Christmas is saved thanks to the efforts of students who completed an optional seasonal challenge. Our teacher team each made a character, and Santa swooped in at the last minute to help students unlock the challenge. Fifty-nine students defeated this boss in a tricky quiz! #EduSky #Gamification

New Tape Day: Absolute 10/10 album music for bugs by camiidae. Thanks @turtlepalstapes.bsky.social for the excellent release + bonus stickers! 🪲🦗

Fate conspired to send me shopping in World Market at 4PM, precisely the time an in-store hunt for gingerbread men gift cards started. Success means the Bonne Maman 24 Days of Jam Advent Calendar came home. A tiny jar of jam every single day will herald the coming of the season. 🎄

New arrival just in time for Thanksgiving Break... Congrats to @watsonedtech.bsky.social and @kyedrpg.bsky.social on your book! 📖 Very awesome to be one of the HUGE group of teachers you included in the book when discussing Tabletop Role-Playing Games in the Classroom! @mcfarland.bsky.social

Found this weekend: Marbled Orb Weaver - Pumpkin Spider while cleaning out the garage today. Looking extremely autumnal. Left it to continue its work in peace. #SpiderSky 🕷️🕸️

Josephine Sculpture Park - Frankfort, KY First visit and probably didn't even hit half of the park after an hour. Completely free visit and completely awesome art.

Thanks to Bernheim Forest for hosting students today, where we saw Kentucky autumn at it's absolute peak. Kids hiked to see the giant sculptures by artist Thomas Dambo, and learned how nature, art, and stories can all connect.🍂

Happy Halloween! 🎃 Had students embark on a spooky mission, where they read The Tell-Tale Heart, solved puzzles, and confronted Baba Yaga to save villagers. Class had to score 80% on a repeatable mastery check "battle" over studied content to win. Halloween is always fun.

Stardew Valley Symphony of Seasons in Louisville at the Kentucky Center. 35 Piece Orchestra played highlights from the soundtrack to 2000+ attendees. Conductor said with 130 stops it's the largest ever video game-music related tour like this. (We had 2nd row, awesome time!) 🌽🎃

First time visiting Hillcrest Avenue in Louisville after learning about how crazy their yearly Halloween setup is. Still fun/impressive to walk through even in daylight. 🎃 #Halloween

The language arts teacher part of me absolutely loved reading about this librarian creating a ttrpg/novel study combo. Equally cool to hear it's happening in the county next door! #TTRPGsky

Congratulations to Michelle Gross, the new 2026 KY Teacher of the Year! 🎉 Anyone who has worked with Michelle knows this was deserved. Really awesome when you see the hard work someone puts in every day for kids be recognized.

Heekin Pewter Company has an incredible booth set up at St. James Court Art Show in Louisville this weekend. Second year I've run into it and purchased his work (look at that frog!) Told me he's been playing Dungeons & Dragons for 50 Years. Definitely checkout his Etsy store! #miniatures

7th and 8th Grade SCMS Advance Art students attended the St. James Court Art Show today. Awesome field trip. Students interviewed artists on their process, and created works of their own. 🎨

Yesterday, students used Google Forms to vote on which "Rangers" in class (students studying science,) will help on a team mission. The nominated students designed their characters today and were added on to our interactive map to battle monsters and defend their allies.🏹 #Edusky #Gamebasedlearning

Thank you to @kyedrpg.bsky.social for sharing the stories of teachers in KY and beyond. Honored to be mentioned, thanks for shouting out my awesome students! 🎉🎊

This school year, students sign-in to our gamified learning hub and vote to make decisions that impact the story and setting of "The Academy." Starting small, as in the pictured example where students help a character choose their class, (Magician, Knight, Beastmaster, Ranger, or Bard.) #EduSky

Summer for thousands of people in Ann Arbor, Mich., means scavenging for hidden codes around the city and voraciously reading books to collect points. It's part of an enormously popular game that's been a triumph for the public library that runs it. www.npr.org/2025/08/04/n...

Gamifying an Organic Chemistry Laboratory Course as a Strategy to Improve Students’ Motivation pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.... #GameBasedLearning

Summer Game Recommendation: Blue Prince might be the best puzzle game I've ever played. Also very fun to play co-op. Classic MYST vibe with a great gameplay loop. Not completed yet (refusing to Google anything,) but absolutely worth the $25. ♟️🖼️

Trying out embedding extended learning/practice for students in a new way.🎮 Added 40+ character sprites to this year's learning hub. Each has a link to practice games on websites like @blooketofficial.bsky.social and @gimkit.com with a final challenge for students to prepare for.

Posting a few videos my students will view on their return to class this year. We mostly ditch Google Classroom for a very gamified learning hub that gives a lot of opportunities to extend learning. This video gives a preview and walkthrough of the hub. www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqJk...

North American Wheel Bug seen enjoying my backyard today. 🪲

My book "Tabletop Role-Playing Games in the Classroom" is now available for pre-order on all major online booksellers, including directly from @mcfarland.bsky.social. Or order from your favorite brick & mortar (ESBN 9781476697550)! For more info, visit sites.google.com/view/kyedrpg.... #kyedrpg

At 107 Days Until Halloween, retail has officially decided it's time to deploy the skeletons. (No complaints.) 💀

"Title Screen" of New Class Hub for Next Year🎮 Going beyond Google Classroom, this year we're using a very classic RPG video game style world as the class learning hub. Students will use the same tools I'm using to build characters and grow the setting. Looking forward to sharing more!

