Tabletop Teacher

Things I learned from this trip: Packing a bag is more thoughtful than you might think Dragon caves are actually hard to get to Carrying a broadsword up a mountain is a feat itself I have a new found respect for the average party of adventurers. My training as a Ranger (or Duke of Edinburgh Leader) begins with a simple hike up Snowdon, with a wild camp over night just below the summit. There is a ridge of cliffs surrounding a small lake there (very much in the theme of the Gates of Moria), and the trainers thought there'd be enough shelter there for a decent night's sleep. They were wrong, but lets not get ahead of ourselves. The simple act of packing a bag for the adventure was a learning experience itself. I had three bags in the end: Expedition back bag, containing camping equipment such as tents and sleeping bags Day back pack, containing cooking tools and mapping equipment Spares bag, containing changes of clothes which was kept in our expedition bus ...

No, I'm not dead yet, neither is the blog. I've just been on a Duke of Edinburgh training trip to Snowdonia. I haven't drawn a Chalk Ork in months! In kind of a surprise, I've been made the Duke of Edinburgh Award Coordinator for my school, with the official reasoning being I just get on with work instead of complaining about it. So... the moral of the story is just get on with your work and you'll be rewarded? I'm more than happy to do it, as it is effectively breaking a wall I never intended to on my way to building Warhammer 40K as a school tradition, and I'm really excited about multi-classing into Ranger. There's a lot of Dungeons and Dragons nerdage in my approach to this, so brace yourselves. The Duke of Edinburgh Award (DofE) is an outdoor and general citizenship programme that student neophytes can learn hiking, mountaineering, camping and how to be a decent person. It's one of a few such organisations in the UK, the other two bi...

Simply the best end of term gift I've ever received, and that includes the bottle of champagne so expensive I had to declare it for tax purposes. As I was packing up my classroom after a hard day of getting students to learn about projectile motion (we played with water bottle rockets), two students of mine walked in carrying this thing between them: It's a battlefield!! Okay, it's made of cardboard and newspaper, and the glue is still drying, but how many teachers can claim to have gotten a hand made battlefield terrain set from their students! Here's some close ups:  Looking down on those corpse-worshippers  Looking up from the dreadnought bunker  Eagle eye view of combatants  View of the Traitor's Gate Teacher pay is not great, no matter where you work. There's certainly no bonus pay for good years or good results. But you do get gems like this, which I don't think other professions do. Good to be a t...

Ok, I know I promised a rocket video, but I need to edit out the students. Child Protection is something any teacher worth their chalk takes seriously. Instead here's my guide to painting Khorne Bloodbound: Don't bother with the brush... just dunk him in there. Khorne loves that. Ok, that's not how I really paint these guys, and here's a link to an actual painting guide . The conical flask there is full of fake blood I'm using for a murder mystery.  Blood group testing The samples out of the blood group test teaching packet looked more like water melon juice than blood. I'm just doing some custom samples now. What? Theatricality is important in the classroom. Why wouldn't I spend my free time making realistic looking blood samples? Until next time! Thanks for reading. If you liked what you saw, and you want to help out, please leave a comment. Sharing this with your friends, and following me on Twitter , Facebook or Google+...

For some Astartes, jump packs are not enough. For some Astartes, true flight for mankind is the goal. For this Space Marine... only piercing the heavens will do...  Primaris Inceptors think their jet packs are cool...  This Astartes sneers at Swooping Hawk wings! This is where Warhammer 40K and teaching Science intersect. And... It. Is. Glorious. MWAAHAAHAHAHAHAHA!! Launch tomorrow. Thanks for reading. If you liked what you saw, and you want to help out, please leave a comment. Sharing this with your friends, and following me on Twitter , Facebook or Google+ would also be hugely appreciated. If you have anything you want me to look at, let me know in the comments below. I'll probably be able to write an article about that topic within a day! If you really love what I do here, you can make a one off donation at my  PayPal , or become a true hero to table top education and make a regular donation to my  Patreon . Every Li...

It's been another grueling day at work, and I've only just finished (it being 11pm now). This week refuses to let up, but on the upside, I got to meet John Tickle today! As I finally give in to my wife's demands for me to go to bed, you guys get some pictures of student neophyte armies on parade. Enjoy! Until next time. Thanks for reading. If you liked what you saw, and you want to help out, please leave a comment. Sharing this with your friends, and following me on Twitter , Facebook or Google+ would also be hugely appreciated. If you have anything you want me to look at, let me know in the comments below. I'll probably be able to write an article about that topic within a day! If you really love what I do here, you can make a one off donation at my  PayPal , or become a true hero to table top education and make a regular donation to my  Patreon . Every Little helps!

What's often lost on some parents and educators these days, is the art of gently being mean to students. Now please don't misunderstand me... in this current climate of rabid political correctness and over-zealous moralisers, a statement like that could be taken, plastered across the media without context and have me fired within a week. Let me be perfectly clear: Do not be cruel to your students. But at times you have to stop supporting them. Over the last few months I noticed my young neophytes somewhat stalling in their progression to true neck beardom. They had the models, and had the enthusiasm, and most were even getting some good painting done. But they weren't really learning the game. Those times we did play, I was often doing all of the thinking for them. Instead of arbitrating rules disagreements, I was playing the role of DM in telling them exactly how much dice to roll and when, and what they needed to get on those dice rolls. Which is fine ...

