This blog post comes just in time for #BackToSchool and is being shared due to the interest in a tweet/X of mine that proved to be quite popular.

I’m not an ‘Icebreaker’ kind of person, more of a ‘Community-Builder’, and as such, each of my initial activities with a new group of students is purpose-driven and intentional. In this networking bingo activity below you can see that I have carefully and meticulously designed the prompts to encourage students to make connections, with follow-up, open-ended questions to take the conversation deeper. Not only are the prompts varied, they also foreshadow many of the elements that I will introduce to students throughout the year. The majority of the prompts relate to the features of Meaningful PE, some make reference to durable skills, and others relate to the benefits of, and different ways to be active.

I created these prompts with my specific cohort of students in mind. I teach in a large high school (4000 students) and my PE class comprises of 45 junior and senior students who have had physical education classes since kindergarten. Here in Illinois PE was daily, K-12 but recently we saw some cuts. That said, with our block schedule I’ll see my students twice for 85 minutes, and once for 40 minutes each week. Yes, I know I’m fortunate.

When I initially shared this idea on Twitter/X, Carrie Lyons liked it but wondered how it might work with her students who “don’t see themselves in physical activity yet”. The comments got us thinking and we bounced ideas off of each other. Obviously we want all activities to be accessible and inclusive, and to embrace the individual differences in the teaching space. I think that the prompts chosen above will work within my community, but I urge teachers using the networking bingo card to consider personalizing the prompts as best they can.

Carrie and I considered:

• Find someone who hasn’t found their ‘just right’ activity yet.
• Find someone nervous about PE class this year.
• Find someone who prefers games that involve strategy over balance.
• Find someone who enjoys helping set up or organize games rather than participating directly.
• Find someone who likes playing sports games on a video game console.

These are all such great questions and could easily be included in your networking bingo card. Why not ask your students to create prompts of their own to help you create a version for the next group of incoming students?

At the start of the school year I have to speak to each student in turn and share their locker assignment, and log their padlock combination and security code into our school system. I plan on using the networking bingo card with students during this lesson, allowing them to meet their new classmates.

You can access a PDF copy of this networking activity here.

If you use this activity please let me know how it goes, and if you decide to create your own prompts, I’d love to see them. I also want to give a shout out to awesome educator Shelby Hosmer, acknowledging that she definitely planted a creative seed in my brain when she shared her networking bingo activity with me this month in response to a tweet.

** Due to requests, I created a networking bingo card for my health class. Again, the prompts all relate to my content and the new National Health Standards.

If you enjoyed this post, you’ll also enjoy these other #BackToSchool themed posts.

Ready to Teach? Your Preseason Training Guide – athletes have preseason training, and I’d argue that teachers should too.

5 Tips for Better Sleep – taking control of our sleep habits at this time of year is a must!

Back to School Must Have Items – here are the items on MY #BackToSchool shopping list.

Meaningful PE: Autobiographical Assignment – here is the first assignment that I’ll do with my PE students.