Chaotic backyard garden needed watering two days in a row for the first time this year. Probably the fourth time I've had to water it at all. Constant rain season is over in KY and now we hit unyielding heat season. 🏝️

If you've not read this #edtechelixirs post, do yourself a favor and do so. The idea of this teacher publishing student DnD adventures and the positivity his effort and care creates for students is top-tier "Education can be Awesome" inspiration.

I'm firmly on the #Cicada team. Heralds of summer, 100% a fan. Photos from a few mornings ago in KY.

Huge thank you to @bellarmineesports.bsky.social for hosting a group of Spencer County Middle students today. Esports session + Excellent campus tour had these kids hyped about @bellarmineu.bsky.social and college. Made what was many of their first time touring a college campus memorable + fun! 🎮

National Tech Coach EdCamp hosted by @quizizz.bsky.social and ForwardEdgeOH just keeps getting better. Some extremely cool Canva tips from @mskb26.bsky.social (including how to save hours of time prepping student award certificates,) + fantastic gamification tips from Erica K! #techcoachedcamp

I present this fantastic middle school "Do your best on the test" poster found in the hallway. Note the subtle use of Shrek and Jack Black memes. A+ Inspiration.

It's a weekend of festivities -- #KentuckyDerby today, #maythe4thbewithyou tomorrow! I hope to add to the celebrations with the following announcement: my book's preorder link is live at @mcfarland.bsky.social! mcfarlandbooks.com/product/tabl... #kyedrpg #kygoplay #LevelUpEDU #EduSky #ttrpgs #dnd

Getting to view 8th Grade Defenses of Learning today was a highlight in a pretty great week of work. REAL reflection is happening here, and some incredible students were hyped to come showcase their presentations with 6th grade students next week. #ProfileofaLearner🎓

Huge credit to @brotherwisegames.bsky.social for the degree of transparency/steady info on Cosmere/Stormlight RPG Kickstarter fulfillment. Legitimately crazy situation for companies to have to deal with and communication couldn't be better.

Valeria representing Spencer County at #STLP25 taking home an award for Digital Photography! Setup for awards in Rupp Arena was top notch. Awesome way to showcase student creations.

Commissioner Fletcher celebrates Vibrant Learning happening in KY Schools and showcased by STLP students at #STLP25

#STLP25 begins for Spencer County students! Taylorsville Elementary STLP are showing off their "Kitty Korner" project, raising money for the Spencer County Humane Society. 🐱🐾

Last time I played Oblivion was Shivering Isles expansion in 2007. I was about to graduate high school. I've played Skyrim, ESO, and replayed Morrowind since then, but haven't touched Oblivion. Long enough that I'm hoping it feels like getting a new Elder Scrolls game.

New Videos I made on Gamifying the Classroom. Google Classroom has been around for over a decade, I discuss how and why our teacher team switched things up with a fantasy adventure + world map for kids to explore instead. #EduSky #Gamification #gamebasedlearning youtu.be/VnndMTJeN74?...

Veterinarian has a new app for appointment reminders/meds/etc. BEST Idea ever was including profile pictures for your pets. Painstakingly collected pictures that perfectly captured personalities and default weirdness of each. 10/10 App. 🐾

Idlewild Butterfly Farm and Insectarium -- Located in Louisville. 🕷️🪲 Awesome visit even outside butterfly season, with tons of bugs, informative tour, and great shop with food nearby.

Big announcement, friends! My book on #ttrpgs in education will be published soon from @mcfarland.bsky.social! For more information, visit the new "Books" page at the #kyedrpg site: sites.google.com/view/kyedrpg... #ttrpgcommunity #dnd #gamebasedlearning #kygoplay #KyLchat #EduSky #TTRPGsky

INCREDIBLE Career Day! ✍️ Writer @phillipkjohnson.bsky.social discussed process of writing comics, and later in the day students learned from illustrator @jameslbarry.bsky.social about being the artist. These kids left for spring break the most hyped ever about creating. Thank you! #EduSky #Comics

Spencer County Schools had our first GT "Spark Saturday" event, hosting students for learning and fun with visitors from @KYScience. Students also had an awesome tour of the SCMS PAX Career Lab, and worked with student volunteers from SCMS and SCHS. 🪐

Thanks again @watsonedtech.bsky.social for talking Technology with my 6th grade students this week. Discussion on History of AI leveled perfectly to engage this grade, including notes on safety, ethics, and where we go from here.📱

Had a return visit to @collinsclasssc.bsky.social's students today at Spencer County Middle School! Delighted how he folded review questions into playing a #TTRPG. Also had a chance to talk to a later class on #AI! Always inspired and energized to visit this school. #kyedrpg #kygoplay

7th Grade Social Studies Teachers Ashley McGaughey and Rachel Kramer challenged students to open a "Time Machine Travel Agency" for tours to ancient civilizations. ⏳ As you'd expect, Spencer Co. students delivered. (T-Shirts! Picarones! Art! Business Cards! Stickers!) The details!! #Edusky

Announcing 🎉🎉 📚 @kasl.us 2026 Nominees for the Kentucky Bluegrass Award www.kasl.us/kba/kba-nomi... #KyLChat @joinkla.bsky.social #KentuckyLibraries Congratulations to every illustrator & author! KY Students will vote in spring of 26 & winners will be announced in April! 📚 Thank you, KBA Committees!

Recently updated and re-released Star of Providence is VERY good and $15 or less on Switch and Steam. Like Gungeon, Isaac and other roguelites but more arcade vibes, a lot easier to pause and come back to. www.theverge.com/games-review...