My name is Timm, and I love to play.

It was at the age of 12 that I discovered a game called Dungeons & Dragons, and was immediately swept up by the magic of role-playing games. Growing up in the early years of the “edutainment” and game-based learning movements, it was clear that the world of digital and analog gaming was a source of vast untapped educational potential. From my more entertaining English teachers at Chaminade High School, I learned the value and importance of engagement in the classroom, and made the realization that fun is often the most efficacious tool at a teacher’s disposal.

After graduating Loyola University’s English/Writing interdisciplinary program with honors in 2009, I traveled to Thailand to teach English as a Second Language. It was while working at St. Gabriel’s College in Bangkok that I fell in love with teaching; it was also where I ran my first D&D-based afterschool program. Two years later, I traveled to Arica, Chile to teach ESL at Collegio San Marcos, once again using D&D to teach English-language afterschool programs.

In 2017, I graduated from St. John’s University with an MA and PhD in English, specializing in RPG studies and their use in the writing classroom. My dissertation outlines the pedagogical history of tabletop RPGs and their clear (and largely untapped) potential as learning tools. I believe that role-playing games contain the key to unlocking a new approach to learning, one that prioritizes student engagement and recognizes learning as an enterprise that is inherently fun and recreational.

I now run anywhere from 7-12 different RPG sessions in a given week, for a wide range of different players. My kids games and adult games very often inform each other, and it’s always fun seeing the differences (and similarities) in play styles! I spend about 1-3 hours prepping for each of my sessions; my favorite part is mapmaking, creating the symbolic space in which we all play. I continue to advocate for games in education, and am especially excited about the runaway popularity of RPGs in modern media. One of my favorite things to see is a group of friends or family learning to work, play, and spend quality time together in new ways. My dream is to see the community of global RPG players increase by 1000% over the next five years.