I have easily thought of ways to implement the first two Summer Tech Challenges into my classes, but I just don't "get" classroom badges. I feel like they may have value with a little younger crowd, but I am unsure how they'd be taken with high school students. Would students find value in them? I just don't know. Maybe I will have to do a little trial experiment with them and see how they are received.
Anything that increases student motivation and ownership, gets two thumbs up from me. I am unsure if Class Badges will do that. But, maybe they will and for that reason, I will give them a try! I will teach Theater I, Yearbook, English 10, and Basic English 10 as well as direct the One-Act, Winter, and Spring Plays. I think out of those classes, the Class Badges may work the best in my Yearbook class. I feel like I could use the Badges as goals for my students and every time they meet/exceed a goal, they’d earn a badge.
The only badge system I think I’ve participated in is Four Square, an app on my iPhone that lets me tell my friends where I currently am checking into different locations. At first, I thought the Badges were kind of cool and I remembered I tried to get as many as a could. On Four Square, they were awarded for doing different things like visiting a pizza parlor, flying in an airplane, attending a concert, etc. I kind of lost interest in the badges after I acquired a quite a few of them.
Class badges will have to be something I try out with my classes. Who knows - maybe they will help my students stay motivated! Stay tuned...
I think you will have to give it a try to see if it will work with high school kids. On the one hand, I agree with you that high school kids might not buy into it. On the other hand, I know that a lot of high school kids are huge gamers. Part of gaming is the reaching of levels and being awarded different things (like badges) because of reaching the levels. So that makes me think that this would work with high school students.
ReplyDeleteI'll be interested to see how it goes with your students!
I agree with you Taryn on the value the older students will place on badges. I am struggling using them in the JH so I can understand where you are coming from. It is like everything.....when it is new & fun we go for it but after it wears off we forget about it. I never did get 4square and being the mayor of someplace......
ReplyDeleteI struggled with using class badges at the high school level at first as well. I did come up with an option but feel it will take more motivation than just getting the badges for students to complete. My idea is if they earn the badges, they can opt out of the semester exam because they have completed work above and beyond the "normal" curriculum in order to gain the badges. I still don't know if that will work, but as you commented, I'm always willing to try!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny that we question whether kids will buy into the badges at the HS level - because I initially questioned them for 4th graders! But then I think to my own life and I know that I love being challenged in any way. It can be as simple as 5 bonus points on a test, or hey, even one professional growth point for a summer tech challenge (wink, wink) - I am all over it. I think we will all be surprised just how much our kiddos take to the challenge of earning a badge (especially if we talk it up as a true challenge)!
ReplyDeleteVery true, Heather! I am trying to come up with ideas about trying out Class Badges in my English 10 classroom. If I make it a true challenge, I think my sophomores would buy into it. I have had a lot of time to think about how to implement them. I think that maybe using them to award small points toward extra credit might do the trick. That's the best thing I can think of anyway! :) Thanks for all the posts, guys!
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking about using class badges for my yearbook class as sort of a skills-based learning tracker. Since I have several different students on staff doing several different things, they could have tasks or skills they need to develop and demonstrate learning. For example, if I have a student on staff who is a photographer they need to master 5 different photography badges for the first semester. Badges like "shooting in low light" "shooting action" "photoshop color correction" etc. each badge will have them watch a video, or take a quiz, or something like that. Kids who are reporters will do different things and designers, etc.
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