It’s game night and you are ready to host your trusty board game geek friends for another spirited marathon session of Settlers of Catan, Codenames, and Ticket To Ride. But wait… the married couple’s baby-sitter has cancelled, your old college roommate has a cat emergency, and your high school pal got surprise with a free Taylor Swift concert ticket. It’s just you and your partner for tonight? You still want to play board games, but what do you do? Well, perhaps it’s time to try out one of these great two-player games!
Here’s a list of my 6 favorite board games that work amazing for two people, with some commentary and critique mixed in.
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When I first sat down to play the revised edition of Arkham Horror: The Card Game, I felt a thrill of anticipation. The Lovecraftian theme is so immersive, and every decision felt like stepping deeper into a dark, eerie world. The streamlined mechanics made the experience smoother than earlier editions, and the narrative drew me in immediately. Building my investigator’s deck felt like crafting a personal story, and every card I played revealed a piece of that tale. As my partner and I faced eldritch horrors together, the cooperative gameplay kept us engaged and on edge.
The game wasn’t without its frustrations, though. The reliance on luck from card draws added some unpredictability that occasionally disrupted our plans. Also, knowing how expansive the game’s content is, it can feeling overwhelming at the prospect of diving into future expansions. Still, for anyone who loves thematic storytelling and strategic challenges, this revised edition is an absolute must-try.
Sky Team feels like stepping into the cockpit of an actual airliner. This cooperative two-player game had my partner and me working together as pilot and co-pilot to land a commercial plane safely. The tension was palpable as we silently communicated through dice placement, balancing speed, altitude, and other critical controls. Each airport presented unique challenges, keeping every session fresh and engaging. The streamlined mechanics and straightforward rules made it easy to jump in, but the depth of strategy kept us coming back.
That said, the game isn’t without its challenges. The lack of direct communication during key moments added an exciting twist but could feel restrictive at times, especially for those who thrive on verbal collaboration. Additionally, while the game is fantastic for short, intense sessions, it might not appeal to players looking for longer, more complex experiences. Still, Sky Team is a masterclass in cooperative design and a must-play for duos looking for a unique and immersive challenge
When I first spread out the play mat and started forming the vibrant mandala from the game’s 54 tiles, I was struck by the simplicity yet depth of Patterns: A Mandala Game. In this two-player abstract strategy game, my opponent and I took turns swapping tiles and marking contiguous areas in our colors to claim territory. Every move felt deliberate, as I had to anticipate how to maximize my scoring opportunities while thwarting my opponent’s plans. The gameplay was incredibly smooth, with setup and rules explanation taking no more than five minutes, allowing us to dive right into the competition.
What stood out to me was the tension between careful planning and adaptability. Just when I thought I had a winning move, my opponent disrupted my strategy with a well-placed marker. Despite the straightforward mechanics, the game challenges you to think several moves ahead. It’s also visually stunning, with its colorful design creating a relaxing yet strategic atmosphere. While the gameplay might feel repetitive after several plays, as the objectives remain consistent, the quick rounds and potential for subtle tactical improvements kept it engaging for me each time we reset the board
I didn’t expect such a compact game like Sobek: 2 Players to pack as much punch as it did. The strategic decisions kept me on my toes, as I had to balance resource collection with managing corruption. Every move felt like a delicate balance of risk and reward, and the anticipation of my opponent’s next move added a layer of tension. The theme of ancient Egypt was beautifully integrated, making the experience both engaging and aesthetically pleasing.
The only downside was that its small size and simple rules made it feel more like a “filler game” than a centerpiece for a game night. Still, it’s one of the best choices for a quick, strategic battle when time is limited, and I’d gladly recommend it to anyone who enjoys tightly designed two-player games.
From the moment I played my first round of 7 Wonders Duel, I could see why this game is so highly regarded. It brilliantly condenses the sprawling 7 Wonders experience into an intense, tightly focused duel between two players. Drafting cards from the pyramid-shaped layout added a unique layer of strategy—I wasn’t just thinking about my own moves but also blocking opportunities for my opponent. The game’s three potential victory paths—military, scientific, or civil—kept me constantly reevaluating my strategy. Should I push for a quick military win or invest in culture and science to dominate later rounds? Every decision felt significant.
One of my favorite aspects was the game’s pace. It’s quick and engaging without feeling rushed, and the balance between accessibility and depth meant that I could introduce it to casual gamers or spar with seasoned opponents. My only critique is that some games can feel lopsided if one player pulls ahead in a specific victory condition early on. That said, the constant tension and variety in strategy ensure it remains one of my favorite two-player games.
The first time I played Forbidden Island, I was immediately drawn in by its sense of adventure and cooperation. My partner and I assumed the roles of explorers tasked with recovering ancient treasures before the island sank beneath us. The gameplay was straightforward, with each turn offering critical decisions: should I move to shore up sinking areas, collect treasure cards, or position myself to assist my teammate? The steadily rising waters kept the tension high, making every move feel vital. The vibrant artwork and modular tile layout added to the game’s immersive and dynamic nature.
While I loved the cooperative mechanics and the thrill of racing against the clock, I did notice that the game’s replayability is somewhat limited. Once you’ve mastered the strategies for each role, it becomes easier to predict the optimal plays, which can reduce the challenge. That said, increasing the difficulty level breathed new life into our sessions. For its simplicity, portability, and teamwork-focused design, Forbidden Island is one of the best introductory co-op games I’ve played, perfect for two players looking for a light yet engaging challenge.
Thank you to every single student who uses the class materials properly and returns them to the correct storage location. You are the true heroes of the classroom.
Thanksgiving is without a doubt my favorite holiday of the year. I love the food, the time spent with family, the endless televised sporting events, and the food. Did I mention the food?
