you can provide.
(Sorry for the wonky link, it's copied directly from Google and links to a theses from Pace University (never heard about it) that made a study about TTRPGs and social skills / creativity. According to the abstract TTRPGs have a statistically significant positive influence on creativity and the authors suggest it might be beneficial to people with autism as well.)
If you don't trust my link you can google for "TTRPG positive influence", the paper should be among the top hits. :-)
Be prepared with the responses of parents and district leaders who are concerned about the violence/devil worship etc. etc. While it's not he satanic panic we experienced in the 80's there are still a good number who view DnD as the devil's playground and will have strong feelings about their children being exposed to it. I would also recommend you develop an alternative for those students who's parent wish their child to opt out because there will be some.
Also be sure and recruit your C&I department and administration to make sure they are on board with what you are trying to do.
Be prepared with the responses of parents and district leaders who are concerned about the violence/devil worship etc. etc. While it's not he satanic panic we experienced in the 80's there are still a good number who view DnD as the devil's playground and will have strong feelings about their children being exposed to it. I would also recommend you develop an alternative for those students who's parent wish their child to opt out because there will be some.
Also be sure and recruit your C&I department and administration to make sure they are on board with what you are trying to do.
Yes, I hear what you are saying. As a theatre teacher I am always getting push back no matter what show we are putting on, there is always a character, a theme, a scene, that parents object too. Although I feel prepared, you are right, I will probably get more push back on this than any year prior. I'll make sure to get the right people involved, if anything, to make sure they don't get surprised later on. Thank you for your feedback!
Ok, First no XP is given go with milestone, or the pc gets x levels every six weeks. Do kids still get report cards every six weeks? Second all encounters must be "G" rated since I don't know your location, grade level, etc. Third Do you have a plan for special needs students? Four Do you have a plan incase a student gets addicted to the game? Five Plans for extra credit? Does Bill get a grade bump because he made a chain mail shirt?
On Four I played since 1980 and started in high school. D&D is addicting to some people. In my gamer circle of friends we have plenty of stories of kids blowing off their other studies to game.
Ok, First no XP is given go with milestone, or the pc gets x levels every six weeks. Do kids still get report cards every six weeks? Second all encounters must be "G" rated since I don't know your location, grade level, etc. Third Do you have a plan for special needs students? Four Do you have a plan incase a student gets addicted to the game? Five Plans for extra credit? Does Bill get a grade bump because he made a chain mail shirt?
On Four I played since 1980 and started in high school. D&D is addicting to some people. In my gamer circle of friends we have plenty of stories of kids blowing off their other studies to game.
Thank you for your input. I know there seems like an overwhelming set of logistics between d&d, virtual instruction, academia, and theatre. I am working on a lot of the stuff you mentioned, but I have found myself with an audience to present to on Monday. Right now I am in need of resources and data that I can use to help back up my claims, since most people in this meeting are not familiar with D&D, nor really even theatre for that matter.
But you raised a couple interesting points, we are a high school theatre department in Texas, I expect to get push back, however, I have worked on shows in the past like Angels in America and Marat/Sade and Cabaret, and even got called into the office once for a production of The Foreigner so, I am used to standing up to the public in defense of art.
You did bring up an extremely interesting point about game addiction, and I think I could find a way to address healthy gameplay and touch on addictions. If you have any info that you have used in the past, I am all ears. This isn't new to me in theatre though, I have a lot of students with various learning abilities, addictive personalities, and since we've been away for like 7 months, who knows what to expect from kids on day 1. But I will be going into my 10th year of teaching theatre, and like 21st year of working in theatre...but I am only year 3 of D&D...
Minimum, I do not know to what extent it is a part of your curriculum, but there is a huge synergy between D&D and improvisation.
So many parallels! In theatre I create worlds on stage, thinking of scenery, lighting, costumes and sound effects to help make our actors playing roles more believable and to help tell a story. I am really excited to see what some of these artists come up with. Best part is in Texas...there isn't a whole lot of theatre curriculum pushed by my district, I'm in year 10 and I have always created my own curriculum, so I shouldn't have too many roadblocks from my admin. I need to worry about parents though.
I think D&D is a great framework for teaching creative hearts and I wish you every success.
