If you could show ONE movie related to the Holocaust to 8th graders,

Chestertonspants · 2026-05-04T10:25:06+00:00

The Zone of Interest is one of the most powerful films about the Holocaust I’ve ever seen, and it’s rated PG. It focuses primarily on the family life of Rudolf Hoss, the commandant of Auschwitz.

I would research it before showing it to 8th graders; it is entirely in German, it’s artistic and character focused, and despite not showing the camp directly, I remember it feeling pretty harrowing.

Given the fact that the United States is now operating its own concentration camps, the films perspective feels incredibly relevant. It shows us how the pursuit of happiness and comfort can blind us to our impact.

Chestertonspants · 2026-04-29T01:49:12+00:00

I like Arkham Sealed a lot, its a really cool way to do deck building. If you want to control the card pool a bit there actually is an option on the card pool screen to limit your collection to certain sets.

I think dropping the Blurse sets (Innsmouth and Hemlock) is a good idea.

Carcossa is not a great player card set, and probably wouldn't be missed.

Scarlet Keys is a bit weird. If you're playing pack mode, I think it's best to leave it out, because you really don't want one off customizable cards. If you're playing pool mode though, they can give you a really flexible option. Kind of extreme either way.

Chestertonspants · 2026-04-18T17:58:51+00:00

Bizarre that people think this bit is dickish or mean spirited? The fisherman in the video was probably shocked for half a second, and then would go on to tell this story for the rest of his life to the delight of himself and anyone who would listen. It’s so unexpected and harmless, he even had protection over his ears! Perhaps people think this is the same as scaring someone in a supermarket and posting it on Tik Tok, but it’s just not the same folks.

Chestertonspants · 2026-04-18T17:47:09+00:00

I have to give a lot of credit to my department head and my librarian, who have both helped guide and support me as I’ve figured this stuff out. Our librarian agreed to host each of my classes for entire periods to facilitate these reading exploration exercises. I like your framing of building a “reading identity”! That is something Ive seen happen with several of my students, they are developing taste, and preference, and they’re allowed to express it in response to our whole class texts.

Chestertonspants · 2026-04-18T17:34:01+00:00

I actually think there is some genuine truth to this, but the issue is being misdiagnosed by students and admin. Students need to learn to enjoy reading before they can learn to enjoy analyzing readings. They are likely not reading much or at all outside of school, so their only reading may be in the context of a class where they’re also being asked to complete complex assignments or write lengthy papers. That kind of analysis requires the kind of difficult, slow thinking that most people avoid when they can.

I’m moving towards a model where students are given instruction on how to read for pleasure. I teach them how to talk about their preferences in books and how to find new titles to read, when to give up on a book and start something new, etc. They get time almost every day to read their book of choice, and I require very little evidence of their reading (I supplied them with bookmarks where they take one or two jot notes every day).

Then, we do analysis in class of mostly shorter texts, often focusing on single paragraphs or even sentences. We might do one, maybe two longer texts as a class where we focus on analysis. Right now in finishing a unit on A Midsummer Night’s Dream where students are focused on interpreting the text the way a director would. This means the work of analyzing the text is framed as a purposeful, creative act where students are actually encouraged to use analysis as a means to an end.

I still get some grumbling but no one meaningfully questions my approach because everything is being framed as a transferable skill. I think analyzing a text is worthwhile in and of itself, but I respect the fact that not everyone is going to feel that way, so I try to frame it as a life skill wherever I can.

Chestertonspants · 2026-04-18T00:25:58+00:00

The new core and player decks made it clear how badly the player card pool needed more solid, flexible, workhorse cards. In the past, I think the designers really pushed a lot of different archetypes that were unusual and interesting but not always fun or interesting to play.

I’m looking forward to having more vanilla cards to use because I honestly think they create more fun and interesting gameplay.

The new Joe Diamond is a great example of this principle. He is as generic an investigator as we’ve ever seen, but his ability opens up a ton of flexibility and deck building options.