Over a decade ago I was spending the day with my parents, just the three of us, and my mom went to all the trouble of cooking the entire tradition Thanksgiving meal. She spent about 8 hours (possibly more) creating a meal that we ate in about 20 minutes. Then we cleaned it all up. The meal was amazing as always, but it seemed like so much work for just three people.
The next year I was watching the Food Network and there was a show about famous foods from around the United States, and how you could get them delivered through the mail. One of the featured foods was Lou Malnati’s deep dish Chicago style pizza. Since both of my parents grew up in Illinois, I have a healthy love of Chicago style deep dish and get it any time I am in Chicago visiting my brother. I hadn’t had it in quite a while, and immediately wanted to go to the website and order it.
Before I ordered, however, I had a thought. What if we ordered pizza from Chicago for Thanksgiving instead? Nobody would need to spend countless hours making food that gets demolished in the blink of an eye, and everyone gets to eat something special that they love.
I floated the idea to my mom, and she agreed to try it out. I assured her that I didn’t really care about the huge meal, and that all I really wanted was to spend time with my parents. So now our family tradition is baking a couple of deep dish pies in the oven, whipping up a batch of my mom’s famous broccoli salad, and munching away in front of the TV while the Bears lose.
I like that we started this new tradition and have kept it going for over a decade. Nobody is stressed out, everyone has more time to be together, and the clean-up is a breeze. It’s simple, fun, and keeps what is important at the forefront.
The main reason I love Thanksgiving is that it is a holiday in which you are meant to spend time being grateful for what you currently have in your life. It’s basically the anti-capitalism holiday, as the whole purpose is to just be with your family (biological, found, or otherwise) and be grateful for what you have. The day is essentially a “don’t go buy anything today, except maybe mayonnaise for sandwiches tomorrow” kind of day. Of course, this is immediately ironically destroyed by the “buy everything you can possibly see” Black Friday sales the next day, but that is a topic for another day.
So with the focus of being thankful, instead of being a ravenous consumer, I wanted to make a list of things I am thankful for, with a bit of a teaching slant. So here is my list of Thanksgiving Thankfulness Teacher Thoughts:
1: I am thankful for my wonderful colleagues that I get to work with every single day. Every teacher I know is passionate about the job, gives their best effort every single day, and is always willing to help me out when I need it. I am so lucky to teach at my school.
2: I am grateful for the student who misses multiple days of school and comes back to class knowing what happened when they were gone because they read the weekly agenda online. Instead of “What did we do while I was gone?”, they say “I saw that I missed two lessons and I grabbed the worksheets from the absent work folders”.
3: Thank you to every single student who uses the class materials properly and returns them to the correct storage location. You are the true heroes of the classroom.
4: I am thankful that my principal has supported me with implementing Building Thinking Classrooms in my own classroom, both with financial support and with students and parents. From the moment I presented him with the book and my ideas for change he has supported me.
5: I am thankful for the existence of the Frixion Erasable pen. I just love it so much.
6: I am grateful for my Friday afternoon debrief sessions with my teaching partner Mrs. Balbas. Pretty much every single Friday we are able to talk about how the week went, safely vent our frustrations, and go into the weekend knowing what went well, what needs to be done next week, and how we are going to accomplish it. Having a colleague you truly trust is such a blessing.
7: I am beyond grateful for my cat Puck. No matter how challenging or exhausting my day has been, he is there to greet me at the garage door, run over to the kitchen, jump on the counter, and let me hug him for a solid minute while purring into my right ear. He always gives me snuggles when I need them, and keeps me on my toes in the morning if I don’t feed him fast enough. He is the best boy ever.
Well, enough of making lists for today. I must prepare to eat 2,000 calories worth of Chicago deep dish pizza!
If a student brings you a gift, literally ANY gift, it means something special.
One of my most vibrant memories of elementary school is the day before Winter Break in which my elementary school teacher gathered the class seated criss-cross-apple-sauce on the communal rug and opened all of the gifts we had brought her for the holidays. My mom was famous for her homemade almond roca candy, and having an older brother meant my current teacher most likely had gotten a tin of that renowned roca two years prior and knew what to expect from the Zuercher family. Each gift was opened with care, and to the best of my recollection, my teacher reacted with genuine delight and appreciation for whatever happened to be gifted from each family. I’ve always assumed that my teacher absolutely adored the tin of almond roca we gave her, but I have no way of really knowing that. All I know for sure is that I definitely felt like she did.
As a classroom teacher now I always try to keep this childhood feeling in mind during the regular gift giving times. If a student brings you a gift, literally ANY gift, it means something special. That student, or the family of that student, made an effort to let you know that you mean something to them. That is a special thing, and should not be overlooked.
Did they bring you a mug with a cliche teacher quote on it that you already have three of in your surplus mug cabinet at home? Well, that student noticed that you drink coffee in the morning and wanted you to have a new mug to enjoy it in.
Did you receive a partially used Target gift card with $3.41 on it? This might be literally the only thing the family could afford to give, which means they probably couldn’t afford to give it to you, but they did anyway. What an amazing gesture!
Have you been given a single package of sticky notes that you can get from the front office at pretty much any time during the year? Maybe that student really loved the Quiz-Quiz-Trade activity you did with sticky notes last month to review linear functions and wanted to do it again.
Is a student presenting you with a suspicious looking non-descript baked good in a beat up plastic baggie? Acknowledge the time and effort it took them to make that, and ask them about the special family recipes they love to make during the holidays.
No matter what the gift is, it is special because of the reason it is being given. That student cares about you and is taking the time to let you know. Do your best to show genuine appreciation for any gift a student brings you, whether it is extravagant, simple, used, leaking, or possibly still alive.
