Holiday Madness!

Happy Holidays from Miss C and Mr. F! Now that the holidays are here and in full swing, everyone is in full “elf” mode; shopping, cooking, eating, dining etc. Sometimes physical activity and exercise takes a back seat and you say “oh I’ll just start up again after the holidays…” DON’T!! Start NOW! I know its cold out, but this is New England! Bundle up and go for a walk with the family, play in the backyard, go ice skating at the local rinks, and the roads are still dry enough for a bike ride or skateboard! Not an outdoor person? Go to your local recreation center and PLAY! Sign up for a team sport, take a fitness class (kids or adults!), try out swimming at the YMCA, anything to keep you moving and active for the holidays! Here are some healthy tips and info on holiday eating and planning: 1) Be realistic. Don’t try to lose pounds during the holidays, instead try to maintain your current weight. 2) Plan time for exercise. Exercise helps relieve holiday stress and prevent weight gain. A moderate and daily increase in exercise can help partially offset increased holiday eating. Try 10- or 15-minute brisk walks twice a day. 3) Don’t skip meals. Before leaving for a party, eat a light snack like raw vegetables or a piece of fruit to curb your appetite. You will be less tempted to over-indulge. 4) Survey party buffets before filling your plate. Choose your favorite foods and skip your least favorite. Include vegetables and fruits to keep your plate balanced. 5) Eat until you are satisfied, not stuffed. Savor your favorite holiday treats while eating small portions. Sit down, get comfortable, and enjoy. 6) If you overeat at one meal go light on the next. It takes 500 calories per day (or 3,500 calories per week) above your normal/maintenance consumption to gain one pound. It is impossible to gain weight from one piece of pie! 7) Take the focus off food. Turn candy and cookie making time into non-edible projects like making wreaths, dough art decorations or a gingerbread house. Plan group activities with family and friends that aren’t all about food. Try serving a holiday meal to the community, playing games or going on a walking tour of decorated homes. 8) Bring your own healthy dish to a holiday gathering. 9) Practice Healthy Holiday Cooking. Preparing favorite dishes lower in fat and calories will help promote healthy holiday eating. Incorporate some of these simple-cooking tips in traditional holiday recipes to make them healthier. 10) Look at your plate. If all you see is whites and browns, then most likely you picked up all the heavier, starchy foods. Make sure your plate looks color-balanced. Potatoes and turkey with some roasted carrots and green bean casserole is a better color balance than all the “white” stuff.

Kids less fit today!-Associated Press release!

Study: Kids Are Less Fit Than Their Parents Were Associated Press News Release By MARILYNN MARCHIONE DALLAS (AP) -- Today's kids can't keep up with their parents. An analysis of studies on millions of children around the world finds they don't run as fast or as far as their parents did when they were young. On average, it takes children 90 seconds longer to run a mile than their counterparts did 30 years ago. Heart-related fitness has declined 5 percent per decade since 1975 for children ages 9 to 17. The American Heart Association, whose conference featured the research on Tuesday, says it's the first to show that children's fitness has declined worldwide over the last three decades. "It makes sense. We have kids that are less active than before," said Dr. Stephen Daniels, a University of Colorado pediatrician and spokesman for the heart association. Health experts recommend that children 6 and older get 60 minutes of moderately vigorous activity accumulated over a day. Only one-third of American kids do now. "Kids aren't getting enough opportunities to build up that activity over the course of the day," Daniels said. "Many schools, for economic reasons, don't have any physical education at all. Some rely on recess" to provide exercise. Sam Kass, a White House chef and head of first lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move program, stressed the role of schools in a speech to the conference on Monday. "We are currently facing the most sedentary generation of children in our history," Kass said. The new study was led by Grant Tomkinson, an exercise physiologist at the University of South Australia. Researchers analyzed 50 studies on running fitness -- a key measure of cardiovascular health and endurance -- involving 25 million children ages 9 to 17 in 28 countries from 1964 to 2010. The studies measured how far children could run in 5 to 15 minutes and how quickly they ran a certain distance, ranging from half a mile to two miles. Today's kids are about 15 percent less fit than their parents were, researchers concluded. "The changes are very similar for boys and girls and also for various ages," but differed by geographic region, Tomkinson said. The decline in fitness seems to be leveling off in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and perhaps in the last few years in North America. However, it continues to fall in China, and Japan never had much falloff -- fitness has remained fairly consistent there. About 20 million of the 25 million children in the studies were from Asia. Tomkinson and Daniels said obesity likely plays a role, since it makes it harder to run or do any aerobic exercise. Too much time watching television and playing video games and unsafe neighborhoods with not enough options for outdoor play also may play a role, they said. Other research discussed global declines in activity. Fitness is "pretty poor in adults and even worse in young people," especially in the United States and eastern Europe, said Dr. Ulf Ekelund of the Norwegian School of Sport Sciences in Oslo, Norway. World Health Organization numbers suggest that 80 percent of young people globally may not be getting enough exercise.

