A role-playing game (RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players typically create their own characters and then act out their roles in the game world, interacting with each other and with the game master (GM) who controls the game's setting and challenges.

A group of fellow bloggers are posting each day in July to gear up and rev our engines for the start of a new school year. Find us on facebook at Music Ed Blogs. Amazing group of teachers with fabulous blogs!! Names, names, oh how special they are! And how tough for us music, art, PE, library, etc. teachers to learn the hundreds of them each year. Here are a few activities to help you the first few weeks of school, and these are SO fun!! Pinkie swear promise! 1. Jump In, Jump Out There are many versions of this. I use the one from Laura at Make Music Rock.. She has a great blog post about this game! My older students love this one - maybe not for the very first activity the first day, but definitely sooner than later in the first lesson. Here is a video of Laura's kids performing the game. I love it - fun and a little sassy. Another version - love the Australian accent! I also love the beginning talk about the hand holding- very interesting! 2. Up the Ladder From Randy and Jeff's Gameplan Curriculum, Grade 3, available here. And check out the great extension using drums or UPP - again from Laura at Make Music Rock. 3. Hey, Children, Who's in Town? 4. Ickety Tickety 5. Name Game - The Original! Remember this one? I do!!! Katie, Katie, bo-ba-tee, Bo-na-na fan-na, fo-fa-nee Fee fi mo-may-tee Katie! 6. Dry Bones Come Skipping 7. I Can Say Your Name 8. Mrs, Macaroni 9. Names in Three 10. Willoughby Wallaby Woo! By Raffi Willoughby wallaby woo An elephant sat on YOU (point finger toward child whose name will be sung next) Willoughby Wallaby Wistopher An elephant sat on Christopher 11. Pig on Her Head by Laurie Berkner Use the chorus of the song. A box of beanie babies are the perfect accompaniment for this one! Let each child choose; I usually put four or five on the floor at a time and invite three children up at a time (more choices than children, always). Begin by having the animal on children's heads, then sing, "Blakely has a goose on her hand....", and the next verse, "Thomas has a dog on his knee.. " etc. I love Laurie Berkner, if you don't already know "I Have a Chicken" you need it in your repertoire to use with shaker eggs. Hilarious!!! Hope you have fun with these! If you know others, please share them in the comments below. Happy back to school! 

I am linking up today with Elizabeth at Organized Chaos for a linky party with other music teacher bloggers. Here are 18 favorite singing games along with sources and all other info. Send me an email at [email protected] and I will send them your way. Here are a few examples to get you excited: My kids love these and beg for them, especially the "slap games" like Ama Llama! My kids also love Mac 'n Cheese.. it's a camp song but they could play and sing this for HOURS

Running a roleplaying game is both fun and rewarding. Here are my best GM Tips and practices. Keep a journal, create a GM Binder and prepare to recycle to run the best possible roleplaying game session for Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder RPG and other roleplaying games.

Want to run a fast-paced, exciting combat? It comes down to two things. First, learn how to track initiative. Second, learn about dolphins. Yeah, you heard me.

For reference on skill level, I just hit GM as a solo queue roamer. I was stuck in Masters 1 for over a week, so my skill ceiling is probably low GM.

Update: July 13, due to overwhelming interest (and overwhelming my email box) the full collection will only be available until Monday, July 14. Only requests received until that time will be honored. Thanks for understanding! It's finally done.. after asking many other music teachers about their favorite clapping games for the classroom, I've put it all together into one collection. Here are some of the ones from the collection. Enjoy!

Sean K Reynolds' and Shanna Germain's free, short ebook Consent in Gaming (from Monte Cook Games) is a beautifully thought-through exploration of how game-masters and players can negotiate their own…