It has something for everyone. First there is the dice. Probability is a great subject for youngsters to learn about. And you get to discuss geometry a little if you like.
Creating characters ... is an opportunity for the students to think about how being raised in one place or another would color their outlook on life. This is a blend of history and social science.
There are a variety of classes (special gifts that a character is born with) which help to illustrate that we all have something to offer the team. As a practical matter, the first semester or six weeks or what-have-you, I would limit the classes used to a few so you limit the complications. You can discuss the description of the class and then have a group discussion about the "class" including asking for historical figures or popular figures that would fit into this class.
While not a focus of the class, the tactics used by your students is a problem solving exercise.
Since the students will be writing their own campaigns they will be allowed to think about economics, government, the trials of the explorers and the settlers, developing lore will make them consider history in a whole new light, and give them one of the best opportunities for using their creative talent. I would even recommend giving extra credit for developing a costume.
If you do these things on the computer or not, I can assure you your students will use the computer for research and this will likely stretch their skills there too. They will have something much more challenging to research than looking for "cat videos".
During class, one group of four or five students could act out the part of a party in a non-combat encounter, and another group of four or five students could be the social encounter. One side has to ad-lib while the other side has a planned framework, but they will find themselves ad-lib-ing the encounter too. Then you could compare this to a DM run non-combat encounter where the DM has to do the part of all the NPCs.
The students could research and present a discussion on a faction. They might discuss how a church would behave in a community, or how the carpenter's guild would behave, or they might make up a secret faction and discuss its history, methods and goals.
There are more opportunities for learning than I can begin to ennumerate, but make sure there is a theme for every week and a learning goal on the scale of a quiz grade. Every four weeks or so they will need a test scale assignment, either an in-class test, or a project of some sort.
Best of luck.
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Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
I have finally gotten to sit down and look at the links y'all have sent me...I'm am so thankful for you all and this community. I'm sure this won't be the last question I have for this group. Thank you all again for the support!
Don't shy away from discussing the problematic aspects of D&D. Is it OK to label a whole race/culture as evil, even in a game? How do minority-culture students feel about that? What gameplay alternatives are there? Look at depictions of women, and rules relating to female characters, over the game's history. How have they changed? How about the acceptance of female players?* Why do some people have problems with magic, demons, killable gods, etc.?** What cultural influences created the D&D mythos (or mythoi)? How does D&D and the company behind it compare to the handling of similar issues in other areas of popular culture, esp. performance arts?
* When I started playing in the late '80s, the games club I joined was all-male, simply because no girl had ever been interested in joining before. There was no prejudice, just bewilderment. Having a couple of trailblazers was all it took. But I did experience genuine sexism from the owner of a games shop, of all places. "Are you waiting for your boyfriend, dear?" Guess where none of my money ever went.
** As a Christian, I struggle with the fact that polytheism is largely baked into the game. I've ended up with the Tolkein approach of having a middle tier of created deities, and we don't do warlocks as PCs.
I don't know the current training teachers get for handling addiction of drugs and booze. But when I enter rehab for booze, a lot of points about addiction to alcohol had me checking same boxes for gaming. I played with some scummy toxic people, I would now not allow in my house just to round out the table. After one blow up, me and my fellow adult gamers always made sure to ask the parents if was okay for the kid to play. And one after a neighbor kid lied to us, started phoning the parent before each session. The kid not only got some failing grades, he changed his report card. You may want to hit "EnWorld" forum up. Similar topics of school gaming, how gaming helps people etc appear regularly. Also check your local facebook feeds for adventure league in your area.
Don't shy away from discussing the problematic aspects of D&D. Is it OK to label a whole race/culture as evil, even in a game? How do minority-culture students feel about that? What gameplay alternatives are there? Look at depictions of women, and rules relating to female characters, over the game's history. How have they changed? How about the acceptance of female players?* Why do some people have problems with magic, demons, killable gods, etc.?** What cultural influences created the D&D mythos (or mythoi)? How does D&D and the company behind it compare to the handling of similar issues in other areas of popular culture, esp. performance arts?
* When I started playing in the late '80s, the games club I joined was all-male, simply because no girl had ever been interested in joining before. There was no prejudice, just bewilderment. Having a couple of trailblazers was all it took. But I did experience genuine sexism from the owner of a games shop, of all places. "Are you waiting for your boyfriend, dear?" Guess where none of my money ever went.
