By Angela Almeida
Opinions Editor

           According to Sam, a precocious Wilson Elementary fourth grader, “math is my strong suit.”  Whether other elementary students share in Sam’s confidence or not, one thing is for certain: help is on the way.

            After one successful year with the “Got Game” project, Digital Portfolio (DP) students at New Tech are getting another opportunity to create interactive, online games aimed at strengthening elementary math skills.

            “It’s New Tech project-based learning for the students,” Wilson Elementary fourth grade teacher Ann Carlsson said. “The end product will be meaningful and useful while helping incorporate math into the games.”

            The process leading up to New Tech’s launch of the project included intricate planning, primarily for DP teacher and head of “Got Game” Carrie Spannagel. As a first order of action, the DP students were put into groups of four, each dubbed “companies”. Each company consists of two pairs of students whom created games using Adobe Illustrator virtually from scratch.

            To distinguish the target audience, New Tech students sent out questionnaires to third, fourth and fifth grade classes to find out what best peeks their interests. After getting back the results, the project was based upon difficult gaming theory, where students were given the chance to be behind the scenes in their creation.

            “My kids are given plenty of time so their products are more professional,” Spannagel said. “The expo is really the finalizing capstone though.”

            After the elementary students are able to test the games out, an expo will be scheduled at a later date to display the games and give the DP students their final feedback.

            In addition, the “Got Game” project helps DP students work towards developing their portfolio for graduation. Complete with a business proposal and mission statement, the game packages will appear in a very professional manner. Prior to releasing the games to the elementary schools, however, DP students will launch a peer critique to make sure they are functional.

            Another interesting aspect of the project is the students use of Skype as a method of communication. Scheduled sometime next week, DP students will have a conference call with their elementary partners via Skype to learn how the children received their games.

“I’m really excited to play some math games,” Castranova said. “I want to work with New Tech too.”

The project does not have a definite ending date, although it is projected to be fully complete in six to seven weeks. Within that time, students at Wilson, Mockingbird and Austin Elementary schools may garner their math skills, in preparation for standardized tests at the year’s end.

“I asked students last year and this was one of their favorite projects,” Spannagel said. “I have full confidence such will be the case this year.”