So I started my 21st school year last week, and I wanted to share one of my favorite Thinking Tasks I started doing with my students in the past few years.
Whether you are looking for a good activity to get your mathematicians working together in the first weeks of school, or you need a quick 5-minute filler activity at the end of a class period, The Answers Are… is a great go-to math task for your students.
I first learned about this task in Peter Liljedahl’s book Building Thinking Classrooms a few years back. To be honest, when I first read the task (on page 169) I didn’t fully understand the directions, so I was reluctant to try it out. Once I finally realized what to do, and tried it with my students, it became a class favorite. Here’s how the task works:
The Directions
Give the students a pre-selected number bank of 10 numbers to start with. This could be any set of numbers, including integers, rationals, etc. The easiest set to begin with is the whole numbers 1-10, as seen below:
Next, give the students the answers to 5 math problems, or expressions, such as:
Now the students know what numbers they can use from the number bank, and what answers they must get from the answer bank. Here’s where the thinking comes in. The rules of the task are:
Each answer must be created from two numbers from the number bank and one mathematical operation.
Once you use a number from the number bank, it cannot be used again.
You must use each of the four basic operations once (add, subtract, multiply, divide).
You may use one operation more than once.
You must use all 10 numbers in the number bank.
For example, to get an answer of 3, they could do 2+1, 3(1), 6/2, or even 10-7. There are a lot of options. They are all equal to 3, but aren’t necessarily what they want to use. The strategy here is that the only way to get an answer of 63 is to multiply 9 and 7, therefore they would not want to use 10-7 to get the answer of 3, since that would use up the 7. Once they use a 7 to get 63, they can’t use 7(2) to get 14, so they probably need to use some kind of addition to get the number 14, and so on. It’s a great mix of logical thinking and math fact strategy.
That’s pretty much it. Use all 10 numbers to create the 5 given answers. Can you solve the example I gave above? Click here if you want the solution!
The Setup
I have done this task multiple ways in class, depending on the needs of the day. I created a set of Task Cards for my students to use in random groups of 3 at the vertical whiteboard Thinking Stations during the first week of school while doing Non-Curricular Thinking Tasks. This is a great way to get students working together and talking about math. The directions are very simple, and if you use whole numbers like I showed above, every student has good access to the task, since the floor is quite low.
I really like creating and printing task cards, cut as half sheets of paper, so the groups can go at their own pace. You can have groups check their answer with you, or have them prove their answer is correct, then erase their board and get the next set of numbers. They can also leave up their answers to help groups that might be stuck. Peter Liljedahl calls this “Knowledge Mobility”. It has it’s pro and cons.
Students work through the possible ways to get the answers of 3, 7, 10, 14, and 63.
Sometimes I have a few minutes left in class and I just want to keep the kids thinking until the bell rings. I like to have a set ready to go that I can just write down on the board. Since I have whiteboard tables, the students can try to figure it out at their seats, or go to a Thinking Station of their choice and work on it vertically.
In a real pinch I just give them the 1 through 10 number bank and just make up 5 answers on the spot. Not ideal, but it works.
Get Started!
So what do you need in order to do The Answers Are…?
In the most basic sense, pencil and paper. You can write the number bank and answers on the class whiteboard, and students can work on it using just pencil and paper. If you have vertical whiteboards, then dry erase markers and erasers are needed.
It’s 2019, a Friday afternoon in October, and I’m driving home from school. It’s been a tough day and my brain is absolutely cooked from making 8,000 decisions during my Math 8 classes and giving a cumulative exam in Enhanced Math 1. Seems like giving a test should make for an easy day, as you don’t have to do much, but that’s not the case. Stress levels in students are high. With stress and high expectations comes the willingness to compromise morals and desire to cheat. My attention must be laser focused to make sure students are working with integrity. It’s…not fun. I know there are other ways to assess students, but the most authentic assessment of each student’s ability is to assess them independently (as far as I have found, anyway).
Then there’s the grading. Before switching to Standards Based Grading, we used a traditional points based system, assigning point values to each question, then deducting points from a question if work or formatting was incorrect. With about 100 students taking a test that is about 20 questions long, that’s examining 2,000 test items, most of which have multiple steps of work. I might give 1 or 2 well-crafted multiple choice questions, but 90% of the exam is hand written work with many steps to inspect. When I stack up all the exams, shove them in my messenger bag, and toss the bag in the car, the ride home feels so daunting, knowing I must spend the next 8-10 hours grinding.
Having already gone over the way I am grading student work now using the 4-point rubric, let me just say that it is so much better than itemizing point deductions for each question like I used to. I would drive myself crazy trying to determine if something was minus 1, minus 2, or more. I even got to the point where I was deducting one tenth of a point on certain questions, which in hindsight was absolutely insane. Like, what was I doing???
Target Specific Assessments
One of the best changes we made this past school year was how we assess our students. Before 2020 we would give one large assessment each month, which was always cumulative up to that point. That meant that at the end of February the students would get the “February Test”, which could have any topic on it they learned from August until about mid-February. We emphasized more recent material, and the old stuff was relegated to a few questions on the essential Learning Targets. The test was always worth 100 points, and we used a year-long gradebook. By the end of the school year the gradebook had about 1,200 points in it (including the monthly tests, quizzes, and homework).
The rationale was that we wanted students to maintain their skills throughout the year, instead of simply learning something for a short time and then never recalling it again because it would never be assessed again. While I agreed with this premise, the downside was that these tests were very stressful for the students, usually took up an entire block period to administer, and took an extremely long time for me to grade. Each exam would have around 20 questions on it of varying Depths of Knowledge, so grading around 170 of them each month was mentally exhausting.
