Inside the Humanities at Allendale Columbia School

Dungeons and Dragons in the English Classroom

Today for our first episode I interviewed Aaron Shepard. Aaron first taught at AC in 2005 as a long-term sub for 5th grade, and he joined the Middle School full time in 2007 – at first as a math and history teacher. These days, he teaches English and history. And in 2019, he started doing D&D in his English classes. That’s right, Dungeons and Dragons. In our interview, Aaron talked about his decision to bring role-playing games to his classroom, why it’s a good fit for an English course, and how it’s impacted not just his students but himself as a teacher. This is an amazing approach to teaching that helps students to build writing and reading skills and to collaborate with each other. At the same time, it’s fun. It lets students walk into the classroom and become someone else. And though the characters they play may be made up, the connections they make with Aaron are real and lasting. You can contact me at vbissonette@allendalecolumbia.org [//vbissonette@allendalecolumbia.org]. For more information about Allendale Columbia School, check out the school's webpage [https://allendalecolumbia.org/].  Here's a link to Aaron's LinkedIn page [https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-shepard-8ba516247/].  Music by Lexin_Music [https://pixabay.com/users/lexin_music-28841948/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=116199] from Pixabay [https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=116199].