** As a Christian, I struggle with the fact that polytheism is largely baked into the game. I've ended up with the Tolkein approach of having a middle tier of created deities, and we don't do warlocks as PCs.
I hear you. I have never shied away from content in scripts. I currently teach high school, but even as a MS teacher I could navigate themes with students like drug use/addiction, even violence and suicide and of course relationships. I've been having these conversations with students and debates with parents for a while, so I expect a lot more push back from this, but I think with admin support I would be ready to defend these lessons, I actually started working on a lesson to address the history of D&D and gaming to get out in front of all of this. I have do this in theatre as well (we invented blackface...). You've given me some great ideas to think about, thank you for sharing!
I don't know the current training teachers get for handling addiction of drugs and booze. But when I enter rehab for booze, a lot of points about addiction to alcohol had me checking same boxes for gaming. I played with some scummy toxic people, I would now not allow in my house just to round out the table. After one blow up, me and my fellow adult gamers always made sure to ask the parents if was okay for the kid to play. And one after a neighbor kid lied to us, started phoning the parent before each session. The kid not only got some failing grades, he changed his report card. You may want to hit "EnWorld" forum up. Similar topics of school gaming, how gaming helps people etc appear regularly. Also check your local facebook feeds for adventure league in your area.
I don't know the current training teachers get for handling addiction of drugs and booze. But when I enter rehab for booze, a lot of points about addiction to alcohol had me checking same boxes for gaming. I played with some scummy toxic people, I would now not allow in my house just to round out the table. After one blow up, me and my fellow adult gamers always made sure to ask the parents if was okay for the kid to play. And one after a neighbor kid lied to us, started phoning the parent before each session. The kid not only got some failing grades, he changed his report card. You may want to hit "EnWorld" forum up. Similar topics of school gaming, how gaming helps people etc appear regularly. Also check your local facebook feeds for adventure league in your area.
We don't get too much training, we just have access to a support network of social workers and counselors. But I will reach out to them for some information on gaming addiction, shoot, they may already be able to identify some of my students as "high-risk". Thank you for your idea!
With our theatre season on hold and classes being held virtually, I recently decided to change my entire curriculum. I had a meeting with some students about the upcoming year and their main concerns were missing the community/socialization aspect of theatre, and collaborating on creating art. In thinking about the best way to continue teaching about theatre (performance, storytelling, artistic design) in a virtual setting, I have decided to incorporate D&D.
So my plan is to create West Marches Campaign where I provide the students with a map of the terrain and their jobs will be to create dungeons/quests as well as playable characters that can then jump around to complete each others quests. I know there are a lot of logistics to work out and I am making my way through that right now.
What I really need help with right now is how to best advocate for my new curriculum to other teachers, my principal, parents, and students who may not be interested in playing.
Classes start on the 20th and as I am running out of time, I'm hoping y'all could help me out? I am looking for any videos, articles, blogs, data, about the impact D&D can have on education and student well being.
Do you know of any studies that link D&D to increased test scores or better in class performance?
What about personal accounts of people who were refusing to play, but once they played it changed their life?
Maybe some celebrities or successful people who credit D&D for some of their success?
News stories about communities or groups that started playing D&D and it helped them?
Maybe you know of a better way to advocate? Just remember, some people are data driven, others only care about their emotions so I need to find away to appease both.
I plan on linking articles/videos/info into my syllabus under a section called "Why D&D?"
Thank you for taking the time to read my post and appreciate any information you can provide.
I'm going to look around on Google Scholar a bit, but this one sounds interesting already:
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1199&context=honorscollege_theses&ved=2ahUKEwjJ5-2Bx5jrAhUI36QKHaqYAH0QFjAAegQIARAB&usg=AOvVaw3LN4k4vWqxyf0taaqLQFgT
(Sorry for the wonky link, it's copied directly from Google and links to a theses from Pace University (never heard about it) that made a study about TTRPGs and social skills / creativity. According to the abstract TTRPGs have a statistically significant positive influence on creativity and the authors suggest it might be beneficial to people with autism as well.)