So instead we switched to more frequent Target specific assessments, focusing on only 1 to 2 Targets each. The assessments were much shorter, able to be completed in a 51-minute period by most students, and each Target could be covered by a variety of questions at different levels of rigor. We included spicy peppers to indicate to students which questions we considered more challenging, and those were the ones they should get correct to be considered having “Thorough” understanding of the Target. Here is an example of an assessment I gave last year in Math 8:
The Benefits of Target Focused Assessments
In 8th grade we gave 14 different assessments that covered 20 of the Learning Targets for the year. This meant that I graded assessments more frequently, but the assessments were much quicker to complete. Whenever I assessed Math 8 I was able to grade both class periods in under one hour, usually on the same day I gave the assessment. I could literally never do that before. Many times students would take the assessment on Friday and I could hand it back to them on Monday. During the days of grading a cumulative test it might take me a week or more to finish marking everything, therefore the feedback took longer and was less valuable.
One of the best results from the more Target focused, smaller assessments was that students were not as stressed out or overwhelmed. Since they were shorter and more focused, students were able to finish them in a reasonable time period, and students with IEP’s and 504 plans did not need to use their time accommodations as often. Additionally, with the retake policy we adopted, students knew that they always had a second chance to take a different but similar version of the exam, so if they just weren’t feeling it the day of they test, they always had the change to try again.
Giving these shorter assessments also gave me more flexibility on the day of the test. Since most students would finish with additional time, I was able to give them some more interesting tasks to do once they were finished. I now post Open Middle problems at my thinking stations, Non-Curricular Thinking Tasks, extension problems from previous Targets, or desmos activities that preview the next Target we are going to learn. Assessment day is now a “show me what you know, then go find something you are interested in” kind of day, rather than a stress-fest of feverishly working until the bell rings.
This isn’t to say that every student was instantly successful the first time, or that my assessment results were amazing across the board. In Part 3 I will look at how students did overall, how they reflected on their own results, and whether the retake system worked for all students. See you next time!
I barely graduated high school. And by barely, I mean “pretty sure the school counselors did some creative accounting on my transcript to keep the graduation rate high” barely. When I tell my current students this fact they are flabbergasted. I dropped this little life nugget to my Enhanced Math 1 students the other day and a third of them just sat there agog. Each day in class they are presented with a college graduate with a 20 year teaching career who can explain any math topic from 9th grade on down. What they don’t see is the awkward 90’s teenager who struggled through each day fighting depression, anxiety, imposter syndrome, and an overall belief that the world would be better off without him.
A few things literally saved my life in high school; playing roller hockey with my brother in the cul-de-sac, my love of computer games, and the big group of theatre nerds I found in sophomore year.
I finally started finding myself during my junior year. My brother moved to San Diego for college and I became more active in the school theatre. I can’t say I was much of a fan of acting, but I really liked to sing, and enjoyed doing the school musicals the most. I never had any big roles, but I thrived in the company, doing bit parts here and there. I worked tech, did box office, learned some construction skills, and was part of something created by a community. It felt like where I was supposed to be.
Eating some pizza, rocking that sweet backwards ball cap.
When you have a friend group that you feel comfortable with and trust, you tend to branch out and take more social risks. Around junior year I was introduced to tabletop roleplaying games. What a shock that a bunch of thespians would enjoy role-playing games! My earliest memories are of playing a Glitter Boy in the game Rifts, a crazy RPG that had a little bit of everything. I had no idea what I was doing, didn’t know any of the rules, but I had a giant gun that went Boom. It was amazing.
Where do I park this thing?
Playing these games with my friends, working on shows, and playing hockey got me through high school.
During my Community College years my friend Dave invited me to play in a weekly game of 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons. He was living in a house with three roommates and one of them, Dan, ran a game. I lived for those weekend games. I got better at school, learned how to work hard at my warehouse job lifting boxes of jigsaw puzzles, and made up crazy stories with my friends involving wizards, Drow, Illithid, and Dave’s crazy rogue.
At some point our weekly game ended. I honestly don’t remember why.
I graduated from Chapman University, earned my teaching credential, got my first big boy job, and life got way more serious. It would be about 15 years until I played D&D again.
Kevin was a 7th grade boy with a giant smile, a big laugh, and an even bigger heart. He was assigned to my Advisement class in 2006 and was also in my Intro to Pre-Algebra class. His mom had requested he have a male Advisement teacher and some strong male teacher figures, since his father had died the year before when Kevin was in 6th grade. I had played roller hockey with his father on occasion, so I recognized the last name when I looked at my rosters before school began. Knowing what he had gone through, I made it a mission of mine to be the best role model I could be for him.
Surfing at San Onofre.
During our two years together I coached him in roller hockey and helped with his struggles and challenges with ADHD. I watched him play drums in the school band, and learned of his love of music, drawing, snowboarding, and CARS! Kevin loved cars! All the cars.
He made great progress in middle school, and I felt good knowing that I had done my best to send him off to high school with the skills and confidence he needed.
As he entered high school, his mom asked if I could continue tutoring and mentoring him, which I gladly did. He continued playing roller hockey for the high school, as well as wrestled and played lacrosse. He qualified for the CIF wrestling tournament freshman year and I went to his first match in which he got pinned in under 30 seconds and left with a broken nose.
School was very hard for Kevin, which I really understood. We had some of the same struggles, so I felt like I understood him pretty well. By junior year things were not going well for him academically, so his mom decided he would attend a military academy. They provided way more structure and routine, and it was a good place for him to be. I did my best to mentor him from afar, but life got in the way and we didn’t communicate as much.
