By Kim Eroh on Wednesday, April 11, 2001 - 01:34 pm: Edit

Does anyone use a 5 point scale for daily Physical education grades ? or any other scale - rubric ? I would like to compare them to mine to improve upon it. Thanks.

By Isobel Kleinman on Friday, April 13, 2001 - 02:31 pm: Edit

You will find "Complete Physical Education Plans for Grades 7-12" very helpful. It has separate performance rubrics based on a five grid system for each unit in a chapter - beginner, intermediate and advanced units - for 15 sports and activities (the wrestling unit is on the CD ROM included with the book).

Hope you enjoy using it and feel free to get back to me with feedback once you do.

By Carol Roe on Monday, July 09, 2001 - 10:25 am: Edit

We currently have phys. ed. 5 days/per week in our elementary school and as a parent, I see the tremendous benefits this has for our kids. The school board is proposing reducing phys. ed. to 2 and 1/2 days per week, because it's what all the other school districts in the area have. I want to write a letter to the school board expressing my displeasure with this, but also with supporting facts that point out the (obvious, to me anyway) benefits of daily PE? Can anyone help me?

By Patty Horn on Monday, July 16, 2001 - 11:24 pm: Edit

I saw the info from Ms. Kleinman about her physical education book: "Complete Physical Education Plans for Grades 7-12." I immediately went to order it at Amazon.com and later received an e-mail saying they no longer have it available. I then went to Barnes and Noble and got the same information. Where can I order this book? I really want to obtain a copy of it before school begins in the middle of August. I believe it will be quite helpful to me. Thank you to anyone with information. Feel free to e-mail me with the info. Also I am wanting to add folk dance to my high school PE curriculum. Any info on how to get started with this would be much appreciated. I have been searching the internet for a good CD or video with instruction to use for my classes. I would like to get one that has dances from several different countries. Thanks again.

By Isobel Kleinman on Wednesday, July 18, 2001 - 06:39 am: Edit

The best way to get Complete Physical Education Plans for Grades 7-12 is to order it directly from the publisher's website, Humankinetics.com. This book includes a nice section on dance, emphasizes folk dance for the beginning grades, and starts adding social dance to the mix as the grades get older. You will find the progressions helpful though you will need an independent source for the dance instructions. Human Kinetics has tons of materials available for your needs and as far as I can see, is absolutely the best site for finding resources in physical education.

By psh30 on Tuesday, July 24, 2001 - 10:09 pm: Edit

Thank you for your response about your book. I am just now getting back on here to check on it. I did find it at Books A Million not far from where I live and have ordered it. Thanks for the publisher's website, Humankinetics.com. I am anxious to look at it.

By Lexa Jones on Thursday, September 20, 2001 - 09:11 pm: Edit

Humankinetics.com should be a required bookmark for all new teachers. I personally have ordered over $300 worth of books from that site. Each book has its own style and activity list. I love them all!

There is also a website called Teachnology.com that has a rubric generator.

I have designed a 5 point rubric for the specific sports I teach. If I understand correctly, rubrics are supposed to NOT label the kids with letter grades but rather to inspire improvement. I teach middle school and use a thumb icon on my scale. Thumbs up, thumb 1/2 way between thumbs sideways and up, thumbs sideways, thumbs 1/2 way between thumbs sideways and down and thumbs down. It seems to work for the students, they like it better than the numbers. They will walk up to me and give me the thumb of their activity that day. I feel it keeps grading light and the students tend to try harder because they understand the difference between the thumbs up and down.

By Travis Fleshner on Friday, November 16, 2001 - 07:50 pm: Edit

I current teach 7-12 physical education. Our school district is going through an accreditation visit from our state department of education. Several of our areas do not have job descriptions,physical education being one. I have never written these and do not have experience in this area, can anyone send me an example or know of a web site were I can get an idea of this process?

By Isobel Kleinman on Tuesday, November 20, 2001 - 09:22 am: Edit

I have been teaching during the accreditation process, but have no idea what goes on behind the scenes. Suffice it to say, the observation of an active class with an active teacher got rave reviews from accreditors and for me, there was no need to know more.

By whittaker on Friday, November 30, 2001 - 10:27 am: Edit

I am at a middle school for the first time and we use a grading system of four points. If a student dresses out and participates they keep their current grade. If they do not dress out they lose 4 points. If they dress out and do not give 100% they can lose up to 4 points. Our schools system of grading allows for the students grade to lower but not increase. This system works for my classes because out of 150 students I have less than 10 kids making "D"'s or "F"'s.

By Anonymous on Saturday, March 23, 2002 - 12:47 pm: Edit

I need help. Can anyone give me a professional position source for grading in pe. I am against making 50% of the grade just be for dressing out and need to convince others of the merits of skills testing, written test, etc.

By Scott Stefl (Auman) on Monday, March 25, 2002 - 09:11 am: Edit

I grade my students on a 4 point scale each day. I tell the students they have a chance to earn each of the four points each day. They are as follows: 1. Being on time, 2. Be prepared, 3. Exhibit appropriate behavior, and 4. Participate appropriately. I talk to all of the students about each one of these items at the beginning of the year and then let them know when they are not earning a certain point each day. It has worked nicely for me and seems to be fair to everyone. Hope this helps.

By Scott Stefl (Auman) on Monday, March 25, 2002 - 09:14 am: Edit

I grade my students on a 4 point scale each day. I tell the students they have a chance to earn each of the four points each day. They are as follows: 1. Being on time, 2. Be prepared, 3. Exhibit appropriate behavior, and 4. Participate appropriately. I talk to all of the students about each one of these items at the beginning of the year and then let them know when they are not earning a certain point each day. It has worked nicely for me and seems to be fair to everyone. Hope this helps.

By lisa cypressi on Sunday, March 31, 2002 - 08:13 am: Edit

I like your 4 point/day grading system, but what do you do with excesive absences?

By Scott Stefl (Auman) on Sunday, March 31, 2002 - 10:10 am: Edit

For excessive absences, I allow the students to do some kind of physical make-up work to get the points for that day. You can set a standard that works for you. I usually tell the studenst they can walk a half mile or do some kind of written work. I prefer the physical work over written, but there have been times when a person is just coming back to school at the end of a quarter and unable to do physical activity due to doctors orders, but they still want to make the days up. Hope this helps. Oh, I got my grading system from Barry Nofzinger and his email address is barrynof@msn.com if you want to ask him about what he does for excessive absences. Hope this helps

By Isobel Kleinman on Friday, April 12, 2002 - 10:03 pm: Edit

I recommend an egual division of participation (33%), knowledge (33%) and skills (33%). My district policy was different and too arduous.... 65% participation, 10% skill, 10% knowledge, 15% fitness....so many people did not follow it.

By baby gaynor rico repayo (Babygee50) on Wednesday, April 17, 2002 - 01:01 am: Edit

I use this breakdown for my PE grading(30%)participation, 20% attitude,30% term assessment(written/practical or skill exams), 10% attendance and 10% uniform or dressing. Written exams is being measured too in PE because we believe that terminologies used should be clear to the students. Dressing is also important because a student performance is affected if one is not in proper attire. Discipline and behavior is another area that should be measured in PE.