Look! I made a book in class! The pages turn and everything...

The community of Tinies at Raglan Shire offers free building classes at Raglan U. Some of the classes are taught by Toady Nakamura, who started teaching only two months after joining Second Life. She learns slowly so teaching helps solidify what she has learned. Says Toady, "I started teaching in Real Life because I got asked. I started teaching in Second Life because I volunteered."

For those who may not know, Tinies are mostly furry or feathered creatures about knee-high to a regular sized avatar (colloquially known as "biggies"). Words like cute, whimsical and spontaneous come to mind when dealing with Tinies. "Tuesdays with Toady" (could be Wednesdays or Thursdays) are very relevant to the Tiny participants since Toady often gets ideas for new classes from the students themselves. I attended two classes tailored to the Raglan theme of the month: a tiny cave with fire pit for Prehysterical (prehistoric) Month and, for World's Fair Month, a hot-air balloon that is scripted to fly.

Toady's dedication and generous spirit shine throughout the classes. She is ever encouraging to students whose skills run the gamut from newbie to advanced. Students receive a folder of materials and then Toady teaches building step-by-step, although people should know the basics such as how to rez a

prim before starting. On the day of the book-making, Toady suffered from an abscessed spider bite on her arm in RL and taught class by copying and pasting text into the chat window. To avoid inadvertently running into each other, everyone stands on his or her own rectangle to build. This works well and is reminiscent of pre-schoolers sitting quietly on their individual mats, except that Tinies are never quiet. Public and group chat are filled with the humorous and the quirky. The famous Tiny whimsy even showed up in something as simple as the giant tip jar, which morphed from apple to banana whenever a tip was given.

Toady also works for Grendel's Children, a very popular region, judging from the number of people in attendance when we teleported there. I was given a fabulous tour, which included a basement library with books from Project Gutenberg, created and maintained by Toady for the enjoyment of others. The store boasts amazing avatars along with a fantasy playground with underground caverns and an extensive maze. There was so much to explore that I will save Grendel's for another day. Toady's Tiny avatar was a dragon lizard from the store, with charming mods around the eyes that resembled a Mardi Gras mask. It was a quad (quadruped), ambling on four legs instead of two, like humans and many other Tinies. Because her arm was swollen and painful, Toady's roommate, Cacia Escape, good-naturedly accompanied us to type Toady's responses. When asked if there was anything she wanted to share with readers, Toady said via Cacia, "Learning keeps you flexible. Try to learn something every day. If you pass it along you learn better in the process. And the first rule? Remember to have fun."

Biggies could also benefit from Toady's philosophy.

Building classes and other events are posted on the Raglan Shire Events Calendar