The Color of Middle School

[JenniferL]

So I teach at a private school now, right? It's for kids with learning disabilities and behavior disorders.  We have a VERY structured reward program, based on teaching them job skills. Each kid carries a planner with them  to every class. In the planner, I put their "contracting", i.e. the week's assignments. If they complete their work to my satisfaction, and follow other vocational skills like dressing appropriately, interacting courtesly, etc. I "pay" them and record it in their planners. If they don't do it, I can deduct them. If they go above and beyond, I can give them a bonus. Each afternoon, they go to homeroom and we help them add up their pay and record it in a deposit book. On Fridays, we don't hold classes. Instead, we do "payoff". They take their pay that they've earned during the week and write a check to the teachers for a predetermined amount of their money.  Anything left over gets transfered to a "savings" account, which is used for big ticket items, like field trips to the Georgia Aquarium, or the county fair.

 

On some Fridays, the payoff is clubs. Each teacher was asked to present a club to the student body that they could sign up for. I presented "Dungeons and Dragons".  Yes, I just spent my entire day playing DnD with a bunch of hyperactive middle school boys with poor social skills.  In some respects, it's as awful as it sounds. They shout over each other, interupt me constantly, and cheat like pyschopaths.  I asked one student a few weeks ago why he kept fudging his dice rolls and he whined "I just want to kill something..." This is also the kid that tried to mount a suicidal one man assualt on a skeleton army because he wanted all the experience points for himself.  They struggle with the concept of "good" alignment.

 

Today was the last time my club will meet this semester.  I told them this morning that I'd had enough of their hijinks and that I was going to do something about it. I was going to kill off their characters today.  They whined, of course. They didn't believe me. "What will we do if our characters die?" Start over again, with new characters. "From the beginning???" Yes.

 

I even brought out the big guns today, to show I was serious. I had a Monster Manual with me, with certain pages conspiculously bookmarked. The big shock came when I pulled out the bag of minitures.  My husband has started collecting them. It's a very modest assortment, as far as these things go. But it's enough. "What's in there?" one boy whispered.

 

"In here?" I pointed at the bag. "Your doom."

 

[Dwynwen]

That's hilarious, Mother!  You're so good with your kids.

[Guest nephitess]

*ROFL*  Thats awsome!!

[bcxanth]

Uh oh.  Kat, I think I'm in love. ;)

[Silver]

Hahahaha, very nice

[JenniferL]

It's really not often that I can make "The Color of Money" references at school.  Kids simply aren't versed in the classics anymore.

 

And all their characters lived, by the way. They all got a little battered, but they all lived.

[Wayward_fool]

Heeheehee. *snorts*

[Guest nephitess]

Mother your great!! *makes a note not to play D&D with mother*

[Guest Far Dareis Mai]

I think it's awesome you were able to have a D&D club. We tried to organize one back in the day while I was in High School, and the principal looked at us like we were psychopaths. And I love that the kids got into it, even if they were a little overambitious. I got my two younger sister's into D&D, and my 13 year old sister (who would never EVER admit to her classmates that she plays D&D at home with her 25 year old sister), has the same problem with "good" alignment. I decided to get her though (she is a fortune monger, unlike your much smarter (imo) exp points guy), and pulled out the Deck of Many Things. At the prospect of fame and fortune, she was willing to draw three cards...even though she knew there were "bad" cards in there. Lol her first two were glorious, and then her third one? She became a giant pile of dust, from the cinder she was burnt to. *cackles*

 

Needless to say she learnt her lesson. :P

[Loreina]

First I'd like to say, you're a "better man than I Gunga Din". Of course, you're a whole lot younger too, and that makes a heap a difference. ;) I will not teach Middle School, unless it's a choice between that and starvation.

 

I know of D&D, but have never played or seen a game. What significance did the miniatures have? You had been playing before without them, so they are not necessary to the game. Yet they were obviously of some advantage. So I'm curious about what that might have been.  ;D

[JenniferL]

They are little figurines of whatever you're fighting.  It helps you visualize what's going on better. I have a vinyl floor mat with a grid printed on it that I draw the map on for them. I had just been using abstract marks to show where the monsters were, but my kids are REALLY concrete thinkers.  I learned how to play using just dice, pencils and looseleaf paper. I tried it that way with them the first time and they about lost their minds. So I started using the visual aids.

[bcxanth]

When I DM a game, my players always know that, when the figures and grid map come out, a big battle is about to take place. This usualyl causes anything from groans and attempts to escape, to excitement and cackles of glee.  Though granted, the cackles are usually coming from me. :D

[Loreina]

That sounds like fun!  ;D