American Ninja Warrior Digital Badges in #Physed
Last week in my physical education class students participated in an American Ninja Warrior Obstacle Course. It involves student’s climbing over plyometric boxes, swinging on ropes, using the bouldering wall, jumping rope and crawling underneath objects. Obstacle courses are an extremely engaging activity for students, but as teachers it can be easy to forget to emphasize learning outcomes during obstacle courses. To help me with this I have created digital badges for students to increase student engagement and reflection during classes. Each badge represents different learning outcomes of the obstacle course. Here are five badges I created and information on how you can use them or create something similar.
Cardiovascular Endurance Badges
Obstacle courses allow a great environment for students to learn about and participate in cardiovascular endurance. I have created two badges to help students create their own goals for cardiovascular endurance during the obstacle course. These badges give students the opportunity to start making independent health related choices/ goals.
Jump Rope Ninja Badge
SHAPE America Standard 3: Actively engages in the activities of physical education class, both teacher-directed and independent (S3.E2.4).
During one portion of the obstacle course students must jump rope during each lap. The Jump Rope Ninja badge allows students to create their own goals for jumping rope throughout the duration of the obstacle course. For example, if a student is an advanced jump roper they can set a goal to complete 200 to 300 rope jumps by the end of class. If a student is less experienced at jumping rope they can set their goal around 30-50 jumps. Each lap students decide how many times they need to jump rope to meet their goal. If they meet or exceed their goal they earn the Jump Rope Ninja badge.
Marathon Ninja Badge
SHAPE America Standard 3: Actively engages in the activities of physical
education class, both teacher-directed and independent (S3.E2.4).
The Marathon Ninja badge was created so students can set a goal for how many laps they will complete during the obstacle course by the end of a class period. If they meet or exceed their goal they earn the Marathon Ninja badge.
Growth Mindset: Grit Ninja
To become a Grit Ninja students have to first identify areas of the obstacle course they are having trouble with and then display the growth mindset by not giving up when they reach those areas of the course. For example, if a student is having trouble climbing the rock wall but continues working hard during the that section as well as throughout the rest of the course, he or she will earn the Grit Ninja badge.
Character: Integrity Badge
SHAPE America Standard 4: Exhibits responsible behavior in independent 
group situations. (S4.E1.4).
For students to earn the Integrity Ninja badge they must demonstrate the honest and have strong morals during the obstacle course while also being an independent learner. For example, students can show integrity by not skipping any portion of the obstacle course, cutting in front of other students at obstacles or setting up an obstacle that has fallen down.
Master Ninja Badge
In order for students to earn the Master Ninja Badge they need to earn all 4 badges above during a single physical education class.
Administering the Digital Badges
At the end of class, students reflect on their performance and then scan the QR codes related to the specific ninja badges they have earned that day. Each QR code leads students to a single Google Slide that displays the associated badge. Students then take a screenshot of the digital badge to keep within their photos as a badge of honor. As students scanned the badges I would chat with them about the variety of ways that they earned them. This gave me the opportunity positively reinforce student’s on their performance during class.
How I Created My Badges
- I made the badges using the iOS graphic design program Sketch
- I placed the badge on a Google Slide.
- I made a QR code using QRHacker
- I used the a free (mostly) program called Canva to place the badge, badge explanation and QR code together to create an activity card for my students.
I feel that adding these badges to the obstacle course really helped students focus on the learning outcomes. Another positive outcome was the amount of time students spent reflecting with each other and myself about the badges they earned and how they did it. Without prompting, some of my students set the wallpaper on their iPad to their favorite badge. When I saw this, I knew I had found something that was really engaging to students. It made me happy knowing that every time those students used their iPad they would remember what they did within my class. Click here to get a copy of the Ninja Badge resources.
Updated #PhysEdSummit 4.0 Conference Program!

February 27th, 10:00am New York Time
Hosted by:
Adam Howell | Jonathan Jones | Naomi Hartl
Matt Pomeroy | Collin Brooks | William Bode | Sarah G-H

Mission Statement:
To provide digital professional learning opportunities for physical education professionals by sharing, discussing, and reflecting on best practices. Read More
The #PhysEdSummit 4.0 Conference Program

February 27th, 10:00am New York Time
Hosted by:
Adam Howell | Jonathan Jones | Naomi Hartl
Matt Pomeroy | Collin Brooks | William Bode | Sarah G-H

