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Thoughts on educational design ...

A topic by Luck Of Legends (Michael Low) created Apr 30, 2022 Views: 252 Replies: 6
Viewing posts 1 to 4
HostSubmitted

Hi all!  I know we all have different approaches, and someone on the Discord server (hi Jeremy!) asked about mine.  I put together a thread on it, then thought I might post it here in case anyone else was interested.

I'm also happy to run a quick intro to my approach and live Discord discussion this week or next, if anyone's interested?  I'm PST, and would have to meet on M/T/W, but if a few folx post they're into it, I'll happily put a date and time together!

So, on my approach, here's a quick summary of what I run for kids (but don't sell):

My approach is tying character advancement and story moments to game.  

  • Kids write between sessions, and we begin each with read alouds.  Amount written determines how many "story points" are earned; these can be spent for re-rolls, to gain Tags and Special abilities (I can nerd about this, but there it is), or to add dice to your pool (different system).
  • There is no penalty for not writing - just no reward.  People can share story points, so the kid who writes a lot can save the kid who didn't, and create social incentive to invest next time.
  • The other key is that read-alouds are ALWAYS celebratory, and done with voices, questions, and excitement.  I'll offer "bonus" point challenges for kids who need work on one skill or another - dialogue, paragraph breaks, comma use, reading aloud, descriptive prose, narrative vs. explication, etc.  
  • All this happens on a shared google slides doc, so kids can see everything and riff off one another's stories.  One principle I work off of is kids work for peer recognition - tie a skill to cheering peers and they'll hustle on it!  This is amplified when their stories become woven into the events of the game.
  • My feedback is qualitative, based on their portfolios after 5~6 classes (4~5 stories), and focused on glows and grows.  Parents appreciate the detailed response.

I've written a fair amount on my approach on my blog.  You can read a bit here:

If anybody wants me to go into dice mechanics, agreement questions, safety tools, online character keepers, online die rolling, or what-have-you, holler!

Thank you very much! This stuff is very useful, and I'm gonna use it in my kindergarten work.

HostSubmitted

Awesome!  Would LOVE to talk about your approach - Steph, of TTRPGkids.com, has been developing a younger age approach, too, with her StoryGuider series.  Holler if you'd like to ask anything, get some support in implementing stuff, or just want to chat!

Submitted

I started playing ttrpgs consistently in the past two years and have been thinking about how to incorporate it into my classroom. I work with high needs population and I am always looking for ways to make reading and learning more approachable. Thank you for sharing these ideas, approaches, and posts!!!! I'm sorry I missed the discord discussion, but I look forward to reading through your material. I am deeply grateful that you put this Jam together! I will look through my games to see about submitting as well, which will give me a chance to look at my work through a different lens.

I'm sure I'll be back and revisit the jam in September when school starts! 

HostSubmitted

Cheers!  I'm actually debating extending the "jam" - it's really just a way to keep accumulating games and approaches for educators to use, so if I keep extending the deadline, I suppose it serves as a "living library" of sorts (plus, we don't lose anyone that way!).  We're still up on discord, still happy to chat, and trying to arrange some more meetups - feel free to reach out!

Submitted

Hi! Poking this channel so we can join a larger community dedicated to narrative games in education, or create our own. Anyone’s got a place other than Luck of legend? Else, Mickael, would you welcome more people on your ship? Your take on Luna Uni makes me think so…

HostSubmitted

Absolutely! The Discord (which I know you're on!) is very much the spot where a lot of us are around. Let's keep chatting there!