Kevin graduated high school and eventually moved to Colorado to pursue work in the automotive field. He always wanted to work on cars, and I was happy to see that he was pursuing his passion. We lost touch for a while. Then in 2015 I got a message from him saying he was back in SoCal and was looking to start playing hockey again. I jumped at the chance to get him on my adult league roller hockey team and we finally got the opportunity to play competitive hockey together.
Once a week we would lace up the skates, play on the same line and always try to get each other to score, then talk for a while in the parking lot about life. He would talk about his girlfriend, wanting to go to automotive school, and his motorcycle. I tried to teach him about budgeting, long-term investing, and why he should stop getting so many dang tattoos.
On Sunday May 17th, 2015, Kevin Michael Corey was killed while riding his motorcycle, about a month before his 21st birthday.
I was told the news on Monday morning during the ten minute snack break at school by a colleague who saw the news on Facebook.
I’ve never known a deeper pain in all of my life. An immense wave of depression, anxiety, and sorrow instantly overwhelmed me, and persisted for months. Kevin was not my child, but he was my kid. I knew him better than any student I had ever known, and his passing left a deep void in my heart.
We held a memorial for Kevin at the center of the roller hockey rink. I gave the eulogy. I hugged his family, friends, and former students.
And then I was just…empty.
I don’t remember the rest of that school year. I struggled to go to work each day. I tried to be fake happy with my students, but I wasn’t fooling anyone. I was a zombie around campus, and I couldn’t wait for summer to start so I didn’t have to be an adult for a while.
When summer did begin, things got worse. I was alone and grieving. I had no motivation to do anything and spent weeks just watching TV, playing computer games, and sleeping. It was the darkest point in my life. Until it wasn’t.
One day in July of 2015 during a mindless computer game binge I decided to play some YouTube videos in a background browser window. The autoplay feature was on and I was watching videos about board games (another passion of mine) on the Geek & Sundry channel. After a while a new video began playing that was about Dungeons & Dragons. The man in the video had a nice voice and was talking about this new show they were going to try where a bunch of nerdy voice actors would sit around and play D&D. This caught my attention. I used to love playing D&D! What is this show?
The video was 3 hours long, and I devoured the whole thing in one sitting. It was the first bit of enjoyment I felt in months. I checked the channel and found a few other episodes had been uploaded, and I watched them all in a day. It was the first time in months where I went over an hour not replaying Kevin’s death in my mind. It was such a relief.
The show was called Critical Role, and during each episode they talked about streaming their show every Thursday night on Twitch. I had never heard of that, so I quickly navigated to the site and learned it was a streaming platform for video gamers. I found the concept strange, as I would much rather play a video game than watch someone else do it. But they had other shows, and Critical Role was one of them.
And so I tuned in the next Thursday night at 7pm Pacific and watched a live stream of a bunch of friends playing Dungeons & Dragons in real-time. The episode was 4.5 hours long and it flew by. I was fully immersed in the world of Exandria created by Matthew Mercer, and was provided a brief respite from my grief. They ended the episode with a small catch phrase of “Is It Thursday Yet?”, a small nod to the fact that all of the players in the game would constantly ask if it was Thursday yet, because they loved playing D&D with each other so much.
This phrase quickly became my mantra. Every day of the week was a struggle to get through, but no matter how bad I felt I just reminded myself that another episode of Critical Role was just a few days away. Just make it to Thursday.
This went on for most of the summer, and through the next school year.
Just make it to Thursday.
I made it to Thursday.
Just make it to Thursday.
Is it Thursday yet?
At some point I realized that when I thought about Kevin I didn’t feel sadness or despair anymore, but joy in having known him. Literally every memory I have of him is a happy one, and every time I picture him in my mind he is smiling. It took almost a year to get to that point, but I finally did.
Thanks to a group of nerdy-ass voice actors who gave me a reason to keep going, find joy in my friends, and take time every day to play and imagine and wonder.
When Covid-19 forced us to close down the schools and teach from home I had a lot of free time on my hands. Separated from the people I cared about, I looked for ways to connect. Playing board games around a table was not a possibility, so I searched for ways to connect online. I quickly found a D&D group run by a great DM named Tim through the Roll20 website and began playing over voice chat every Saturday. Playing by voice only was difficult, since I couldn’t read the body language and facial expressions of my fellow party members. There was a lot of cross talk, interrupted speech, and misunderstandings at first. I adapted, however, and quickly started to look forward to my weekly games with my new friends from Seattle, Florida, and South America. Critical Role was on hiatus, so “Is It Thursday Yet?” became “Is It Saturday Yet?”.
In my time between games I began re-watching all of campaign 1 of Critical Role, as every episode was on YouTube, and it was a great thing to have on in the background. I created new digital math lessons with Scanlan, Percy, and Pike having adventures in the background. A small bit of comfort to help me pass the time.
The Covid crisis subsided, I got back into the classroom, and I started longing for my high school days of D&D. 8 hours of gaming with good friends and terrible snacks. As luck would have it, I received a text message in early 2022 from my friend Paul about joining his Shadowrun RPG group now that everyone was vaccinated and things were a bit safer. I jumped at the chance to be at the table again, and soon I was learning a whole new gaming system with my old high school friends Justin & Paul, and my new friends Keith and Greg every Friday night. Even Puck gets into the action, whether we want him to or not.
Puck loves dice.
Is It Friday Yet?
I now run the Dungeons & Dragons club at school. Last year we had about 20 students show up to the club regularly, and they quickly formed playing groups. I noticed that four students kept coming to club, but didn’t join any groups to play. They wanted to learn, but didn’t really know how to begin. So I decided to run a game for them, the first time I ever took on the role of “Dungeon Master”. It was really scary. It was really fun. Now I know why Matthew Mercer always looks like he is having the time of his life every time he guides his friends through another adventure.