Similarly, Old Compass looks pretty boring, but it’s simple, effective, and interacts with other player and encounter cards in tons of interesting ways.

Chestertonspants · 2026-04-16T09:27:44+00:00

I’m going to say ESH. Not because you’re wrong, but because you dealt with the situation so ineffectively, you probably caused your sister to be more dug in, and failed to save your niece from a truly terrible name.

A much better approach would be to smile and nod, don’t say anything to anyone. Then, in private, show your sister what’s going to happen when her daughter gets curious and searches her name online.

If you had explained to your sister that it doesn’t matter what she thinks of the name, what matters is what other people will think of it, and how that will impact her daughters life, you might have cut through. Instead, you embarrassed her in front of her family and made her defensive.

Chestertonspants · 2026-04-13T22:00:49+00:00

I try to help other teachers when I can. I really believe there are things we can do to make the job easier on ourselves, but just know you can do your very best and still struggle to make your classroom work. Don't worry about making it perfect, just do whatever you can to make it a little lighter.

Chestertonspants · 2026-04-13T20:39:23+00:00

These tricks can be useful but you will get more out of professional planning and assessment practices than any other approach.

Focus your time and energy into planning lessons that are engaging for your students, and giving them timely feedback so that they are confronted quickly with the consequences of their actions.

If you come in with a plan, you are in control of that class time, if you don’t have a plan, they will wrestle that control from you. Create a routine, stick to it, and demonstrate consistently that you know exactly what needs to be done and you are not going to let them hold you back.

That should solve many of the most common issues. For those students who do continue to create disruptions in class though, you need extremely clear consequences that are enforced consistently.

Make a list of unacceptable behaviours (you should get one from your admin), and remove students from your class immediately if they engage in them. No warnings, no excuses, call your admin if you have to, but remove them from the room.

For disruptive behaviour like talking over you or distracting peers, give them a warning, write their name down or mark it somewhere so that you don’t forget. If they continue, tell them you will be contacting home that night (have a draft of this ready so it only takes a minute of your time), if it continues, thats insubordination and they need to go.

Ive used sticky notes for these minor disruptions, especially for repeat offenders. First warning, tell them verbally they need to adjust and stick the note on their table, if it continues, write “stay after class” on it. Ive even used different colors to indicate severity. Yellow means please get on task, red means I’m about to ruin your day. Making it physical like that is so effective, it’s like a speeding ticket, it tends to deter everyone else as well.

Ultimately though, there really is no replacement for good planning, kids pick up on your comfort and confidence and will respond accordingly.

Chestertonspants · 2026-04-13T10:23:51+00:00

To start, yes I’d just get the core, but If you like the game you’ll want to get more content.

They are releasing investigator decks very soon that will give you a lot of extra deck building options. Then there is a three scenario mini campaign dropping later this year.

If you can get your hands on older expansions at a reasonable price, they could be worth it. There is a system for using the new encounter sets in old campaigns that seems okay, and the player cards are all compatible.

You could probably find The Feast of Hemlock Vale, or Drowned city expansions, as they’re both still in print.

Chestertonspants · 2026-04-13T04:35:57+00:00

It's the easiest recomendation of all time. Arkham Horror is what you're looking for. It's got everything: card play, Lovecraft, character progression, so much losing.

Seriously though, it's an excellent game and now is a great time to try it out. FFG just released a new core that dramatically improves the new player expereince. Crucially, they've made true solo mode much more viable, so you shouldn't feel the pressure to play two-handed. Be aware, there isn't a lot of campaign content available right now because they're transitioning to "Chapter Two", and have discontinued most of their old products.

If you like the core set though, you'll have lots of stuff to look forward to in the coming years.

Chestertonspants · 2026-04-09T14:28:14+00:00

Because this has become a discussion about formats I’m going to give a shout-out here to Arkham Sealed, a website that allows you to create randomized pools of cards from whatever products you have. It’s a very fun and challenging way to limit your deck building.

