EPISODE 11: CLASS PREPARATIONS
Episode 11: Class Preparations | 3 February 2026
Stephen playfully ponders Trent’s project planning pop-quiz as the pair probes Chapter 9 of The Worldbuilding Workshop, “Class Preparations,” including:
Pre-class preparations and their relevance to community-building, lesson design, and assessment;
Avoiding a "Peggy Hill"-style overly scripted plan;
Budgeting time to properly introduce and implement world modeling and/or role-play;
Mapping activities to your learning objectives;
Modeling attitudes and behaviors such that learners will replicate those attitudes and behaviors throughout the course or project;
Structured, "on-time" instruction versus unstructured, fluid facilitation;
Aligning learning theory, pedagogical approach, evaluation methods, and technologies based on the needs and incentives of a particular audience;
Adopting the "flipped classroom" model to introduce concepts, values, and activities *outside of* class so they can be collaboratively interrogated *during* class;
Using discussion boards, digital announcements, and other communication tools to provide essential information before the course or workshop begins;
The importance of saying "I don't know" when confronted with a question whose answer you don't know;
Establishing the sociocultural norms of an instructional space;
Inviting learners to co-develop a socially-agreed-upon syllabus;
Balancing instructor discretion with learner goals for class and project structure;
The Wright brothers as an analogy for getting course design "just right";
Deciding whether to assign random characters or ask learners to create their own;
The potential benefits of assigning randomized foundational characteristics but allowing learners to engage in inquiry-driven, problem-based critical thinking to explore an individual's growth and change over time;
Case-based learning as a means of helping learners recognize variance and invariance between stories or environments;
The "sandbox-on-rails" metaphor for one-to-one alignment of course and activity objectives;
Reasons to incorporate historically-accurate representations of different people or communities rather than genuine historical figures;
"FOMO" (fear of missing out) as a motivator for learners to complete readings before joining a role-play exercise;
Contingency planning for absences, fire alarms, and other externalities;
The story of Henrietta Lacks and why we constrain historical role-play;
Reacting to "Reacting to the Past"; and
Preferring the messiness of collaborative worldbuilding to contrived, "gamified" role-play.
Episode References:
Boss, K. (Writer) & Kuhlman, A. (Director). (1999, October 31). Little Horrors of Shop (Season 4, Episode 4) [Television series episode]. In M. Judge & G. Daniels (Executive Producers), King of the Hill. 20th Century Fox.
Lambert, R., Rilstone, A., & Wallis, J. (1994). Once upon a time: The storytelling card game [Card game]. Atlas Games.
Bök, C. (2001). Eunoia. Coach House Books.