My Time, My Graph: 40 m With No Ranking

Each student is timed over 40 m with help from their group of three, writes it on a personal card, and plots it on a graph that compares only their own times across the year. It works on speed and self-assessment with no public rankings.

How to play

1. Warm-up: jog, high-knees, butt kicks and three build-up accelerations (6 min).
2. Explain the personal card and the privacy rules (3 min).
3. Groups of three (runner, starter, timer): two timed tries each, rotating roles (12 min).
4. Write down the best try and plot it on the personal graph (4 min).
5. Everyone writes a goal for the next test and one specific action to get there (5 min).

Rules

• Times are not said out loud or posted anywhere.
• Today's time is only compared with the same student's earlier times.
• At least two minutes' recovery between tries.
• Separate lanes and a long slow-down past the finish.

Variations

Adaptations

• Students with visual impairments: run with a guide or lane rope; make the graph tactile or record it as audio.
• Wheelchair users: same test in their chair, with their own graph.
• Students anxious about testing: can be timed privately by the teacher or only record whether they improved, held steady or dropped.

Learning goals

• Measure and record their own speed.
• Value personal progress over comparison.
• Set realistic goals and specific actions.

Equipment for a class of 25

• cones: 10
• stopwatches: 10
• personal record cards: 30
• pencils: 30

Teacher tip

Keep the cards in a class folder so you can repeat the test each term. Hand timing has error: keep the same timer in each group. Common mistake: someone asks loudly "What did you get?"; stop and restate the rule.

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