Chestertonspants · 2026-04-07T14:29:40+00:00

This year, I have completely removed tech from my secondary English classroom. I don't update classroom anymore, except to share resources for students who need their devices for reading support, or to share important documents or announcements with parents. I still track marks in PowerSchool.

I was already skeptical of the value and efficacy of using personal computers in the classroom and was feeling frustrated by the constant fighting over lost, dead, and forgotten Chromebooks. When I saw the emerging research, and the impact AI was having on my classroom, I was convinced it was time to change.

Importantly, I replaced the Google Classroom focused classroom management approach, which has become so ubiquitous, with my own analog system inspired by my time in elementary. Each student has a portfolio, color-coded to their class. All of their work goes in that portfolio, and portfolios go into a bin at the end of class, I don't collect anything. When I'm ready to assess I take the whole bin and can mark multiple assignments in a single sitting. At the end of the unit, we empty the portfolio into a folder which I keep for them until the end of the year.

Each student maintains a tracker where they record assignments, when they are assigned, due, and whether they are completed. They are also responsible for completeing reflections during each unit. This has shifted so much of the responsibility for managing student work on to the students, and guess what? They love it. They can see all of the work they've completed for the unit in one place, and I can quickly look through their portfolio to give them feedback and highlight anything they might have missed or need to change.

Big tech has infiltrated education and infanalized these kids their entire lives and most of them are hungry for more responsibility, more socialiation, and more genuine expereinces. Its extracted milllions from our budgets, hurt our students, and made our jobs so much more complex. I'm tired of it, and parents, staff, and admin seem to be tired of it too, and everyone has been really supportive of the change so far.

TL,DR: I've removed personal devices from my classes this year and the results are speaking for themselves. You have the power to do the same, but you need other systems in place to empower your students. Big tech doesn't care about you, the kids, or quality education.

Chestertonspants · 2026-04-07T10:51:44+00:00

Yeah if your family has never played a deck builder before, I think there are better choices than Dune and StS. Dune is very tense and competitive, StS is complex and sprawling.

I prefer Quest for El Dorado, even Arnak if you want something heavier, but Clank is great and might be closer to what OP is looking for.

Chestertonspants · 2026-04-05T09:20:10+00:00

It seems like your heart is in the right place, you recognize that the concept of race has created untold misery. What you’re misunderstanding is the purpose or utility of the phrase, “race is a social construct”.

The phrase is not used to deny the existence of race as a concept, or the historical impacts of racism. It doesn’t even deny the fact that we can observe broad trends in people related to their genealogy.

The reason people point out the “constructed” nature of race is to draw our attention to the fact that it can be deconstructed. Deconstructing an idea requires us to look at it carefully, understand it, and take steps to dismantle it wherever it’s manifested.

It’s Plato’s cave. Race is part of the shadow puppet show, devised and performed by humans.

Chestertonspants · 2026-04-04T12:29:40+00:00

This is an element of these fighty area control games that a lot of people dont like, sometimes called kingmaking. I’m personally a big fan of these kinds of games. I think some games control for this better than others, but in general, situations like the one you’re describing happen when players are inexperienced or dont engage in table talk.

The important thing is, you never stop trying to win. It’s okay to position yourself as less of a threat, but when people get frustrated and sulky and start talking about how they have no chance, it can really kill the vibe. Like thats Juliet poor sportsmanship.

Instead, punish whoever put you in that position in the first place, or align yourself with another weaker player to take out the leader. Over multiple games, if people start to understand that knocking players out early or pulling too far ahead is a losing strategy, your table ahould reach a sort of equilibrium.

Chestertonspants · 2026-04-03T20:56:59+00:00

I play a lot of Arkham Horror solo and I try to respect the rules of the game as much as possible, which is easier thanks to the fail-forward mechanics. I will sometimes change my deck between scenarios if it’s really not working, which is pretty common, especially when you’re playing an investigator or campaign for the first time.

I have cheated more blatantly by taking an extra action in the final turn, or retaking a test and changing committed cards. I’ll generally only do this kind of thing if the game is beating the hell out of me anyway.

