#30GOALSEDU – Design a badge

This is one of my favourite goals for many reasons. First of all, I’ve loved badges, stickers, stars etc since I was a little kid. Call me a nerd, but the whole idea of filling a notebook page with awesome stickers made me feel both happy and proud of what I’ve accomplished. That’s why it came natural to me to use stickers or messages on post-it notes as mini rewards for my students ever since I started teaching.

Secondly, the idea of creating your own badges is great because a) teachers can also reward other, more important and not assessed by tests/quizzes etc. aspects of student performance such as class behaviour and b) students can create their own badges which they can use to reward their classmates’ manners, friendly behaviour etc. In fact, I feel that the most meaningful use of badges is to build a community of trust, team work and support in the classroom. Otherwise, badges and “trophies” of any kind become grades of a different type.

There are now many sites you can use to create your own badges, but I decided to create mine using Canva. Although it’s not a badge maker site itself, there are lots of amazing charts, icons and fonts to use and create your own badges. It’s super easy to use and the end result is always amazing! Here’s an example of what I’ve created:

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Comments (6)

  1. Hi Maria,

    I teach online, via Moodle, and have been toying for a while now with the idea of introducing badges to the course – at least a couple, like “star forum contributor” or “course completer” – even though these are undergrads I teach and it could be argued they might not be motivated as much by badges. Not sure what the research says about various age groups. Anyway, thanks for the reminder and for the Canva tip.

    Vedrana

    1. You’re welcome, Vedrana! I have a feeling your students will love badges – I’ve seen 40 year olds get enthusiastic about stickers! 🙂 If you try the idea out, please let me know how it has worked for you!

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