This year I have about 25 kids regularly come to club, and I’m running a game with 3 new students and one holdover from last year (the other three promoted to high school). Every Wednesday when the lunch bell rings I have students seemingly apparate at my door, trying to get into the room and tell stories with their friends for as much time as possible.
I love seeing the joy and surprise on their faces when the dice roll great, or horribly, and we describe together what happens to their make-believe heroes. One of my players is so invested in the game that he frequently seeks me out during break or lunch time on other days of the week to ask questions about spells his Wizard can do and what stat he should level up next. He bought a player’s handbook and brings it to school every day.
Dungeons & Dragons is not magic, and doesn’t cure depression. Rifts isn’t going to solve all of your problems, nor is Shadowrun the answer to life’s deep questions. These games are merely a mechanism for getting people into a room together to make-believe and tell stories. They provide a safe place and the structure to be your weird, quirky self, and allow you the space to bond with your friends over something that only you few will ever feel is real. I still vividly recall my friend Justin rolling a natural 20 in the most impossible scenario 25 years ago and all of us screaming wildly at 1 AM. It’s all imaginary, but it’s so very real. Those memories are something I will always share with my friends, and are some of the most cherished times of my life.
I know that I will never be friends with the cast of Critical Role. I will never sit at a table gaming with them into the wee hours of the night. Even so, I still feel a debt of gratitude to them for helping me through the darkest time in my life. Their decision to share their beloved home game of Dungeons & Dragons with the world provided me comfort and relief at a time when I needed it the most.
I still miss Kevin every day. Some days it’s a fleeting thought. A flash of his smile and the sound of his laugh. Other times I’m sad for the life I never got to see come to fruition. I imagine him working on cars all day, then meeting me at the rink for some pickup hockey and talking about life. He would show me his newest tattoo, and I’d shake my head disapprovingly, mostly in jest.
I rarely make deep connections with students in the same way anymore, mostly as a defense mechanism to guard against feeling the same sorrow ever again. It’s not logical, but it’s what I do. The best I can do now is open my classroom every Wednesday at lunch and provide some of the most vulnerable and marginalized students at school a safe place to be their weird selves. In a small way my room is their Critical Role, and I’m happy to provide them that safe place of comfort and joy. I hope Kevin would be proud.
Is It Wednesday Yet?
P.S. – I got the first and only tattoo of my life a year after Kevin died. It is a memorial to him and the joy he brought to me. I think he would like it.
Back in middle school the best day ever was when one of my teachers would wheel out the cathode ray TV and VCR combo on a wheely cart and pop in a sweet VHS tape. Time to turn my brain off and coast for an hour. Unless it was Bill Nye the Science Guy, I was automatically asleep at the wheel, and no learning was taking place. The one exception was when we watched Honey I Shrunk The Kids in elementary school as a “treat” and I was forever traumatized by the heroic ant being viciously stung to death by a scorpion (thanks, Mrs. Heath).
It’s the safety strap that really does it for me.
Perhaps you have a thought or emotion attached to the TV/VCR cart that comes to mind. It might be quaint nostalgia, or perhaps an endearing feeling attached to knowing you didn’t have to work hard for an hour.
Now, what feeling is attached to the teacher who wheeled out that cart? What words come to mind when you think of the educator who used it once in a while. What about every week? How about constantly? I suspect that the more it is used, the more negative those descriptors tend to be.
Whether correct or not, the TV cart usually indicated a teacher who was tired, lazy, or unmotivated. Aside from being the easiest sub plan ever (insert VHS, press play, relax), the TV cart showing up in class constantly was not a strong sign of an effective educator. Not much learning was going on in that classroom, I would surmise.
Even though TV carts are a relic of the past (if your school still has these in circulation, I’m sorry), there are modern equivalents that show up just as often. Obviously, firing up Disney + on your overhead projector is just a new technology form of the same thing, although there are many great documentaries and nature programs available that are of high value. Interactive quiz apps like Kahoot! and Blooket can be used effectively for review of a particular learning target, but often turn into “Name That Corporate Logo” or “Interesting Facts About Halloween” time wasters.
In my classroom my goal is to use every single minute for instruction and mathematical thinking. I don’t always succeed, but I’m always trying to maximize the learning. This means having the agenda and warm-up thinking task ready to go as the students walk in. Attendance is done within 30 seconds of the bell ringing. The main lesson starts no more than 5 minutes after class starts (after completing the warm-up task), and ends within 2 minutes of the bell ringing so students can organize their materials and get ready for the trek to their next class. Students are NEVER meandering around the room or standing by the door for minutes at a time, waiting for the bell to ring so they can sprint to the snack line (this is a huge classroom management pet peeve of mine).
So what do I do when the lesson ends early, or we have a few spare minutes left in class? Why, math games, of course! Over the years I have collected a few reliable math games that are effective in many situations, and require almost no materials or prep work. Here are some of my favorites:
The X Game
Time needed: Less than one minute.
Materials: Overhead Projector or Vertical Whiteboard Surface.
The perfect game for when you have less than a minute of class and you don’t want to waste it.
1. Think of any two integers (or fractions if you are feeling spicy). Draw an X on the board and write the product of the two numbers in the top space and the sum of the two numbers in the bottom space. For example, if I’m thinking of the numbers 3 and 5, I would draw this:
2. Have students silently study the drawing and determine what two numbers go on the left and on the right. For the above example, it could be 3 and 5 or 5 and 3. If they know the answer, they raise their hand. I never call on the first student, as my goal is not speed. I usually call on the 5th or 6th hand. If they get it correct, I make a new one. I can usually do 2-3 per minute once the students understand the game.