Mission Statement:
To provide digital professional learning opportunities for physical education professionals by sharing, discussing, and reflecting on best practices.
Time Zone Converter(s):
- http://everytimezone.com/ (This is a visual guide!)
- http://www.thetimezoneconverter.com/ (Enter the Eastern Time Zone)
RSVP by clicking on the picture below:
Note: Presentations will be archived and can be viewed on the Tozzl platform (see “Click Here for Presentation” column below) or the PHYSEDagogy YouTube Channel at anytime for your convenience.
The PhysEdSummit 4.0 Block One
![]() |
|||
|
Session Title |
Time |
Presenter(s) |
Click Here for Presentation |
| FULL ACCESS Physical Education | 10am Eastern (7am Pacific) |
Andy Hair @MrHairPhysEd Brett Sinnett @commandokiddz Richard Colman @RichardColman84 Ben Carbonaro @bcarbonaro85 |
FullAccessPhysed |
|
Large Class Size Hacks |
10am Eastern (7am Pacific) |
Adam Metcalf @MrMetcalfPE Adam Llevo @MrAdamPE Ben Landers @thepespecialist Dave Carney @PE_Dave1017 |
LargeClassHacks |
| Short Class Period Hacks | 10am Eastern (7am Pacific) | Dr. Aaron Beighle @AaronBeighle
Jennifer Fane Joe McCarthy @JoeMcCarthy09 |
ShortClassHacks |
The #PhysEdSummit 4.0 Block Two
|
|
|||
| Session Title | Time | Presenter(s) | Click Here for Presentation |
| Teaching Dance for Understanding (TDfU) | 11am Eastern (8am Pacific) |
Melanie Levenberg @MelanieG_pl3y |
TeachingDanceforUnderstanding |
| Getting Started with Sport Ed | 11am Eastern (8am Pacific) | Ken Forde @KenForde | GettingStartedSportEd |
| The Multi-Activity Model | 12pm Eastern (9am Pacific) | Dr. Aaron Beighle @AaronBeighle | MultiActivityModel |
| Integrating Swimming in the PYP: A 6-Week Unit Plan | 12pm Eastern (9am Pacific) |
Kerstin Bender @MsKerstinPE Dr. Gilbert Kaburu |
SwimmingPYP |
| Sport Education, Tactical Games, and Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) | 12pm Eastern (9am Pacific) | Adam Metcalf @MrMetcalfPE | SportEDTGFUhybrid |
The #PhysEdSummit 4.0 Block Three
|
|
|||
| Session Title | Time | Presenter(s) | Click Here for Presentation |
| Part One: An Overview of the TGfU Model–Putting the Why Before the How | 10am Eastern (7am Pacific) | Kelly Ann Parry @kellyannparry | P1OverviewofTGfU |
| Part Two: Game Modification for Learning Tactical Concepts in Invasion Games | 11am Eastern (8am Pacific) | David Gutiérrez Díaz del Campo
Kelly Ann Parry @kellyannparry |
P2GameModificationforInvasion |
| Part Three: Game Modification for Learning Tactical Concepts in Net/Wall Games | 11am Eastern (8am Pacific) | Heidi Bohler @HeidiBohler
Dr. Stephen Harvey @drstephenharvey |
P3ModificationNetWallGames |
| Part Four: Developing Questioning When Teaching Using TGfU | 12pm Eastern (9am Pacific) | Dr. Stephen Harvey @drstephenharvey | P4DevelopingQuestioning |
The #PhysEdSummit 4.0 Program At A Glance
|
Session Title |
Presenter(s) | Moderator(s) |
Click Here for Presentation |
|
10am Eastern (7am Pacific) |
|||
|
FULL ACCESS Physical Education |
Andy Hair @MrHairPhysEd Brett Sinnett @commandokiddz Richard Colman @RichardColman84 Ben Carbonaro @bcarbonaro85 |
Sarah Gietschier-Hartman @GHSaysRockChalk Naomi Hartl @MissHartl |
FullAccessPhysed |
|
Large Class Size Hacks |
Adam Metcalf @MrMetcalfPE Adam Llevo @MrAdamPE Ben Landers @thepespecialist Dave Carney @PE_Dave1017 |
Collin Brooks @CollinBrooksie |
LargeClassHacks |
|
Short Class Period Hacks |
Dr. Aaron Beighle @AaronBeighle Jennifer Fane @jjfane Joe McCarthy @JoeMcCarthy09 |
William Bode |
|
|
Part One: An Overview of the TGfU Model–Putting the Why Before the How |
Kelly Ann Parry @kellyannparry | Jonathan Jones @J_JonesPE |
P1OverviewofTGfU |
|
11am Eastern (8am Pacific) |
|||
| Teaching Dance for Understanding (TDfU) | Melanie Levenberg @MelanieG_pl3y @TDfU_ed |
Naomi Hartl |
TeachingDanceforUnderstanding |
|
Getting Started with Sport Ed |
Ken Forde @KenForde |
William Bode |
GettingStartedSportEd |
| Part Two: Game Modification for Learning Tactical Concepts in Invasion Games | David Gutiérrez Díaz del Campo Kelly Ann Parry @kellyannparry |
Matt Pomeroy |
P2GameModificationforInvasion |
|
Part Three: Game Modification for Learning Tactical Concepts in Net/Wall Games |
Heidi Bohler @HeidiBohler Dr. Stephen Harvey @drstephenharvey |
Collin Brooks @CollinBrooksie |
P3ModificationNetWallGames |
|
12pm Eastern (9am Pacific) |
|||
|
The Multi-Activity Model |
Dr. Aaron Beighle @AaronBeighle | Naomi Hartl @MissHartl |
MultiActivityModel |
| Integrating Swimming in the PYP: A 6-Week Unit Plan | Kerstin Bender @MsKerstinPE Dr. Gilbert Kaburu |
Collin Brooks |
SwimmingPYP |
|
Sport Education/TGfU Hybrid Units |
Adam Metcalf @MrMetcalfPE | Adam Howell @adamphowell |
SportEDTGFUhybrid |
| Part Four: Developing Questioning When Teaching Using TGfU | Dr. Stephen Harvey @drstephenharvey | Matt Pomeroy @Physed_Pomeroy |
P4DevelopingQuestioning |
The #PhysEdSummit 4.0 Full Program

