Dungeons & Dragons: A Student Driven Adventure

Funded Nov 14, 2018

As promised, 6-12th grade students have been off of their phones, collaborating, problem solving, and planning and acting as they participate in the creative fantasy role-playing game, Dungeons & Dragons (D&D). Everyday over the two week Year End Studies (YES) Plan, students were fully engaged and interacting with their peers. This includes many students who traditionally prefer to put in their earbuds, put up their hoods, put their heads down, and block out school and classmates. What is more, this D&D course has high school students and middle school students participating together and building connections in ways that would never happen in traditional school!

My favorite example of the power of D&D is a student I have rarely seen fully engaged in classwork, who barely lifted a pencil in my regular class. Unprompted, this student sent me a detailed and creative character backstory to read at 6:00 AM in the morning! Since then he has feverishly taken notes about his campaign, the items and powers he has earned, and the in game characters he has met along the way. He also wrote me a thank you letter. If that is not a prime example of student engagement, I am not sure what would be.

Support for the Dungeon Masters (DMs), who were the students who developed and led their own stories, came in the form of many presenters as well as opportunities to problem solve their unique and common issues, together. A D&D podcaster video-conferenced twice from Chicago, provided strategies for problem-solving both how to set-up and plan for an interactive adventure and how to handle the curve-balls that players inevitably throw the DM's way. The DMs additionally synthesized information from a fantasy author/English teacher who video-conferenced from Virginia. He provided suggestions regarding the Hero's Journey, story arcs, character archetypes, and literary elements that are key to running interesting campaigns. Additionally, a local history professor came to speak to the student DMs about medieval institutions, politics, and the social order in a way that students could use to provide greater depth and description into their settings and unfolding stories. She also discussed the many innovative ways history professors are now incorporating role-play in their classes as a way to have students engaging more actively and mindfully in the content.

Embedded in the whole process were opportunities for the DMs to learn clear communication skills, flexibility, time management, and conflict resolution. Best of all, these opportunities did not feel like work. The half-day Player Characters (PCs) focused on elements of collaboration. As much as D&D is an individual game, where you develop and embody your character and make decisions and choices that are true to your character's personality and history, D&D is just as much a team sport. Students must work together, to adapt to arising situations and cooperate to both keep each other's characters alive and to progress to bigger and better things.

Over the two weeks of the program I regularly saw students in the halls making characters with each other outside of the class time. One of the PC's even told me he already used his book from this course to DM a game with his family! What is more, I also have multiple requests from students to do this Year End Studies course next year and in the future. Many of those requests came from PCs who tell me they want to do the DM-ing next time.

For as much as students have learned and enjoyed themselves in this YES program, the best part is, the gifts you made possible will keep on giving as the books and game resources will be available to students in our school's Library. In fact, there are students who already have checked books out for the summer and plan on continuing the games they started and beginning new adventures with other friends.

All-in-all, the students have had a fun-filled, enriching, and meaningful experience. They have developed friendships across grade levels, as well as more interpersonal skills, empathy, and self-confidence than I have seen in traditional schooling. I cannot wait to do this program again. I also plan to incorporate D&D into other areas, such as our after school program. Many thanks to you all, and in the future I hope you will consider using Donors Choose to help make more opportunities like this happen for students at both our school and across the country.”

With gratitude,

Mr. Howard