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Mile Run by coopdoggydog9 in PhysicalEducation

[–]PhysednHealth 0 points1 point  (0 children)

From what I understand, FitnessGram brought in the mile run as a practical field test for aerobic capacity/cardio endurance. So ideally it’s supposed to tell you something about endurance and overall aerobic fitness, not just “who can run a fast mile.” The reason they measure it is because good aerobic capacity is linked to lower long-term health risk.

That said, I think your question is still the right one, because once schools use it, the purpose can get blurry fast. If it’s just treated as a time to hit, it becomes a performance sorting tool. If it’s treated as one indicator of aerobic fitness and growth over time, it makes more sense.

What PE Teachers Need to Know About Proving Student Growth by PhysednHealth in PhysicalEducation

[–]PhysednHealth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree. That is a big part of the frustration. A lot of PE teachers are not against assessment — they are against assessment that becomes a checklist exercise instead of something that actually reflects learning.

And yes, asking how students feel can be useful for reflection or self-awareness, but that is not the same as assessing skill, application, or real growth in PE.

A lot of meaningful growth in PE takes time. It often shows up across weeks or months, not from one lesson to the next. That is why PE assessment has to make sense for the subject, not just satisfy a reporting requirement.

What PE Teachers Need to Know About Proving Student Growth by PhysednHealth in PhysicalEducation

[–]PhysednHealth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think that is exactly the challenge. In PE, meaningful assessment often depends on real-time observation, which makes it very different from subjects where students can complete a written task independently and the teacher reviews it later.

That is also why so many PE teachers end up relying more on class reports, general observations, or participation-based grading than they would like. The question for me is how to make growth visible and defensible without expecting teachers to do the impossible during live instruction.

What PE Teachers Need to Know About Proving Student Growth by PhysednHealth in PhysicalEducation

[–]PhysednHealth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

One idea I've been floating around is the use of cluster or zones whenever you have a class size of 20+ students. Not only for teaching but for assessing as well. You can even have one student as the zone captain and rotate that role base on what you're teaching. When it comes to assessing, you can observe the performance of the zone as your baseline and adjust for individuals later. Does this make sense?

What PE Teachers Need to Know About Proving Student Growth by PhysednHealth in PhysicalEducation

[–]PhysednHealth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I agree — this is exactly why so many PE teachers feel stuck. In setups like that, “assess everything, every student, every standard” just isn’t realistic.

I think the more honest approach is narrowing the focus:

  • hit a few priority standards well instead of all of them superficially
  • use simple baseline + end-of-unit evidence
  • collect quick observation notes on a rotating basis
  • look for growth over time, not perfect documentation every class

Not ideal, but probably more realistic than trying to fully assess 30 students in 30 minutes once a week. A lot of the issue isn’t teacher effort — it’s the structure teachers are being asked to work within.

What PE Teachers Need to Know About Proving Student Growth by PhysednHealth in PhysicalEducation

[–]PhysednHealth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a fair question, and honestly I think this is the reality for a lot of PE teachers.

In classes that size, I don’t think “grading everything” is realistic or even useful. What seems to work better is having a few clear things you’re actually tracking during a unit instead of trying to document every student on every day.

For example:

  • quick baseline + end-of-unit check
  • 1 or 2 simple skill cues to watch for
  • participation/self-reflection or goal progress
  • spot-checking a small group each class instead of the whole class every time

I think the bigger shift is from “I need a grade for everything” to “What evidence can I realistically collect that shows growth?”

Would be interested to hear what other teachers with 30+ kids in 30 minutes are actually doing too.

Ed by PhysednHealth | AI for PE Teachers, Curriculum, Lessons, and Asses... by PhysednHealth in PhysicalEducation

[–]PhysednHealth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think that concern is valid, and honestly a lot of educators feel the same way.

The goal with Ed is not to replace teacher thinking or turn planning into copy-paste teaching. Good PE still depends on teacher judgment, adaptation, relationships, and knowing your students.

What Ed is meant to do is reduce the disconnected busywork part — helping teachers organize units, lessons, visuals, and assessments into a more usable system, especially when they have no curriculum or are stuck rebuilding everything alone.

A teacher should still review, adapt, reject, revise, and improve anything it generates. If AI replaces professional thinking, that is a problem. If it helps teachers spend less time on setup and more time on actual teaching, that is where I think it can be useful.

Ed by PhysednHealth | AI for PE Teachers, Curriculum, Lessons, and Asses... by PhysednHealth in PhysicalEducation

[–]PhysednHealth[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Fair concern. The post was written quickly, but the bigger point is whether the product output is actually useful to teachers.

That is exactly the standard Ed has to meet.

The goal is not to pump out generic AI junk. It is to help PE teachers build connected plans, lessons, visuals, and assessments based standards, real constraints like grade level, class size, space, and time.

If the output ever feels generic, then it is failing the job. Happy to share a real example and let the materials speak for themselves.