If you don't trust my link you can google for "TTRPG positive influence", the paper should be among the top hits. :-)
Another direct link... this one is related to positive aspects of TTRPGs as a teaching method, so probably a perfect fit for your usecase:
https://jcsi.unimap.edu.my/images/articles/AIP JCSI JUN 2020/7.pdf
And one from Singapore:
https://dr.ntu.edu.sg/handle/10356/76440
You start with a leg up because you are teaching theatre, theatre is all about playing roles.
Article about a whole school that uses role play (LARP) https://osterskov.dk/osterskov-in-english/
The school's website https://osterskov.dk/osterskov-in-english/
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Video with DDB's own Todd Kenrick and panel of doctors/therapists about the benefits of role play https://www.twitch.tv/videos/347736175
Article from Geek and Sundry about a D&D summer camp for girls https://geekandsundry.com/these-girls-went-to-dd-summer-camp-and-you-can-try-it-at-home/
Dragon Magazine issue 12 https://dnd.dragonmag.com/2020/01/14/tales-of-inspiration/content.html
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Be prepared with the responses of parents and district leaders who are concerned about the violence/devil worship etc. etc. While it's not he satanic panic we experienced in the 80's there are still a good number who view DnD as the devil's playground and will have strong feelings about their children being exposed to it. I would also recommend you develop an alternative for those students who's parent wish their child to opt out because there will be some.
Also be sure and recruit your C&I department and administration to make sure they are on board with what you are trying to do.
Yes, agreed. Keep your department and administration informed about your plans.
One of the ways to avoid satanic panic is to stick to Wizards of the Coast Basic Rules https://media.wizards.com/2018/dnd/downloads/DnD_BasicRules_2018.pdf
There are no wierd races that might set parents on edge, no demons in the monster list, easily relatable to pop culture.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Yes, I hear what you are saying. As a theatre teacher I am always getting push back no matter what show we are putting on, there is always a character, a theme, a scene, that parents object too. Although I feel prepared, you are right, I will probably get more push back on this than any year prior. I'll make sure to get the right people involved, if anything, to make sure they don't get surprised later on. Thank you for your feedback!
Ok, First no XP is given go with milestone, or the pc gets x levels every six weeks. Do kids still get report cards every six weeks? Second all encounters must be "G" rated since I don't know your location, grade level, etc. Third Do you have a plan for special needs students? Four Do you have a plan incase a student gets addicted to the game? Five Plans for extra credit? Does Bill get a grade bump because he made a chain mail shirt?
On Four I played since 1980 and started in high school. D&D is addicting to some people. In my gamer circle of friends we have plenty of stories of kids blowing off their other studies to game.
No Gaming is Better than Bad Gaming.
Thank you for your input. I know there seems like an overwhelming set of logistics between d&d, virtual instruction, academia, and theatre. I am working on a lot of the stuff you mentioned, but I have found myself with an audience to present to on Monday. Right now I am in need of resources and data that I can use to help back up my claims, since most people in this meeting are not familiar with D&D, nor really even theatre for that matter.
But you raised a couple interesting points, we are a high school theatre department in Texas, I expect to get push back, however, I have worked on shows in the past like Angels in America and Marat/Sade and Cabaret, and even got called into the office once for a production of The Foreigner so, I am used to standing up to the public in defense of art.
You did bring up an extremely interesting point about game addiction, and I think I could find a way to address healthy gameplay and touch on addictions. If you have any info that you have used in the past, I am all ears. This isn't new to me in theatre though, I have a lot of students with various learning abilities, addictive personalities, and since we've been away for like 7 months, who knows what to expect from kids on day 1. But I will be going into my 10th year of teaching theatre, and like 21st year of working in theatre...but I am only year 3 of D&D...
Thanks again for your input!
So many parallels! In theatre I create worlds on stage, thinking of scenery, lighting, costumes and sound effects to help make our actors playing roles more believable and to help tell a story. I am really excited to see what some of these artists come up with. Best part is in Texas...there isn't a whole lot of theatre curriculum pushed by my district, I'm in year 10 and I have always created my own curriculum, so I shouldn't have too many roadblocks from my admin. I need to worry about parents though.
I think D&D is a great framework for teaching creative hearts and I wish you every success.
It has something for everyone. First there is the dice. Probability is a great subject for youngsters to learn about. And you get to discuss geometry a little if you like.
Creating characters ... is an opportunity for the students to think about how being raised in one place or another would color their outlook on life. This is a blend of history and social science.