More Awareness=Kid Safety in Sports!

Being more conscientious about examining kids and reporting is terrific in High School sports! For younger kids in youth sports, Parents must ask coaches about how they check or test for concussions in sports and what is done so that that youth oriented sports is fun but yet safe and doesn't leave a life long brain deficit.Also, the Katy Perry tribute to Children's Hospital on the left link is terrific and a spirit that exudes caring which is also exemplified at our Baker Innovation School for all of our children, come experience the Baker difference and visit anytime!

Fitness=Academic Success!

In the Cape Cod Times, an article appeared, link on left side of page, about the positive relationship of fitness and academic success. At Ezra Baker Innovation School, we have been studying this relationship between the Pacer Cardiovascular fitness Test and Academic performance as measured by the DRA test of reading for the past 3 years. To date our analysis is finding a match between fitness and academic performance for over 63% of the kids and in some classes over 70% relationship match! This practical study conducted within a public school does demonstrate that the "better than chance" results indicate that if kids are fit then they probably will do better academically in better than 63% of the time. We already know the health benefits of fitness but now this academic relationship makes it clearer for parents to support the schools in getting children to move for fitness for lifelong benefits. Many private schools do not have P.E or substitute walking for a P.E curriculum, which is not effective. Your public schools value the total child and offer your children the best opportunities for academic success by teaching to the total child, unlike most private schools. We appreciate the parents who support our school and believe in us to work with their child to develop their child to their maximum potential!

Love Football....but at what cost!

Bryant Gumbel, known sports reporter does a TV program called Real Sports and in it he covers many topics. The lastest that caught my eye, link to the left on this page, he talks about concussion and the effects of long term brain damage related to the game of Football. In his report he raises issues which I hate to hear because I love football. All of the recent rule changes in football to protect players irks me, but I understand the why's. The game has changed ....for the better! In his report, he indicates that recent surveys find that over 80% have heard of the link between concussions and brain damage. Polls have indicated that 33% of adults are less likely to have their children play youth tackle football, which has translated to a 13% drop in kids playing youth football. And fans of the game were polled and 14% said that they find football less enjoyable because of their awareness of what it's doing to the players. The poll looked at income and found that people who earned below $50,000 and who did not go to college heard less about the effects of concussion. The conclusion could be that the game of football is played by the poor...for the enjoyment of others! Remember at one point the sport of Boxing was one of the most popular sports until people realized what what happening to the athletes! In my opinion, recent rule changes in youth football to limit live tackling to only 1/3 of a weekly practice makes sense and safety along with proper tackling skills is essential in which kids learn to tackle with their shoulders and not lead with their heads! Coaches need to be closely scrutinized for their adherence to proper safety! Playing the game is fun but not if it means memory deficits which last a lifetime and thus effect a person's lifelong behavior, academic performance, social and personal relationships, occupational choices and lifetime income potential. Yes all of that to play the game of football!