Note: I do not tell students how to figure out the blank numbers on the left and right. I just write it on the board and tell them to figure it out. Eventually they conclude that two numbers must multiply to get the number on top and add to get the number on the bottom. In 19 years I have never had to explain this game. I just write the x, the top and bottom numbers, and tell them to figure it out.
This game is great in middle school, as it secretly prepares them for factoring quadratic equations in high school later on.
Mental Pattern
Time needed: About 2-3 minutes.
Materials: Overhead Projector or Vertical Whiteboard Surface.
This game is my go to when I have only a few spare minutes left in class. This is great for developing number sense and function recognition. Here’s how it works:
1. Think of a function, any kind. Linear functions are best to start with before making things more complicated as your students get used to the game. Something like y = x + 7 or y = 3x is a great place to start.
2. Write a T-Chart on the board and complete two rows of the chart using random inputs. I usually do one positive integer and one negative integer to begin with. I never start with zero.
3. Give students some time to consider the pattern. If a student thinks they know the pattern being used, have them raise their hand. After a few hands are up (hopefully), call on one student and give them another x-value in the table and have them mentally compute the correct output. They are not explaining the pattern out loud, but simply giving the numerical output for the given input. If no students raise their hands at all, fill in another row with new values to give them more to think about.
Note: It’s important to stress that this is a mental math game and that students must try to figure out the pattern themselves. They are not sharing answers or telling other students how to do it. It is much more satisfying for a student to suddenly realize the pattern rather than have someone turn to them and tell them what it is. That’s no fun!.
4. If the answer is correct, fill in the table with that answer. If the answer is incorrect, just say that it is incorrect and call on another student. Many times students will be incorrect in the first round since the table does not have much information in it and they are thinking of many possibilities. Wrong answers are great, as they help narrow and focus other students’ thinking.
5. Continue this process, always calling on new students as you go, for about 5-6 different rows in the table. You will notice that more hands will go up each time you add numbers to the table. Sometimes students need a bit more time or a few more pieces of evidence for them to finally see the pattern. Once you have 5-6 rows complete, have a new student explain the pattern, or describe the pattern in terms of x.
6. Repeat the game with a new pattern if you have time. I usually just make one up in my head depending on the class I am teaching and the student population. If I know the class has been struggling with linear functions, I might focus on proportional equations or one-step linear functions. If they have mastered linear functions, I might start with linear functions with fractions or integers, then extend into simple quadratics such as y=x^2 + 3 or something with absolute value in it.
I can usually sneak one or two rounds in at the end of class. Some students will be packing up and organizing their belongings while others are playing the game. Nobody is just wandering around the room or waiting at the door.
Warning: This game is exclusionary in nature, and may not be right for your class culture. I don’t play this game with every class. If you have fostered a growth mindset and students are ok with publicly getting math wrong, then it can be really fun. In most cases, students make fun of themselves and have a great time and are ok with messing up in front of others. We laugh a lot, but not at the expense of others.
This game is great to play outside if you have decent weather and just need the kids to move around a bit and be able to be loud. Here’s how it works:
Have all of your students stand in a circle with you in the middle. Explain the rules as follows:
I will call out a factor number, point at a random student, and point either left or right.
Starting at the number 1, each student must say the next number in order out loud.
When you say the number out loud, you must either clap, or not clap, depending on what number you are on.
If the number you yell out is a multiple of the factor number, you DO NOT clap.
If the number you yell out has the factor number as one of its digits, DO NOT clap.
If neither of the above is true, CLAP.
If you clap when you shouldn’t, or don’t clap when you should, you are out and must either sit down or leave the circle.
When a player gets out, the next student starts back at one.
I can change the factor at any time, so pay attention!
For example, suppose you point at a student, yell out 4 as the factor number, and point to the left.
The first student yells out 1 and claps.
The student to their left yells out 2 and claps.
The next student yells out 3 and claps.
The next student yells out 4 and DOES NOT clap.
Student 5 claps.
Student 6 claps.
Student 7 claps.
Student 8 DOES NOT clap, since 8 is a multiple of 4.
Students 9-11 clap.
Student 12 DOES NOT clap, since 12 is a multiple of 4.
Student 13 claps.
Student 14 DOES NOT clap, since 14 has the digit 4 in it.
Keep going until someone messes up.
I usually use the same factor for a few rounds and then change the number and the direction.
The last three students standing are the winners of the game.
A non-exclusionary variant of the game is to work as a class to see how high you can get without making a mistake. You can write down class records for different factor numbers and try to beat them as the year goes on. This way you are working as a team, rather than having individuals trying to win on their own.
D.U.C.K.S.
Time needed: 10-15 minutes
Materials: Overhead Projector or Vertical Whiteboard Surface, two number cubes, 1 quarter sheet of blank paper per student, 1 pencil per student.
I learned this game at a math conference about 17 years ago and cannot remember who taught it to me. Sorry, un-credited math educator. You are forever in my debt. I remember he called this game “SKUNK”, but I re-named it because I love the Anaheim Ducks, and it’s also easier for each round of the game to be represented by a different letter in the alphabet.
Hand out a quarter sheet of blank paper to each student and have them write D U C K S (or whatever word you like) at the top of the paper, like so:
Each letter represents a different round of the game. If you want a shorter or longer game, you can use a shorter or longer word. 4-5 rounds is usually the right amount.
Here are the rules of the game:
At the beginning of each round, all students stand up at their seat (I provide red/green nesting cups for students who are unable to stand up due to physical differences. Green means standing, red means sitting).
