D&D in the classroom

[James Jacobs]

My 5th grade teacher split my class up into multiple groups and ran us through a dungeon using the old blue book back in the day. He'd run each group through a single room at a time during Lunch break, and then if we wanted to progress to the next room, someone in the group had to write up the group's adventures. It was a pretty ingenious way to trick 5th grade kids into writing. Then, at the end of the school year, those groups who made it to the end of the adventure got copies of the experience printed as a booklet.

Of course, my group had it easy because I loved writing anyway...

 

[roguerouge]

I've taught DnD at College Academy (Welcome to College Gate® & Colle) in a class called fantasy adventures. It was a GREAT experience, even with parties of 12 students! We ran 3e encounters in a 1e style: no battle board, all imagination. I had it so that each class (of 4) was competing in the final exams of "Frogwart's" academy of adventurers. Teams racked up points for kills, coin, secrets uncovered, missions accomplished and individual and team goals. The last day of adventures was pretty intense, as there was a leaderboard and it really started to make for interesting machinations.

 

[Cyronax]

I love the sentiments in this thread. I was exposed initially to BECMI by a child psychologist when I was 8(ish) (late 1980's). I got sent there by my parents because I was hyperactive (heh).

Anyway, it was a great experience. My parents probably regret that now, since they never much liked D&D. They at least have acknowledged that my vocabulary and love of history and politics were greatly aided by my hobby however.

I eventually picked up D&D in middle school and haven't put it down since.

I do have a rather -- negative -- thought though. What about the bad connotations D&D has/had? The gamut -- satanism and obesity/in-doorsism/social awkwardness come to mind. I would be hesitant to bringing it into the classroom due to liabilities from reactionary/misinformed parents.

 

[buddhafrog]

I've taught DnD at College Academy (Welcome to College Gate® & Colle) in a class called fantasy adventures. It was a GREAT experience, even with parties of 12 students! We ran 3e encounters in a 1e style: no battle board, all imagination. I had it so that each class (of 4) was competing in the final exams of "Frogwart's" academy of adventurers. Teams racked up points for kills, coin, secrets uncovered, missions accomplished and individual and team goals. The last day of adventures was pretty intense, as there was a leaderboard and it really started to make for interesting machinations.

Brilliant! I'd love to see this in action. Only slightly related: after all my classes have built a few levels, I'm going to have a Sat extravaganza where I'll attempt building a 3D arena and put them all in there together, along with various teams of monsters, and either do a free-for-all or team-gladiator type of tournament. Should be fun.

I do have a rather -- negative -- thought though. What about the bad connotations D&D has/had? The gamut -- satanism and obesity/in-doorsism/social awkwardness come to mind. I would be hesitant to bringing it into the classroom due to liabilities from reactionary/misinformed parents.

I've wondered the same thing. Teaching overseas, I don't run into this problem at all. There are no pre-conceived ideas about D&D - neither the stigma that only certain kinds of people play it or that it is occult-lite. I never thought these stereotypes would bother me, yet teaching D&D knowing that these are non-existent here is somewhat liberating. I was surprised at feeling this.

The podcast mentioned above doesn't use "D&D" or even "RPG's" but rather "simulation" or other terms. I think that's fine. Whatever makes gets kids involved and creative and learning while still being accepted by parents is the right way to go.

Origins Con gives away free tix to teachers. I think this is brilliant and a wise, wise way to try and build the future of RPG's. I teach small classes of 1~4 students in my home, so D&D is easy. However, teaching a large class at school could present problems. I'd think that developing kits that are especially designed for larger classrooms would be a wonderful way to build the hobby and might find some very moderate success.

 

[Runestar]

I do have a rather -- negative -- thought though. What about the bad connotations D&D has/had? The gamut -- satanism and obesity/in-doorsism/social awkwardness come to mind. I would be hesitant to bringing it into the classroom due to liabilities from reactionary/misinformed parents.

I suppose it is all about emphasizing the process skills you want your class to learn through dnd, and less so about the various factors which gives dnd its bad name. Just say you are trying out a new teaching pedagogy or something.

My area would have the advantage of dnd being relatively unknown, if I were to ever try and implement it into my lessons. They only know dnd through the PC games like baldur's gate and neverwinter nights, and even then, there is a fair amount of memory jogging involved.

 

[Cyronax]

The podcast mentioned above doesn't use "D&D" or even "RPG's" but rather "simulation" or other terms. I think that's fine. Whatever makes gets kids involved and creative and learning while still being accepted by parents is the right way to go.

Ah 'simulation' in the classroom is quite different than D&D in the classroom. I work in the military-industrial complex (tm) and have been to several seminars -- while being paid and on the job -- that had each person take on the actual role of a specific person or position in order to deal with some crisis. These simulations even go so far as to have specialized software for keeping virtual score or tabs on the escalation of the situation.

When I went to grad school in DC for "defense stuff" I also had a few classes that had a wargame or simulationist proctored session or two. Game Theory from economics was also taught in a quick fashion.

The most involved class simulation I got into was taking on the role of a leader of a Kurdish faction with the Kurdish Regional Government of Iraqi Kurdistan. The other players included the Iraqi Government, the Shiite militias, Sunni militias, US military/ambassador, some Iranian faction, al Qaeda, and the Turkish government.

The set up for the scenario was Turkey sending serious military assets into and over Iraqi Kurdistan during the winter of 2007 (a concurrent event at the time).

I also took part in one where a loose nukes scenario led up to a massive WMD attack on New York City.

These sort of simulations are very common in DC and I know that even the top brass of the US military plays in them. And I'm not referring to simple training scenarios -- I'm talking about immersive events.

C.I.D.

 

[oni no won]

Savage Worlds would be great for use in ESL because it forces characters to actually come up with tricks to obtain those precious bonuses to hit (they would have to actually describe their actions).

For your 1 hour classes though I think you might want to look into Dungeon Slayers. It is a much simpler system that has an old D&D feel without it being retro clone.

 

[tahia]

thesis on dnd in esl classroom

hi
i read about you using dnd in a esl classroom. I`m from chile and I have been studying to become an english teacher (efl teacher). now i`m starting working on my thesis and it's about dnd in a esl classroom as a new teaching strategy. here in chile dnd is very popular but not in the classrooms so it has been very hard for me to find information about it but your forum has been very helpful. that`s why i wanted to ask you how you started using dnd in the classroom, i have an idea but your experiences would be very helpful. i would be very happy if you could add any other info or research if you know.
thanks for everything
saludos
veronica marquez