FULL ACCESS Physical Education
Time: 10am ET (1000)
Speakers: Brett Sinnett, Andy Hair, Richard Colman, and Ben Carbonaro
Session Description: Physical educators Brett Sinnett and Andy Hair will be joined by Richard Colman, the T53 800m gold medalist at the 2004 Athens and 2012 London Paralympic Games and 2011 World Championships, and Ben Carbonaro, a leading sports journalist, radio host, and Asperger’s advocate, for a round table discussion about adapted physical education. They will discuss strategies to ensure that students with disabilities are included in physical education classes, and will encourage educators to focus on the “ability” of each student rather than the “disability.” Richard and Ben will share their experiences of growing up with a disability and their involvement in sport and physical education. They will share what good teaching looked like to them and what they internalized when faced with exclusion due to activity boundaries that were set.
Large Class Size Hacks
Time: 10am ET (1000)
Speakers: Adam Metcalf, Adam Llevo, and Ben Landers
Session Description: Physical education teachers Adam Metcalf, Adam Llevo, Ben Landers and Dave Carney discuss large class strategies. Join the conversation, and learn new ideas to make your large class sizes not only have high levels of physical activity but high levels of student learning.
Short Class Period Hacks
Time: 10am ET (1000)
Speakers: Dr. Aaron Beighle, Jennifer Fane, and Joe McCarthy
Session Description: Do you feel as if you are always in a time crunch? Are your classes 20-25 minutes long? Join Lecturer Jennifer Fane, Dr. Aaron Beighle and physical education teacher Joe McCarthy as they discuss strategies to create a high level of student learning in a short amount of time.