There are a variety of classes (special gifts that a character is born with) which help to illustrate that we all have something to offer the team. As a practical matter, the first semester or six weeks or what-have-you, I would limit the classes used to a few so you limit the complications. You can discuss the description of the class and then have a group discussion about the "class" including asking for historical figures or popular figures that would fit into this class.
While not a focus of the class, the tactics used by your students is a problem solving exercise.
Since the students will be writing their own campaigns they will be allowed to think about economics, government, the trials of the explorers and the settlers, developing lore will make them consider history in a whole new light, and give them one of the best opportunities for using their creative talent. I would even recommend giving extra credit for developing a costume.
If you do these things on the computer or not, I can assure you your students will use the computer for research and this will likely stretch their skills there too. They will have something much more challenging to research than looking for "cat videos".
During class, one group of four or five students could act out the part of a party in a non-combat encounter, and another group of four or five students could be the social encounter. One side has to ad-lib while the other side has a planned framework, but they will find themselves ad-lib-ing the encounter too. Then you could compare this to a DM run non-combat encounter where the DM has to do the part of all the NPCs.
The students could research and present a discussion on a faction. They might discuss how a church would behave in a community, or how the carpenter's guild would behave, or they might make up a secret faction and discuss its history, methods and goals.
There are more opportunities for learning than I can begin to ennumerate, but make sure there is a theme for every week and a learning goal on the scale of a quiz grade. Every four weeks or so they will need a test scale assignment, either an in-class test, or a project of some sort.
Best of luck.
Cum catapultae proscriptae erunt tum soli proscript catapultas habebunt
I have finally gotten to sit down and look at the links y'all have sent me...I'm am so thankful for you all and this community. I'm sure this won't be the last question I have for this group. Thank you all again for the support!
Don't shy away from discussing the problematic aspects of D&D. Is it OK to label a whole race/culture as evil, even in a game? How do minority-culture students feel about that? What gameplay alternatives are there? Look at depictions of women, and rules relating to female characters, over the game's history. How have they changed? How about the acceptance of female players?* Why do some people have problems with magic, demons, killable gods, etc.?** What cultural influences created the D&D mythos (or mythoi)? How does D&D and the company behind it compare to the handling of similar issues in other areas of popular culture, esp. performance arts?
* When I started playing in the late '80s, the games club I joined was all-male, simply because no girl had ever been interested in joining before. There was no prejudice, just bewilderment. Having a couple of trailblazers was all it took. But I did experience genuine sexism from the owner of a games shop, of all places. "Are you waiting for your boyfriend, dear?" Guess where none of my money ever went.
** As a Christian, I struggle with the fact that polytheism is largely baked into the game. I've ended up with the Tolkein approach of having a middle tier of created deities, and we don't do warlocks as PCs.
I don't know the current training teachers get for handling addiction of drugs and booze. But when I enter rehab for booze, a lot of points about addiction to alcohol had me checking same boxes for gaming. I played with some scummy toxic people, I would now not allow in my house just to round out the table. After one blow up, me and my fellow adult gamers always made sure to ask the parents if was okay for the kid to play. And one after a neighbor kid lied to us, started phoning the parent before each session. The kid not only got some failing grades, he changed his report card. You may want to hit "EnWorld" forum up. Similar topics of school gaming, how gaming helps people etc appear regularly. Also check your local facebook feeds for adventure league in your area.
No Gaming is Better than Bad Gaming.
I hear you. I have never shied away from content in scripts. I currently teach high school, but even as a MS teacher I could navigate themes with students like drug use/addiction, even violence and suicide and of course relationships. I've been having these conversations with students and debates with parents for a while, so I expect a lot more push back from this, but I think with admin support I would be ready to defend these lessons, I actually started working on a lesson to address the history of D&D and gaming to get out in front of all of this. I have do this in theatre as well (we invented blackface...). You've given me some great ideas to think about, thank you for sharing!
We don't get too much training, we just have access to a support network of social workers and counselors. But I will reach out to them for some information on gaming addiction, shoot, they may already be able to identify some of my students as "high-risk". Thank you for your idea!
There is a youtube channel that has a guy doing D&D with high school students.
https://www.youtube.com/c/BillAllanWorld/playlists