Stop! Collaborate and Listen!

Upper St. Clair School District uses many methods to grasp the attention of students while promoting the fours C’s which are collaboration, communication, creative and critical thinking. The learning program that caught my attention was game design. Children of today are involved in so many games from Halo to Angry Birds. How incredibly unique it is to incorporate something so familiar into an exciting learning experience.

Most students have played at least one game but they don’t understand the tasks involved to create such a game. St. Clair has created a lesson plan that involves students from the initial planning to the final product. The planning stages encourage children to be creative and to think critically of each step of the game. One example of critical thinking, is the task to create a diagram that illustrates each level of the game and its objectives. This learning program promotes attention to detail in a wide range of areas such as character design to catching and correcting game flaws.

This learning program requires a checks and balance stage. So if this were a solo project the student would still require an outsider to test the program and provide positive or negative feedback on the design. This collaborative effort allows students to learn how to communicate effectively and work as a team. It also teaches them to accept and provide meaningful criticism.

The four C’s are all necessary qualities in the workforce population to create a productive working environment. St. Clair promotes and instills these great qualities in children early on in preparation for the real world. Kudos to St. Clair for molding children today to be leaders of the future!