This past week and a half has been especially wonderful for me, filled with some of my favorite teaching moments. I've accumulated quite a few memories since starting my work in education some 12 years ago, but there's something about exploring
J. R. R. Tolkien's secondary world with students who have never seen it before that is extra, extra special. If you don't know what we are doing for J-Term this week at
the Maine School of Science and Mathematics, I hope you will be pleased to discover it is an exploration of Tolkien's lore and stories through
The Lord of the Rings Online.
Here are some highlights of what the kids and I--Dr. Brigman, their guide, to the best of my ability--have been up to. We have finished Books 1 and 2 of the Epic story line, all of the Shire deeds and the beginning skirmishes for level 25.
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| Day 1: our characters leaving the starting area and entering the Shire. |
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| Day 4-ish: The Party Tree in the Shire. The kids found the "invisible box" where the festival vendor usually stands. I was excited to show them all of the festival grounds for Bilbo's birthday. They were more excited with finding things to climb. I heard lots of, "Hey! Look at me!" |
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| The Old Forest at Tom Bombadil's house. I forgot to turn off floaty names, but it was so cool to see this many characters interacting with Tom at one time. |
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| 9 hobbits and 1 race of Man crashing in Strider's room on the Epic storyline. Enough said :). |
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| That moment you realize your student has become a chicken. |
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| Showing off our muscles in the Lone Lands. This area of the map is where Frodo and the fellowship stop to take a break after leaving Bree and its fly-ridden marshes. |
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| Beautiful rainbows in the Shire. No matter how many times we go to other parts of the map, I always come back here to roam around. |
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| Day 7 at the Kin House: our hobbits are now levels 26-30 and quite good at emotes. We hope to get to the Trollshaws next! |
EXIT TICKET - Wednesday, January 17, 2018:
Please reflect on the world you have explored for the last week and half: what have you learned about J. R. R. Tolkien's secondary world (Middle Earth) that you didn't realize or know before? Has anything come to life? Has anything changed from your preconceived notions?
Discuss your character and class to the best of your abilities. What have you learned about your class (and race if applicable)?
Homework: J-Term second week: Watch one of the official LOTRO streamers that I gave you in class. Participate in chat and ask questions to get help on any part of the game that is giving you trouble. Make sure to participate in meaningful dialogue that doesn't just mine for facts or information you could find somewhere else, but seeks for a greater understanding of how you play your character and why.
I learned that Middle Earth is a continent rather than the whole world. It is also not the actual Earth. It is a place where the ignorant are protected by the brave and are allowed to live such simple lives. It is a very large world but can apparently be traversed by hobbits at a walking speed of 11 miles per hour!
ReplyDeleteBefore playing LOTRO, I found the world of the Lord of the Rings to be quite boring, frankly. It seemed like the story was just about some small dudes and a ring (the closest I ever came to reading the books was using SparkNotes to get through the Hobbit in 8th grade). My feelings were a direct result of a distaste for the books and the lack of motivation to spend what seemed like forever watching movies. I have always really liked video games, and I think that being exposed to this world through something I enjoy really opened my eyes to its greatness. I have a new appreciation for the Lord of the Rings after taking this class/playing LOTRO during winter break.
ReplyDeletePerbirvert is a hobbit burglar, and I find both his race and class to be a bit underpowered. I've heard from several sources that it takes patience to realize the power of the burglar class. I'm realizing through playing a burglar that I'm much less patient of a person than I thought I was. :)
Before I took this J-term the only LOTR info I had was from the movies, which does not delve as much into the lore behind the races and locations. Playing as a hobbit and being in the shire has given me much more insight into the world of hobbits than I previously had. Playing as a minstrel is interesting because the movies have nothing to do with the minstrels, as they are more based in lore explained in the Silmarillion.
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize it was quite as big as it is. Not only is it huge, it is also meticulously planned out. The amount of time that it took to plan it all out is absolutely stupendous.
ReplyDeleteHunters can one shot just about anything early game with minimal falloff towards the end. The main problem is the one shot potential of the other side as well, so one must do well to either kite or recruit a tank.
I think it is very clear what is different from the books, but overall, the game stuck to the book pretty well. The game sort of makes you realize that everyone, not only the main characters in the story, have important roles. Has anything come to life? Yes, the trees, plants, dead things, etc.
ReplyDeleteI rolled a Hunter Hobbit. I mostly deal DPS and on my characters, I have a lot of morale. Considering that I played a bit before J-Term, I did not really learn anything new about my toons
I never really new anything about Tom Bombatil. Seeing him in the game and observing how he acts was very interesting! Made me get a perspective of how powerful the characters actually were. Also observing a hunter made me realize why society has mainly switched to ranged weapons. Seeing just how big the Shire was really made it come to life in my eyes. Something that changed in my eyes was just how long the adventure was. The movies and books were long but my goodness!
ReplyDeleteI just spent a week with Dr Brigman, her class and a freind of ours called Bumbo. These kids ( well I say kids, but they are really my age) are just some of the most freindly and amazing people i have ever met. MSSM is lucky to have them!
ReplyDeleteThank you all for the experience - and in a show of your kindness and generosity i am being sent a MSSM care package with merch and 'taters in.
You all really are wonderful amazing human beings. Good job. Cant wait to see you all in Lotro again soon.
Bossa
I spent two weeks with them. Not one. Even better! I should really learn to read stuff before i post it huh?
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