Wilson Waffling

Well, the students have all left uni now and despite popular belief I am not on holiday from May until September but busy with planning and preparation, research, visiting and working with schools, and getting back into blogging on this site. I am currently enjoying a week working in school alongside teachers on a variety of STEM activities including investigating skittles, creating an eco-classroom and investigating bridges and bug hotels. As well as this, it would appear that many NQT's are actually heading out into school to work alongside their new classes. These transition hours/days/weeks are very important but there is always that discussion what you should actually do within this time. This seemed to be a perfect opportunity for me to give you some idea which I have done in the past and what I think are the important elements of a transition day.

Okay, Okay – I need to start of by premising this waffle by stating that we all make mistakes. Sometimes these are taking the wrong turn when heading towards an unknown destination, sometimes it is just picking the wrong letter in the multiple choice test. Sometimes it saying something when you ought to keep quiet and other times it is pushing for what you believe just to discover that you are wrong. Well last week I made a bit of a mistake in the Dungeons and Dragons game which I DM on a Saturday night at 20:00 GMT on Twitch. In my vision of dramatic and epic battles I forgot that the characters were only 3rd level and also to multiply my challenge rating but the number of monsters which were attacking, rather than just adding up their experience. The result – carnage! As character after character hit the dust, I realised that something was not correct and stopped the session early. Although some players thought it was something to do with the terrain, it was purely that there was too many harpies attacking

Have you seen that advert when the woman is using a Microsoft computer which allows her to draw on it etc. I really like the advert, not because it’s Microsoft – heaven forbid!, but because of the title she gives herself. I sit in a lot of meetings when it comes to that moment when we all have to introduce ourselves and we go round the table. People have so many wonderful and impressive titles and jobs and when it comes to me I just say my name and suffer the resulting silence when people await further mentions of esteem only to be disappointed. When the woman in the Mircosoft advert introduces herself she says, author, travel writer and blogger – what a great job title! – I want it so bad! Anyway, this week’s waffle is all about being a pedestrian, not a blogger, author or travel writer, and how perilous it is becoming!

Well it is Saturday again and I am sat in my favourite local Costa about to write another blog post and, as the caffeine kicks in and I brush the crumbs off my lap from the toast (had to suffer brown toast today – it was very nice although I’m not sure of the reaction it will have on me!), I start to write a blog post on a completely different topic to this one and started to think – why am I doing this! It didn’t take me long to reach the answer because I have known for quite a while why I write this and my other blogs. So, rather than talking about what I was going to, I’ve decided to write about why I write and enjoy it so much.

With this blog I have to be careful not to allow it to just become a list of past adventures from my Twitch Streams. Why? Well first of all it is a blog, and secondly, and perhaps more importantly, I enjoy writing and sharing my thoughts with you. A few months ago now, I was going to say weeks but I think more time has past than I originally thought, I wrote a blog post describing a day in my life, focusing in on a ‘usual’ Saturday. Well I suddenly realised that I never wrote the follow up waffle from that post so here it is, a day in the life of- my usual Sunday.

As I start to play more and more RPGs again on the stream I need to get back into the habit of actually creating adventures/encounters on a regular basis. Initially my idea was to play until an adventure came to an end and then take a week off to create the next adventure using the 'playing session' to create it. Although this initially appears to be a good idea, my own hectic timetable often means that things conflict with this idea and players often don't want to miss their playing session - hopefully because they enjoy it so much! I guess missing a session also means that there might be a gap in my own production of videos for YouTube etc so more of a constant playing schedule might be more desirable. However, although both players and viewers see the finished product, there is some work which goes into actually creating an adventure and in this waffle I wanted to share with you my own approach to this and hopefully get some feedback and hear about how other Game Masters (GMs) engage with the process.

