Using the GAME Plan Process with Students

When it comes to meeting goals in my classroom with my students, one thing I really believe in is making students a part of the goal and giving them some responsibility in meeting it. Students need to know where they are going and where they need to end up. So like any other educational goal, the first thing I would do is share the NETS-S with the students and explain how I would hope to meet the goals with them. By giving the students a quick snapshot of the tools and methods we would use the meet the goals, I know they would be very excited to be a part of the goals and would work hard to meet them. At that point, I would work with them to develop a GAME plan for each goal. We might not do all the plans at once, but instead pick one or two to create a work on before moving on to the next. For example, I would start immediately with digital citizenship to teach safety and ethics at the beginning of the school year because it is crucial that students learn that skill right away and have plenty of time to keep developing it throughout the school year. As we met goals, we would move on to the next, and more than likely work on two or even three at a time, depending on our curriculum and unit of study, and plus some must be practiced continuously. Using the GAME plan is really just a method that will help keep us focused as we work towards. Actually, it will be more about keeping me on track and keeping the students involved in their learning. I think really it’s all about what Vicki Davis refers to as “Intentional research and development.” As long as my students and I make a conscious effort to create and stick with goals, and using the GAME plan will help accomplish this, we will be successful in the end.