Phys Ed's October Challenge

I've managed to share my October Challenge in our school newsletter, on our website and outside our gym doors, even on twitter, and yet somehow forgot to write about it here... so here we go. 

Each month I am going to try and set up a challenge of some sort to encourage healthy living within our school community. Phys Ed's October Challenge is simple, Fitness Bingo. Now this isn't your typical bingo. Instead we want you to go out and get active by completing the whole card and when you manage that, you win! You win the satisfaction of knowing you are leading a healthy and active lifestyle and for doing so, I'll be sure to send you a certificate of completion. Please make sure to visit the following link (the same link as the bottom of the Bingo Card) when you have completed the whole card: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1EkcyoAZ3qClQS2bee59euW6AD66kjxaG7llYnZeaJt4/viewform

Now for the #pegeeks out there ... Once students, and maybe staff, complete the challenge they are encouraged to click the link at the bottom of the card. This URL leads them to a Google Form (these are so powerful and I've only really just started to use them!) that they can quickly complete. 

The information entered into this form is then captured in a spreadsheet that I have access to (there is some great applications of gforms for assessment with such features!).

Here's the cool part - I've set this up so once someone completes this form, they will automatically receive a certificate of completion from me!! A cool, tangible result for those that complete the challenge.

How this works - Google has the ability to run 'scripts', which is basically a way to automatically complete tasks. Now, the development of scripts is beyond me but if you spend some time looking on the web (in my case connecting with other Phys Ed teachers) you can find a gscript that will work for you. In my case, it was a traditional 'mail merge' script called 'autocrat'. The gscript autocrat took the information from my form and populated it on a certificate which automatically mails the student a copy of their certificate. 

I have to give all credit to +Matt Pomeroy for the idea of the Fitness Challenge. After watching a Google Hangout of Matt, +Adam Howell  and +Naomi Hartl, the team behind +PHYSEDagogy, I was inspired to get the gscript 'autocrat' a try. 

I'm hoping that I'll find other ways to incorporate Google Forms into my teaching, maybe even autocrat. I can say for certain that each month we'll have an exciting challenge for our students and staff to take on. 

Until then, thanks for reading.

-CFM