At the beginning of the round the game leader rolls two number cubes. I roll under a document camera for transparency.
If neither number cube shows a 1, the values are added together and every student standing gains those points.
For example, if I roll a 5 and 4, every student standing would write under the letter D that they got 9 points.
If either number cube shows a 1, the round is over and anyone standing loses all of the points they collected that round.
Optional rule: If the very first roll in a round has a 1 in it, ignore it and re-roll until you get a non-1 roll.
After each roll, every student standing can choose to stay standing and continue playing, or sit down and be “safe”.
Seated students cannot gain more points or lose any points. This is the only way a student can actually earn any points. If they stay standing, they are always risking their points.
Once a student sits down during a round, that student cannot stand up again until the next round.
A single round is over when one of two things happens
A 1 is rolled on either number cube.
Every student has chosen to sit down before a 1 is rolled (this rarely happens).
At the end of the round, all students stand up again and begin the next round.
Repeat this process until all rounds are complete.
The winning student is the one with the most total points over all 5 rounds.
This requires a level of integrity and trust that students are keeping score correctly.
Verify the student’s score by confirming how many numbers they got for each round and that it all adds up.
Optional Rule: Rolling two ones, or “snake eyes”, causes all students standing to lose all of their accumulated points for every round completed, not just their points for that round.
Here’s how a student’s score card might look at the end of a game:
In round D the student stayed standing up for 4 consecutive rolls, then sat down. They earned 32 points.
In round U the student stood up for two rounds, then was still standing during the third roll, which had a one in it, so they crossed out the points they had earned.
Round C was tough, as a one was rolled on the second roll, so the student lost the 9 points they had.
Round K was great, as they stayed standing for 5 straight good rolls and earned 37 points before sitting down.
They got no points for Round S, as they were standing up when a one was rolled on the third roll.
This student would have a total score of 69 points. Nice.
Admittedly, there isn’t a whole bunch of skill involved in this game, but it does elicit good conversations about probability when rolling two dice. I love playing this in 7th grade after doing the Statistics & Probability unit.
Since this game takes longer than most, it’s great for a block day as a break between activities, or a fun way to close out a long class period.
Hopefully you can use one of these free math games in your own class and keep your students thinking until the very end of class.
What are some of your favorite math games to play in class that require little to no prep work or supplies? Let me know in the comments.
The simple truth is that if you teach long enough, you will outlive some of your students.
January 9th started as any normal Monday morning. I arrived at my classroom, got the supplies ready for the day, made sure the bell schedule was correct and the targets were written for the week. I roused the computer from its weekend slumber and quickly checked my email for any important announcements. My eyes were instantly drawn to the third message in the queue, and a wave of adrenaline and anxiety hit me like a ton of bricks.
“Tragic News”.
No. Not again. Damnit, not again.
There isn’t a single teacher credential program that exists that is able to prepare you for everything you will encounter in your teaching career. They provide you with the latest research on pedagogy and childhood development. You learn strategies for how to get students talking to each other, how to write a basic lesson plan, and ways to manage classroom behavior.
What they don’t teach you is how to deal with the death of a student.
Nothing can prepare you for the moment you learn that one of your kids is gone. The sadness is deep, and it persists. The logical part of my brain knows they are not my biological children, and that I only see them for about an hour a day. My heart does not care. It’s as if an unseen force reaches into your heart and tears off a portion that you will never get back. The piece may be small, but you still feel its absence.
I learned of four former students dying in the past year. Let me tell you about them.
Max was a gregarious fellow, full of energy and fun. On the hockey rink he skated with abandon, crashing into the boards and other players frequently, always with a smile on his face. He was the goofiest of his siblings, and he never failed to make me laugh.
Christian was a complete rascal with a sly smile that showed he understood more than he let on. His long bleach blond hair gave the impression that he was just a simple surfer and water polo player, but his mind was sharp and full of wit.
Dylan loved to crack jokes and make the class laugh. You always had to be on the lookout for his next opportunity for humor. Behind the comedian was an intelligent young man who never tried his hardest in my class, but I knew that he could do it.
Alex was just a wonderfully empathetic boy. A rarity in middle school. Alex made sure everyone was included and he stood up for what was right. He didn’t get the highest grade in the class, but he didn’t seem to care because he knew he tried his best. Alex would help anyone, no questions asked.
Alex was the subject of the “Tragic News” email. Only a senior in high school. I was looking forward to seeing him graduate in June. Now there will be an empty seat at commencement.
The simple truth is that if you teach long enough, you will outlive some of your students.
Most often the news will be shocking and unexpected. Young people are not supposed to die.
The news of one will make your memories cascade, reminding you of all the kids you have lost over the years. What you thought you had healed from, or buried, rises to the surface to remind you of how absolutely random and cruel the world can be. In the case of Alex, I learned of his death 30 minutes before school started. The first period bell rang whether I was done crying or not.
Some of the most important research on effective teaching shows that the stronger your connections are with your students, the higher they will achieve. My principal is well versed in this research, and consistently reminds us how important these connections are in our regular staff meetings. I know that what he says is true. The problem is, the stronger your connections are with your students, the more it hurts when they are gone.
That’s the toughest part of the job. When you truly care about your kids and build those bonds, you open yourself up to the hurt and despair when you lose one of them. If you choose to guard yourself and only know them on a surface level, they can always tell, and they don’t learn as much. Sometimes, you will put everything you have into a group of students and you will never see the result. It will feel as though your efforts were wasted.
Do you lean in and expose yourself to possible grief? Do you close off and merely “do the job”, protected from the pain?
I honestly don’t know the right answer. I just know that my heart is heavy, and I’m tired of losing my kids.
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