D & D rules O.K.!

This is the message of Tripod's hilarious show Tripod vs the Dragon, which I saw last week.  For the uninitiated, D&D is Dungeons and Dragons, a role playing game (real life, in the broadest sense as opposed to virtual/second life type role playing....), that was very popular amongst a certain demographic during my highschool days, the late 80s/early 90s.  The typical D&D player was male, smart, apparently quiet, secretly funny and is now employed by multinational engineering firms, software companies, insurance companies or google. And up to three of them, I suspect, have formed Tripod!

D&D is played using a pair of 20-sided dice, and a series of very complex instruction manuals which are referred to constantly as the players choose characters and establish their strengths and weaknesses in areas such as courage, intelligence, fighing ability, loyalty etc.  A quest is undertaken, with the random rolling of the dice determining the characters' fates and degrees of success in achieving their goals.  As you can imagine it is very complicated, and games could last many days!   I have fond memories of a group of boys in my class at school who could usually manage to find a quiet, warm corner to settle into with their dice, rule books, and complex, specialised jargon.

This is the culture embraced and celebrated in Tripod vs the Dragon.  A trio of male friends, now adults, meet weekly for an afternoon of Dungeons & Dragons, dropped off by their wives with plentiful supplies of soft drink and chips.  They, and the audience are drawn into their quest, and follow their adventures.  The set is quite sparse, an armchair, a keyboard and a huge white sheet suspended midstage.  The story is told through song and semi-scripted comic patter.  Being comedians, Tripod engage in repartee with the audience, and it isn't always clear what is spontaneous and what is planned.  Much of the action is presented through shadow effects with lights on either side of the sheet.  The effect is brilliant, so simple yet innovative and hilariously entertaining.

I won't tell you much about the story, suffice to say that it's a fairly standard quest of our heroes (a priest, a magician and a fughter who wants to be a bard), seeking to destroy a dragon, having adventures of the mind, body and heart on the way....

The closing song epitomises the message or, if you like, the moral of the story, that it's ok to be a 'nerd', and have specialised, eccentric hobbies and pastimes; it is possible to transcend a highschool life of being a library refugee, but do you really want to?  As someone who was friends with D&D players at school, (despite never being invited to play), I was filled with a warm nostalgic glow!  A night of happy, rather than cruel or sarcastic, laughter was just what the doctor ordered!  I came out feeling refreshed and uplifted.

Taking Shape and Taking Aim

I am back in the blogosphere after a very busy holiday.  We began with just a few science workshops booked at our local library, but the days quickly filled with visits to and from friends and relatives, days at the beach, and explorations in Brisbane.  The fun continued for the adults as we had a night away to see the hilarious musical comedy "Tripod vs the Dragon", which features my current favourite singer Elana Stone (see the link below) as the dragon. It was a fabulous show.  In fact I might just do a post about it later this week, and if you're wondering how it could possibly be relevant (aside from the obvious Knight vs Dragon puns - groan), all will be revealed soon!

I am working to establish some sort of form to the substance in the blog, and will be introducing some regular features:
Monday's Experts will review and critique the works of various parenting, educational or social commentators.  I've got Michael Grose, Maggie Hamilton and Steve Biddulph in my sights at the moment.  Let me know who or what you would like me to read on your behalf too!

RANTonia will give me a chance to let off steam about current or enduring issues that irk me.

Stories from the Chalkface will feature guestbloggers from the world of education, writing about a topic of their choice.  If you are a teacher or a teacher type person, I'd love to hear from you.

'Bobilee' Elana Stone on 'Rockwiz'

Single Dad Laughing

This is a blog that has exploded onto the parenting scene. Dan is very thought-provoking, and is certainly generating a lot of debate. This week he has focused on bullying, and ways of dealing with children who bully. He points out that bullies are also in need of love, because their actions are driven by more than a simple 'it seemed like fun at the time' motivation. He has received some interesting feed back from former bullies, which suggests that he is striking a chord with some of his readers. Single Dad Laughing

Reading Rockets: Reading Comprehension & Language Arts Teaching Strategies for Kids

Reading Rockets is a national (USA) project that looks at how young children learn to read, why so many struggle, and what caring adults can do to help them. A good site for both parents and teachers!
Reading Rockets: Reading Comprehension & Language Arts Teaching Strategies for Kids

DIYFather.com - It's great to be a dad!

I have been struggling to find good websites or blogs that are relevant to parents of school age children or teenagers and that aren't part of a government site. (Not that there's anything wrong with .gov sites ;)) Earlychildhood sites proliferate, perhaps because of the baby boom of the past five or so years. I guess as the children of those bloggers grow up, perhaps their websites will evolve too! The link I've included below is a comprehensive site based in New Zealand. It is well worth a look.

DIYFather.com - It's great to be a dad!

Fathers' Day

Yesterday was Fathers' Day in Australia, and perhaps in other countries as well. Fathers' Day and Mothers' Day leave me a bit cold, to be honest.  I don't appreciate the way shops thrust their marketing down our throats, implying that we should demonstrate our love for our parents by buying expensive gifts.  It must also be a very hard day for people who have lost parents or children, or who have been unable to have children, or who are going through complicated divorces etc.  Indeed, these celebratory days may serve to alienate and exclude more people than they include!

But I digress! The point of this blog is not for me to rave on about social issues that make me feel vaguely nauseous.

My previous post sparked some discussion about homework and how it can be best made relevant, and of best use to families.  With this in mind, and in acknowledgement of yesterday being Fathers' Day, I am reminded of a conversation I had with a student a fortnight ago.

I have recently started doing some supply/casual/substitute teaching at a local highschool.  During a recent lesson, I noticed a girl quietly finishing off some work from another subject.  When I asked her about it, her face lit up and she proceeded to tell me enthusiastically about her science assignment.  As part of a unit about electricity, the year 9 class had been set a practical assignment to build something that included electical circuitry.  They had a number of optoions to choose from, including solar powered vehicles, burglar alarms etc.  The girl I was speaking to had chosen to build a dolls' house which had electric (LED) lights in each room which could be operated in various configurations with different switches.  Instead of taking the simple way out and just poking the LED lights through a cardboard box and cutting out windows and doors, the girl and her father had worked together to build a beautiful two-storey, wooden dolls' house.  It took them many hours of work, designing, cutting, sanding and assembling the house, not to mention the electrical wiring and circuitry.  And what a lasting monument to a solid father/daughter relationship!  At a stage of life when tradition has it that parents and children are least likely to get along, here was a homework assignment that helped to bring them together! I wonder of the teacher, when he or she set the assignment, had it in mind that it could provide such pleasure to a father and daughter.

(P.S. I realise that some readers' hackles will be raised by my positioning of the apostrophe in Fathers' Day, but I see it as a time to celebrate all fathers and father-figures; fathers as a class, not as individuals.)