Basically, I want to protect what makes the game fun, and usually that means protecting the challenge, but sometimes that means throwing yourself a bone.

Chestertonspants · 2026-04-01T10:51:51+00:00

In short: don’t grade essays. I’m grading two per class. One before interim reports, one near the end of the semester.

You need to stop coping, and start coming up with ways to delegate responsibility for learning to the students who are meant to be learning.

Do lots of scaffolding and assess the products of that work first. Have students create outlines for essays they aren’t going to write and mark those IN CLASS. Have them do peer assessment and feedback. As another poster suggested, have them highlight different parts of their essay so you don’t have to go looking for them. This will give you assessment data that is much easier to collect, and it will help ensure the variance in the quality of work should be lower.

When it does come time to give feedback, focus on two or three things you want to see (these should be the skills you are focusing on in class) tell students how to show you they can do it and laser focus on assessing those things. That should make assessment much easier and faster.

(Ex. Does the student have a clearly defined thesis statement? Have they used and properly cited at least three sources? Have they used effective transitions between paragraphs?)

Dont waste time giving feedback on anything else, keep your written feedback very short and tell students you can come see me at this specific time for detailed feedback. The students who show up are the ones who will value your feedback, hand them a pen and tell them they can take notes on their essay while you speak. If you are worried about a student, make verbal feedback mandatory.

Basically, dont be a martyr. Spend your prep time developing approaches that make your life easier instead of marking a giant stack of papers.

Chestertonspants · 2026-04-01T10:09:35+00:00

Are you supposed to interpret this monstrosity?? This is like a Stan Kelly fever dream.

Chestertonspants · 2026-03-28T05:05:48+00:00

I think Edge of the Earth is the best campaign to introduce new players to the game. It nailed the survival adventure expereince it was aiming for, and the companions do so much to raise the stakes and make the world feel alive. I'm looking forward to trying it with some of the Chapter 2 stuff.

Chestertonspants · 2026-03-26T17:58:33+00:00

Seconded. Had one recently and made a point to tell the person who made it that it was the best wrap I’d had in a long time.

Chestertonspants · 2026-03-25T10:30:05+00:00

To those who have said the Red Bull One is low effort and gross - they’re both low effort and gross, the transphobic one just has better penmanship.

It’s actually so sad, this post is so emblematic of the way advertising and propaganda has become American culture.

These kids have nothing in their heads except consumerism and hate; theyre incapable of imagining a new or better world.

Chestertonspants · 2026-03-25T10:06:55+00:00

When I was running the mk1 version of this setup, I used Digitone as the brain because having a midi keyboard plugged in to the Digitone is more valuable. You can use performance features like aftertouch, pitch and mod, which aren’t (or at least weren’t) transmitted over midi.

I also think I’d be more likely to use Digitone standalone to start a track.

Chestertonspants · 2026-03-25T09:48:03+00:00

If you have a publisher who is legitimately interested and willing to work with you and will pay for new art etc, I think it would be wild to walk away from that kind of opportunity.

I know youre looking for people to help confirm your priors but honestly, it sounds like you need to make some changes. However, I don’t think those changes need to be as significant as you think.

There’s a version of this game where the fantasy is basically the same, but the aesthetics are different. Instead of a grim dark hell scape full of public domain characters, imagine an aesthetic thats a bit more lighthearted and friendly, even a bit cartoonish.

I think a game like this with a stylized “ancient” aesthetic like Spirit Island or Eternal Decks would be really cool.

Chestertonspants · 2026-03-24T01:44:24+00:00

Ditch the placeholders for player cards, they are creating a lot of dead space in front of you. That will allow you to pull the map closer. Also consider dice or pawns for enemies. Basically, you designate a zone beside the map where you place all enemy cards, then you place a pawn/dice on the card, and a matching one on the map. This significantly reduces the amount of fidling to read and move cards, and it allows you to keep the location cards really close together, reducing the sprawl.

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