BMI... Not Politically Correct

The Cape Cod Times is following the easy path of being politically correct! The use of BMI in schools has never been to intimidate kids, as a matter of fact, kids that are physically muscular are showing up with high BMI's! Are they being made fun of in schools, not in my school! BMI continues to be a valuable tool to look at fitness and academic success, but weight issues continues to be a sensitive issue for parents because of the emotions involved. But in reality, BMI has its role, it is telling parents to look deeper into their child's health. In this forum I have elaborated numerous times about the benefits of BMI. The State of Mass. required it based on health reasons and yet not one of the state's health experts can be found to add some merit as to why its important...why because parents complain and it becomes a political liability.! Too bad... but then even P.E. professionals don't understand it and are against it so what does that say! Geez! Mr. F.

Walking... again shows benefits if at a moderate pace!

Walking Works for everyone...but you need to walk at least 3 miles/hr pace, for cardiovascular benefits! Walking is great for social and quiet time and allows you to enjoy the beauty around you! Try and walk at least 30 minutes at that pace and then reap the benefits! See the link to the left!

Physical “Lack of” Education...

… In the Cape Cod article on the link to the left on this page, the Cape Cod Schools are identified as having various P.E Programs that are in compliance with MA state Education laws for meeting the physical education state requirement. As a Physical Educational Professional, I read the article about what is considered physical education, Fitness for life, Wellness and how schools try to squeeze in P.E. in deference to the academic classes, and I felt so frustrated by the articles references to what Physical education is currently in Mass. In the Dennis-Yarmouth Elementary Schools, the P.E professional staff discuss the issues of what a comprehensive P.E curriculum should entail and what is happening in our schools day in and day out. Our curriculum addresses how children learn to move and control their bodies in space; they learn the value of developing body coordination to perform complex movements inherent in games; they learn the physical reasons and benefits of safely performing exercise; they learn how to utilize strategies to accomplish difficult personal and team goals; they learn game concepts and playing fairly and respecting themselves and others, sportsmanship and fair-play; they learn values about hard work, team play and working as a unit for the benefit of a group; they learn a comprehensive list of activities so that they can personally decide what it is that they are good at and perhaps want to learn as a life long activity; they learn that every year that they advance in school that new layers of learning occur and that hard work has to continue to become the best at something; they learn to respect others hard play and that failing is an opportunity for growth and not an end to one’s pursuit of success,; they learn how to set goals for themselves and learn strategies to accomplish those goals. Our physical education staff would never be satisfied with a goal of walking without an understanding that moderate exercise is essential to cardiovascular health and that walking at a slow pace has little health benefit for the normal person, or that strength and conditioning be used as a sole curriculum focus and that wellness would never be defined by soley offering yoga or conditioning alone nor would be walking with friends as a goal to "balance the body and mind” to be with friends ever pass our test for learning. These concepts that exist is an example of an ignorance around a discipline but yet people believe it to be the true measure of wellness or being fit because the state approves it.! Something is wrong with the Mass. mandate and with Education if academics become the driving force and this becomes the definition of Physical Education!. Yes education is crucial but for adults it’s the physical health concepts of healthy living, proper exercise and doing fun social things that keep us alive for many years. Yes electives and choice is great in schools, but without the mandate to require those electives to be taught along with the reasons for and to teach the why’s of good health values, people will never grow to learn these concepts, values and practices of an educated person’s knowledge to fully implement a quality fitness for life strategy. Lets hope that Physical Educators speak out about why the need to be educated about our ability to move in life and remain healthy is as valued as getting an academic education to work and become productive in society. Too many “educated people” are dying early because of a lack of “education” about their bodies, and understand what are good health practices. P.E. practices teach personal control and if people are having difficulty with self control to implement their life choice knowledge, perhaps it is because they missed out in their own P.E history because it wasn’t required and thus they never had the opportunity to learn what our DY kids are learning every day in their physical education classes. Our staff work together so that essential learning concepts occur for all of our kids without the guidance of the State mandates but with a staff sense of professionalism.