The God Emperor of Physics, sitting in his Golden Throne It's a curious job being a teacher. On the one hand, your day to day life couldn't be more routine. On the other, you occasionally get to go and do genuinely amazing things. On Monday, I took a few students to go and meet the God-Emperor of Physics himself, Professor Stephen Hawking. The news dropped last term, before Christmas, and actually before I started writing the blog (which has been updated every day for the past few months... I have the Relentless Writer USR). My department head was running through the building trying to find a Physics teacher, and as I was working late (as per usual... I have the Relentless Teacher USR as well) I was the first Physics teacher she found. We got a once in a lifetime chance to go and see Prof. Stephen Hawking getting an award up in London. And I got put in charge. Working late sometimes pays off! I immediately set up a competition to see which students cou...

After a hard day killing Xenos, it's good to just kick back for a bit. This is an artificial beach we make to explain how different substances warm up at different rates when given the same energy (Specific Heat Capacity if you're a nerd or in High School Science!). I decided to pop in a Space Marine, to make it seem more... realistic. What? He's a White Scar. He's so pale! Needs some sun. Picture below shows the artificial sun we have. Sexy telescope reveal in background. Until next time! Thanks for reading. If you liked what you saw, and you want to help out, please leave a comment. Sharing this with your friends, and following me on Twitter , Facebook or Google+ would also be hugely appreciated. If you have anything you want me to look at, let me know in the comments below. I'll probably be able to write an article about that topic within a day! If you really love what I do here, you can make a one off donation at my  PayPal , or b...

Just a quick one today. Being on house duty and a solid day at the chalk face has left me fairly wiped out. Also, it's bin day. That means I need to take out the trash bins. That might not seem too arduous to some, but I live on the top floor of an old listed building, and so need to drag a week's worth of a family's trash downstairs. And then 200 meters across campus to where the big wheely bins are. Then drag those wheely bins 50 meters to the nearest pavement where they can be picked up. I'm not even exaggerating those numbers. Being a Physics teacher, I used one of our meter wheels to measure it. Yes, I am that much of a nerd. And could you resist using a meter wheel to measure stuff if you had one? Actually getting the meter wheel was a funny story. But I'm not going to get into it. Because this is an example of The Back Story Trap. Dungeons and Dragons is a story led game. It's all about the narrative you build with the other players in your...

This... failed. But it does look good! So the reason this doesn't work is simple Physics. This is a Van de Graaf generator. All it does it put electrons on the top dome, which can't escape leading to a build up of negative charge. What we do is put a pie plate on top of the generator dome, and stick the jump pack marine (Ravenguard of course) to the pie plate. The plate becomes coated with electrons as well, and thus is negatively charged. Like charges repel, and so the plate, and Marine fly away! Except the shape of the negative charge field is the shape of the dome... so the Marine just kind of slides off to the side. This can be fixed with MOAR POWER! But that's not really likely to happen with school equipment. This Space Marine is determined to fly though, and we will find new and exciting ways of launching this mini into the sky! Until next time. Thanks for reading. If you liked what you saw, and you want to help out, please leave a comment. Shari...

It's half-term... we've just done electrical fields... and I have the Van de Graaf generator all to myself. MWAHAHAHAAHAHA!!! Tomorrow I hope to have a video of my first truly flying Space Marine (since I'll have someone else to help for the inevitable problems). Looking forward to tomorrow Thanks for reading. If you liked what you saw, and you want to help out, please leave a comment. Sharing this with your friends, and following me on Twitter , Facebook or Google+ would also be hugely appreciated. If you have anything you want me to look at, let me know in the comments below. I'll probably be able to write an article about that topic within a day! If you really love what I do here, you can make a one off donation at my  PayPal , or become a true hero to table top education and make a regular donation to my  Patreon . Every Little helps!

It's been a while since I've had a chance to talk about the school club, and what goes on in it. School has (finally) settled down after mock exams and Christmas holidays, and despite a few Physics trips I've actually managed to get back to routine. It won't last. Half term is around the corner, and then actual exam panic for the Year 11s will set in. But for now everything is running normally, which means rampaging kids and their Space Wolves. What is clear though, is the immense disparity between students' toy soldier budgets. Whereas one boy is happily putting together 'club miniatures' funded by the school (well, actually me... Patreon link below), one boy has had parents drop around £300 on him over Christmas. What is happening with him is known as the Wallet Warrior, where he will simply buy the best stuff, or in this case, the most stuff to get an advantage over his buddies. Although in 40K the points system should be good enough to keep thi...