Okay – I know I have failed already with one of this year’s target for this blog, but things have changed and because of this so have my priorities. I’m currently trying to develop more of a split between personal and work life, mainly for my own sanity, but also because my activities with my game streaming and the radio station are taking up loads of my time away from work and I don’t really want to complete writing for this blog while ‘away’ from work. Because of this, I am trying to write and hopefully record my waffles at work since essentially I see this blog as part of my professional work life. I’ve planned some time into my calendar and hopefully, if my bosses allow it, I will be able to contribute more regularly once again on this site. It seems strange to be waffling while I am at work, but I am currently taking a break from writing references to eat my ‘wraps’ and write this. This actually leads me onto the topic of this waffle – no, its not about wraps – its about jobs. As I have been writing refe

Have you watched the original Karate Kid film? The one with Daniel in it and Mr Miyagi? Near the end of the film Daniel as the karate kid enters the karate tournament in order to get to the final, defeat the bully and finally get the girl! There is a wonderful piece of music which accompanies the scenes as he progresses through the fights. It’s called You're the Best and I always like to read the lyrics. Although I realise that I am never going to be the best at anything, there is the element of hope and that gives me something positive to work towards. Because of this I am always on a constant quest to improve and I thought I would detail in this waffle how I am planning on improving as a DM/GM.

Well, I am just coming to the end of a two week break from work and looking back on what I have achieved, I am somewhat disappointed that I haven't actually streamed more than what I usually do. You would have thought, without the time sink of work, I would be able to complete everything that needs to be engaged with in 'normal' life in the mornings and then stream for the majority of the afternoons and evenings. However, if you have been following my Twitch Channel, you will be aware that this has not been the case. Why? Well when it comes to streaming I always seem to have a lot more other things to do apart from the actual act of streaming...

I’ve decided that I am a very nosy person? Why? well as well as really enjoying sitting in coffee shops people watching and listening into conversations, I always tend to fall into interview mode whenever I meet someone new asking loads of questions (probably why I never get invited out or on dates). If someone mentions something which really intrigues me then again I dive in, asking questions, many of which people would never ever ask but always want to – yes I am that person who just asks it. A few months ago YouTube was awash with ‘Draw my Life’ videos and, although I really like watching these, I much prefer, if I can find them, ‘Day in the Life’ videos. Well, if they can do a video about a day in their life then so can I – so here is my usual, Saturday!

We have had a few blog posts which have been related to videos from my Twitch channel recently, and believe me there are plenty more to come, but I thought I would give you a change by posting something which you have to read or, if you are listening to the audio version of this post, listen to. When I am playing games online or working at university, I often find myself having to interpret the new ‘lingo’ that people are using and, often trying to use it but getting the pronunciation all incorrect. As I try to engage with the new lingo I was reminded of some sayings which I have heard in the past and which I completely disagree with and even get annoyed about – yes me annoyed! can you imagine that. What are those sayings? Well that is what this waffle is about…

Many people might consider me a pessimist because I am realistic about things. I always think it is interesting when you actually acknowledge that what you really wanted to happen will not and that you would be much happier changing direction and channeling your energies into something different. When I started this blog I had real visions of grandeur and used to eagerly await my rankings on various sites to see if you I was achieving what I set out to do. But over the months, or should I say years - these expectations have changed and now I have a much better idea of where I am going. I had similar expectations when I moved from primary school teaching to higher education and it is only recently that I have had a similar moment of realisation about things...

When I first started to play MMOs online, it was definitely what I thought was a progression from my regular table top games which I used to play. All of a sudden I was playing Everquest, Dark Age of Camelot and World of Warcraft trying to recreate the fun and interaction which I had experienced in the table top world of gaming. I soon had to accept that there was neither the depth or interaction which was original available in the RPGs which I played, but the online games had the advantage of being able to be played by myself, at any time of the day (or night) with little or no preparation. Eventually my figures, rules and floor plans were slowly packed away to be replaced with my mouse, monitor and keyboard. But recently I have been entering the world of RPGs once more and as I have been immersing myself once again in the games I used to play, I started to remember what I liked about so much…