Pacer Cardiovascular Fitness Test at OneTrueMedia.com

The Pacer Test is a good indicator of fitness for children. Used in conjunction with goal setting, it provides children with an experience about their level of fitness and how to use various strategies to meet a goal!

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Florida Mother Outraged at School's 'Fat Letter': Is BMI Bogus?

BMI misunderstood once again! See the article to the left for more details. Parents receive these letters without a full understanding nor explanation of what BMI is looking at for a person. And yet the mother in the article list many of the reasons explaining why a high BMI is not significant for her daughter but complains about getting the letter! BMI only looks at height and weight and a mathematical figure to arrive at a BMI score.Understanding that requires some further explanation: BMI does not identify muscle in a body. Muscle weighs more than fat and so this is the unknown factor when reading a score. Just because a BMI is high could mean that the person is very muscular and thus being overweight would not carry the same impact if one were mostly body fat. Next: If one is physically fit either by running alot or playing sports then again BMI can be misleading due to muscle mass, and thus fitness is the more important factor than a high BMI for health. Next: BMI is important to consider because medically, research has shown a relationship with high BMI and diabetes, strokes, cardiac conditions etc., and so BMI is not something that should be ignored. Next: BMI is only a tool in further looking at yourself or your child and evaluating your own or your childs physical condition and health and then making adjustments to your diet and activity level. If you are not physically fit and have a high BMI then you need to pay attention to that score for your own health and your future. This is only a brief explanation of BMI and I hope you can look at it as a tool to help you to self evaluate your own wellness or that of your child's. DON't dismiss it as stupid and insignificant as the medical literature substantiates the value of looking at BMI. But you knowing the in's and out's of BMI will help you to better understand what it is telling you! Your comments are always welcome. Mr Fantaroni

You are what you EAT!

Hey Baker boys and girls! If you check out the link listed “Yikes, strips School lunch?!” you will find some very interesting facts on school lunches and some ugly photos of some high school food! YUCK! We here at Ezra Baker know the value and importance of good nutrition! Thanks to our Farm-to-School Grant, you students have the option of fresh fruits and vegetables every day as well as your hot lunch menu choices and maybe even a SMALL treat! We here at Ezra Baker are very lucky to have such an excellent school nutrition program like Farm-to-School, in place! Remember, you are what you eat! Eating light, fresh foods like fruits, vegetables, and healthy dairy products like eggs and light cheese, are the ingredients to a well-balanced, nutritious diet. These good foods affect your athletic performance and brain performance! Not only will your body be lighter, fitter, and faster, but your mind with be clearer, so you can think faster and workout on those math and reading problems better! If all you eat are junk foods like Cheetos, chips, and candy, well then you’re going to feel heavy, lazy, and slow. You don’t want to feel that way when you are trying to run 2 laps or do a math problem, right?! Right. What did the cave-people eat when they were living? They ate foods that they could hunt and gather. Did they hunt or gather Cheetos or chocolate?! No way! So again, you are what you eat so eat healthy, exercise and play every day, and your brain and body will get quicker and fitter!

It's about the Golf Balls in Life!

I saw this video, which I made the link for to the side on this page and think you will find it of some interest. There are so many things which distract us that its easy to lose your perspective from day to day about what is truly important. Watch the video and DON'T let the "sand" in life fill your life but remember the stuff that matters! Yourself and Your family..... Enjoy

Physical Education...Essential!

Physical Education is key to children's academic learning and life long health!

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Pac-Man Tag-Fun For All!

At Ezra Baker Elementary...All children are included!! We find the value in each child and develop skills to each child's maximum potential!

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Back to School!!!!