Teaching Dance for Understanding (TDfU)
Time: 11am ET (1100)
Speakers: Melanie Levenberg
Intended Audience: Physical Education (Kindergarten-Grade 8)
Session Description: Teaching Dance for Understanding (TDfU) is a new learner-centered pedagogical model for dance education that focuses on simplicity, student engagement and fostering physical literacy. Inspired by Teaching Games for Understanding (Bunker and Thorpe, 1982), the ‘rules’ of dance (choreography and technique) are modified to allow students to experience success with various dance movements, rhythms and fundamental movements skills. Learners explore movements and ideas through various genres of world music in order to gain confidence in expressing themselves using their bodies. An inquiry-based learning model, TDfU allows students to develop interpersonal skills and group cohesion through interACTIVE group formations and co-created dance performances. In this session, discover practical ideas on how to implement and assess dance units that engage students physically, creatively and cognitively! You will learn about the TDfU instructional model, learn tips on how to ‘shake things up’ in your PE Dance unit, access simple songs that develop physical literacy through dance, and see TDfU “in action”. Teachers will have an opportunity to ask specific questions toward the end of the session.
Getting Started with Sport Ed
Time: 11am ET (1100)
Speaker: Ken Forde
Intended Audience: Physical Education (Grades 6-8)
Session Description: In order to challenge my students to develop a range of interpersonal skills, I decided to implement a modified version of the Sport Education model of instruction described by Siedentop, Hastie, and van der Mars (2011). This session will outline the reasons for my decision, the background and context of my teaching, the structure and set-up of the model in my lessons. I will make connections to the IBMYP framework of assessment, as well as provide information on how the units are individually structured. The conclusion will include a brief reflection on my experiences and some goals for further implementation of this model.
The Multi-Activity Model
Time: 12PM ET (1200)
Speaker: Dr. Aaron Beighle
Intended Audience: Future Professionals (PETE), Higher Ed, Physical Education (Kindergarten-Grade 12)
Session Description: Sometimes referred to as the “lazy teacher model” or the “roll out the ball model,” the Multi-Activity (MA) Model is often viewed as one of the weakest curriculum models in physical education. Viewers will leave this session with an entirely different perspective of the MA Model. The purpose of this session is to provide an overview of the model and a discussion of its strengths and weaknesses. Strategies for implementing the MA Model that provide teacher flexibility and allow the integration of other models will be presented, too. Attendees will leave with salient ideas for implementing the MA model…on MONDAY!
Integrating Swimming in the PYP: A 6-Week Unit Plan
Time: 12pm ET (1200)
Speakers: Kerstin Bender and Dr. Gilbert Kaburu
Intended Audience: Early Childhood; Physical Education (Kindergarten-Grade 5)
Session Description: Swimming is becoming a more prominent part of PYP PE in many schools. And although the PYP PSPE Scope and Sequence document is a starting place, there isn’t enough information out there to help teachers infuse the PYP conceptual framework into a skill-based subject like swimming. This presentation will focus on how to implement a written, taught and assessed curriculum for swimming. To do so, we will use a 6-week swimming unit planner for upper primary level, highlight the PYP integration points, and discuss how teaching through concepts and assessing students using inquiry-based approaches can be implemented while teaching swimming.
Sport Education/TGfU Hybrid Units
Time: 12pm ET (1200)
Speaker: Adam Metcalf
Intended Audience: Physical Education (Grades 6-8)
Session Description: Maximize student engagement, tactical understanding, and motivation using Sport Education and TGfU instructional models. This presentation will give you some practical solutions and resources to create a sustainable system of these two student-centered instructional models for your Physical Education program. While an “event driven” Sport Ed unit can be exciting and memorable, an overcomplicated unit can result in an enormous amount of planning and management; often leading to teacher burnout and a decrease in student engagement. Adapting TFfU tactics with a simplified Sport Ed framework can help to provide dynamic units that can be repeated without being overcomplicated.

Part One: An Overview of the TGfU Model–Putting the Why Before the How
Time: 10am ET (1100)
Speaker: Kelly Ann Parry
Intended Audience: Physical Education (Grades 3-12)
Session Description: This session will provide an overview of how the Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) model can be applied to practice with a focus on the four guiding pedagogical principles:
- Sampling
- Exaggeration
- Representation
- Questioning
Part Two: Game Modification for Learning Tactical Concepts in Invasion Games
Time: 11am ET (1200)
Speaker: David Gutiérrez Díaz del Campo and Kelly Ann Parry
Intended Audience: Physical Education (Grades 3-12)
Session Description: This session will provide practitioners with ideas on how to develop the four pedagogical principles of TGfU. In particular, the session will focus on how to set up the learning environment and designing games using these pedagogical principles to “get a good game going.” This session will develop ideas from Part One: An Overview of the TGfU Model, and provide a link to Part Four: Developing Questioning When Teaching Using TGfU.
Part Three: Game Modification for Learning Tactical Concepts in Net/Wall Games
Time: 12pm ET (1200)
Speakers: Heidi Bohler and Dr. Stephen Harvey
Intended Audience: Physical Education (Grades 3-12)
Session Description: This session will provide practitioners with ideas on how to develop the four pedagogical principles of TGfU. In particular, the session will focus on how to set up the learning environment and designing games using these pedagogical principles to “get a good game going.” This session will develop ideas from Part One: An Overview of the TGfU Model, and provide a link to Part Four: Developing Questioning When Teaching Using TGfU.
Part Four: Developing Questioning When Teaching Using TGfU
Time: 12pm ET (1200)
Speaker: Dr. Stephen Harvey
Intended Audience: Higher Ed; Physical Education (Grades 3-12)
Session Description: Despite the development of a wide body of literature suggesting the efficacy of TGfU to teaching and learning, a range of challenges face teachers and coaches taking up TGfU. Light (2013) suggests that one of the most significant challenges is the effective use of productive and generative questioning. This presentation will offer insight into how practitioners can operationalize the use of questioning through the provision of theoretically grounded practical examples that will assist practitioners in their implementation of TGfU.