One thing I really enjoy about my job and actually look forward to, is the teaching. I love to communicate, hence the waffling, and to interact with learners. Often this presents its own challenges but, in turn, I like to challenge the learners and I get to see them progress throughout the lessons/modules and hopefully reach their final goal. I wrote last time about the possibility of a QTS Skill Test for science with an emphasis on subject knowledge. Within higher education, as well as the teaching, link tutoring, open days, interview days, marking and general admin, there is the requirement to research, with my current institution requiring three ‘outputs’ every three years. But what do you, as the student, actually want from me as a tutor and, are the two, teaching and researching related? Well that is what this week’s waffle is about…

Wandering around the shops, listening to the radio and even watching television is currently reminding me that I am still single. With Valentine’s Day just around the corner I am being bombarded with offers for the perfect meal in the perfect restaurant. Everything comes in twos, two for the price of one, a bottle of wine for two and even a relaxing and/or romantic weekend for two. The only thing that these places are not seemingly providing is the other person to actually enjoy the experience with. But I am beginning to think that it is not only at Valentine’s day that being single puts me at a disadvantage since I am actually having more problems every week actually shopping for food as a single person.

Well I’m determine to keep on my blogging schedule so this weekend it is a waffle on this blog. I do find this really difficult, especially since I am in the middle of marking at the moment which is taking up a lot of my time – both in and out of work. There is a big difference between marking children’s books every day to marking eighty nine three thousand words assignments in a four week turn around when there is still teaching, school visits and general admin tasks to be completed. However, a target is a target and I am here, sat with my coffee ready to write this waffle. What is it about? Well I have been thinking about primary science for some time, especially since I teach it, and wanted to share with you some of my thoughts about the subject and possibly suggest the implementation of a new QTS skill test….

I just wanted to say, right at the start of the waffle, that I am completely realistic about life and things. I've been through the stages of thinking that I am going to take over the world and I'll be the best and the greatest and been brought crashing back down to earth by realism stretching out its long arm, grabbing my dangling foot and giving it an almighty tug. Nowadays I like to set targets which some people might consider less than inspirational but I consider realistic and attainable. I always think it is a lot better to work and achieve a smaller target than work and not achieve a larger one which probably was unattainable from the start. As well as setting the targets I think it is also important to say what actions I will be taking to reach them. It is fine to say that you want to be the top streamer on Twitch, but really the important part is what you are going to do to actually get there. I do think this is a part of targets that people often omit and which, if people engaged with them, would ma

Morning everyone! yes this is a waffle on my professional site again after a rather long break. I have been waffling a lot, mainly on my gaming/personal site and I must admit I have been somewhat neglecting this site. I'll get into the reasons for this later. One waffle which I always like to write every year at this time is one about targets. Every year it seems appropriate to set myself targets to work towards to see try and ensure that I move things forward and, well get better at things. However, as I was finishing my morning toast at Costa and starting to sip at my coffee I started to read the targets which I set last year and well, I was some what disappointed and it got me thinking - is it worth me setting targets every year?

During my time off work a enjoyed some really good session streaming and as I enjoyed the time with my viewers, someone mentioned about being a full time streamer! Now, as you might be aware, I actually have a full time job, my own radio station, write for two blogs and stream on Twitch, so life is understandably really very busy. As I walked for my usual morning coffee this morning, it got me thinking about what my perfect day would be like if I had the time, money and motivation to do everything I wanted to do- without the things I had to do to to pay the bills - e.g. work. So what follows in this waffle is what I would class as my perfect working day...

Well, the second episode of my first ever online D&D campaign was completed last week. It has been ages since I have created a campaign and I must admit it is very nice to have that creative outlet again as I think of encounters which interact with numerous plot lines. I’m determined to keep the episodes recorded and available, although I must admit to having done some editing this week since the intro didn’t have its sound on the LIVE session plus, there were times at the beginning when there was a lot of waiting around for people to arrive. I must also say that I even started to edit together a video of the strange activities and comments which occur but this is taking a little longer than what I initially expected. Anyway – without further ado! Here is episode two of the campaign – Brigadoon…