Back to School....Soon! School is soon approaching and will be here before you know it! Now is the time to start thinking about your fitness level! Here are some things for you to think about now: Check your BMI level, so that you get an idea where you are now and then during the school year we will have you check yourself again! Remember this is only one tool for you to use and along with other check points, it will give you a picture of your health. Use the links on this blog site to help you! Next, remember the 5-2-1 program and you should check yourself to see if you are eating 5 fruits/vegetables daily, 2 hrs or less of TV/Computer time and 1 hr. of daily physical activity! Start looking now for sales on good running sneakers that give your feet good support! Get physical now so that your body can get ready for running, sweating and conditioning those muscles! Don't wait to start moving in our physical education class because you will find it hard to play many of the games and learn many of the new skills that you will be learning. So, enjoy the summer and make a comment on this blog site should you need any help or advice, I'll be checking this blog for questions! Also, walking daily, as a family unit, does a "body good" and builds those emotional bonds that you will always remember and get that warm fuzzy feeling inside of you! So walk daily and strive for 30 minutes a day of moderate walking, which is at least 3 mph. Until we meet again, enjoy the summer!

Welcome Christen Cevoli to Baker Elementary

Welcome Christen Cevoli!!! It is with great joy and enthusiasm that the Ezra Baker Community welcomes Christen as the new Physical Education teacher replacing Mr. Raudonaitis. Christen was the full time P.E teacher at the M.E. Small school, teaching grades 4 and 5, until the school district changed the grade levels of many schools. We are very fortunate to have her choose to come to Ezra Baker School and help us to develop a curriculum that will help our “kids” to be healthy and develop a life long love of movement. Christen is an experienced professional in the P.E field and will bring to our physical education program her perspective as to what kids need to stay healthy, which will professionally enhance our school and will excite all of the children that she will be working with this fall. Don’t hesitate to introduce your self to Christen as you will find her to be a warm and caring professional who is upbeat and wants all people to enjoy the health benefits that fitness can offer. Again, welcome Christen and I look forward to creating many terrific classes together for our school population. Mr. Fantaroni

Misery Index Medical Conditions and Biggest Killers!!!

The link to this article is on our side page but keeping healthy, we now know, not only keeps us alive longer but our quality of life improves, and we hopefully avoid the misery conditions that can be avoided with moderate daily exercise and good nutrition.  It all matters!
Exercise and eat healthier together as a family and the benefits will last a lifetime.
Bob

“The United States spends more than the rest of the world on health care and leads the world in the quality and quantity of its health research, but that doesn’t add up to better health outcomes,” Murray said in a statement.

One place the U.S. does better – treating some cancers.

“Five-year survival for breast cancer and colorectal cancer are higher in the U.S. than in many OECD countries,” they wrote.

The biggest killers: clogged arteries (known medically as ischemic heart disease), lung cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and road accidents.

Where are people living the longest and shortest lives?

But the diseases that caused the most misery, known in the lingo as disability-adjusted life years, are low back pain, major depressive disorder, other musculoskeletal disorders, neck pain, and anxiety disorders.

In fact, Americans are more disabled now than they were 10 years ago, the researchers found.

“The gap between life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, a measure of the expected number of healthy years that an individual loses to disability—increased from 9.4 to 10.1 years. In other words, individuals in the US are living longer, but not necessarily in good health,” they concluded.

“The United States spends the most per capita on healthcare across all countries, lacks universal health coverage, and lags behind other high-income countries for life expectancy and many other health outcome measures. High costs with mediocre population health outcomes at the national level are compounded by marked disparities across communities, socio-economic groups, and race and ethnicity groups.”

One underlying cause is poor diet. “The most important dietary risks in the U.S. are a diet low in fruits, low in nuts and seeds, high in sodium, high in processed meats, low in vegetables and high in transfats,” they wrote.