A few times a week I'm reminded of just how much a hobby this is, as opposed to a lifetime pursuit. Today is a particularly stinging example of where gaming is on my priority list. It's Sunday. This, for most, is a day of rest and relaxation after a strenuous day at the coal face of whatever 9-5 job you have. I was supposed to be at a special birthday game, a one-off Dungeons and Dragons session for a friend of mine. I had a character rolled up weeks ago (a Seraphon inspired War Cleric), and was really looking forward to my first game in nearly months. I am currently at work. It's an exeat weekend at my boarding school, which means we kick the students out for the weekend to give the various house staff a break. Think about that for a second. When your job is running a boarding house for students, you literally do not get time off until term is done. However, we have a couple of students who are coming back from a football tournament early, and thus need someon...

There are some days running the school Warhammer Club feels like a nursery with more expensive paints. The kids are larger, and are busily negotiating the jump from genuine kiddyness to adulthood, passing through several layers of immaturity on the way there. Imagine toddlers that have learned how to swear and make fart jokes. Your patience for this may vary, and I for one never grew up from this stage (leading to top quality #banter from teacher), but there are days when you simply do not have enough eyes to maintain a semblance of order. Enter The Help. This will usually be in the form of 6th Formers, or other final year students if you're in a primary school. Just like Ork Nobz, they'll generally command more respect from the students by their greater size and musculature. Rather than display oversized tusks, some will have poorly shaven stubble, adding to their Mob Rule rolls. Whilst it may be tempting to appoint a club captain with positions at the ...

This is something that a lot of neophytes get wrong, and you will be tearing your hair out over the termly brush budget. I was fortunate in that I got a good number of brushes donated from Games Workshop itself, but at £4-10 a pop, you're going to want to make sure your students can maintain equipment properly. First thing is this: Educate yourself. Watch the below video. If you're not subscribed to Warhammer TV yet, fix that. There's not a lot more to add to this advice apart from the following: Have a set place for brushes. Make sure students show you they've cleaned their brush. Monitor students painting to avoid them dunking into paint pots. Have a LOT of paper towels ready to hand. Consider enlisting a student to become Master Artificer. The Master Artificer is a role in the club where a student takes responsibility for maintenance of the equipment. This should be voluntary, but it's very important you pick a popular student for this ...

Last time I spoke about the pre-session for club members. After you'v got them hooked on the dice rolling, and inspired them with your awesomely painted Space Marines, it's time for them to discover the best bit of the hobby; Your Dudes. Your Dudes is a concept which makes 40K different from most other games. Whilst some Miniature games like X-Wing are leveraging some other intellectual property so sell models, Games Workshop encourages you to take their ideas and put your own on them. Like Ultramarines but hate blue? No problem, paint them desert khaki and call them the Sandstorms. Like the idea of Tau, but aren't a fan of the authoritarian fluff? Cool, run your own sept in pink and say their Ethereals are democratic in their approach. Your Dudes means you paint your models however you want them. It's a light form of 'Counts as', a similar concept which allows you to put fizzy pop (or soda for you non-limeys) cans as a drop pod. Fizzy pop pods are a s...

So getting into the hobby as a teacher carries with it some responsibilities. Looking at the QTS book (Qualified Teacher Standards to the people who wisely avoided education), there are a number here we need to discuss. Standard 1: Inspire pupils It goes without saying that if you present someone with a gelatinous cube and call it a space marine, they won't take you or your hobby seriously. What you need is some awesomely painted and impressive models to get the neophytes engaged in the hobby. Standard 3: Subject knowledge If you present students with an army of elves and claim they are necrons, you are not going to get students to trust you know what you're talking about. Equally if you present a fluffy list of unbound Greater Demons, they won't believe you know how to play the game properly. You need a solid list, which equally displays good basics and also one or two bits of tactical brilliance, cheese, or as us older gamers used to call it, beardiness. Sta...

It doesn't take a genius to run a club. It takes several, all with prescience and a super-computer to help you herd the WAAAGGHH!!!-ing cats that like to punctuate their dice rolls with yells of "For the Emprah!!!" But it takes a while to get to that point. I mentioned some guidelines earlier about how to manage your school's club. All that advice is valuable, but we'll break it down into smaller digestible pieces. I mentioned that the first thing that anybody needs to do is roll some dice. This triggers all kinds of reflexes in the brain, and already I'm steering myself into unethical territory. We're activating the gambling reflex here... but it's not a bad thing I promise! Equally, the first encounter with 40K needs to be visually impressive. Don't get out your Imperial Guard, unless you have a right and proper multitude. You need your awesome looking models, the slightly weird and wonderful. Eldar fit the bill well here, as space...

Image source: http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131006130437/warhammer40k/images/1/11/ScoutMarineIF.jpg So rules have been posted, and the next season of the School's League will be getting under way. This is my first time on it, and I'm really excited to get the students involved! The format for 40k is going to be: 450 points Battleforged/Unbound One Lord of War maximum Mission: Eternal War House rule: Slay the Lord of War - If a Lord of War has been removed as a casualty, you score 8 victory points. This is going to be in addition to the regular bonus points students get for turning up with equipment, painted models, etc. All the rules designed to get them involved in the hobby, as opposed to just buying a load of stuff and forgetting about it. 450 points is great! You neuter a lot of the power builds out there, and severely limit deathstars. Although it is possible to squeeze in an unbound Wraithknight or simply a solo knight, the majority of these arm...