"For the first time we're saying that the composition of diet, which is made up 14 different components, things like fruits, grains, nuts, seeds (and) other aspects of diet being analyzed is the biggest determinant of health in the US, followed by smoking, followed by obesity, and then followed by high blood sugar and physical inactivity," Murray told NBC news.

"So if you put all of those together there's huge potential to improve health in the U.S. and in fact get ahead of other high income countries if we were to address these modifiable risks."

First Lady Michelle Obama said the report shows communities and policymakers need to help Americans eat better. "We’re going to be working with food companies and restaurants who are offering more healthy options to families so that when they go into a restaurant they have some decent choices," she said at an event at the White House for her "Let's Move" campaign.

But Dr. Steven Woolf of Virginia Commonwealth University, who chaired a National Academy of Sciences panel that reported on U.S. health in January, says it’s more complex than just bad habits.

Mr. Raudonaitis goes to Station Avenue Elementary

We will miss your infectious smile and humor and the way you spent time with every child!  You made each one feel special and they always knew that some exciting and silly game awaited them in our P.E. class.  You have been such a terrific role model in showing the kids how to have fun and enjoy movement and games.  Station Ave, is lucky to get you but you will always have a home at Ezra Baker.  I will miss you as a colleague and as a friend.  We wish you much success and happiness!  Thanks for all that you did to make our school better!

Bob

Field Day @ Ezra H. Baker-6-5-13 at OneTrueMedia.com

A day of fun! The children enjoy the excitement of the activity and forget about who the winners are....because they all feel that they are all winners!

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In the Sunday Cape Cod Times a great article about this topic. Try and read it or contact me and I can send you a word document that contains this article.  It should give you a balanced perspective as to the importance of activity and the values that sports can contribute to your child.  Give yourself a pat on the back for supporting your child in a healthy way.

Enjoy,

Bob

In

Backyard Game Night-5/31/13

A fun night of families sharing time with their children and with friends...Being active is FUN! and builds memories of our time together!

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Scooter Skills and add a little FUN!

Scooter fun provides children with opportunities to explore various locomotion strategies while on a scooter. If you notice in the video many children use various methods of moving on the scooter. Some strategies are not as efficient as others but all of the children have an opportunity to see what best works for them. While learning it is obvious just how much fun scooter exploration can be for all of the kids.!

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Physical Education for children that learn at a different pace!

The concept of Open Gym was developed by the P.E. Dept. at the Ezra Baker Elementary school in collaboration with our principal Mr. Depin.  The Baker School’s change to become an Innovation school created new offerings such as Spanish, Enrichment class, Calmer Choice, Improved fresh farm food choices,  and an increase in the related arts: Music, Art and Physical Education.

Within the P.E. Dept. the development of base line skills and conditioning were identified as a way to track children over the course of a school year.  We have established a base line of specific abilities and are able to track improvement percentages yearly.  Our goal this year was to set a goal for each child to improve 25% over the course of the year, which we accomplished.

We also, attempted to make a significant change in the way we attempted to deliver P.E classes to reach children with special needs to maximize their opportunities to learn skills, benefit from social opportunities and as a way to integrate all children as a healthy life style was our focus.

Traditionally, children with special needs had their own block of P.E. time at a certain time of day  and special attention was given to the children.  But, the children who participated all had unique needs and the activities presented were diverse and skill focused, which was of questionable value now looking back at those classes.

So, in looking at the  those children who all had different learning styles, our thinking went to “what if” we allowed them to come at a time that was good for each child and not have a set time.  Then, we considered the benefits of learning a skill and their need for social integration among all students and the concept started to take shape.  Why not have these children with different learning styles learn what every other child was learning and become part of the social interaction  and fun of  being part of a class?  It was our opinion that any skill or game could be modified for any child and so we tried out our concept.

After this trial year, we now believe it is the right approach.  Children attended various P.E. classes when they felt the opportunity was right for them during the day.  Even though they attended a class that was different than their regular class, we found the children still enjoyed playing with other children.  Games could be adapted and with the help of their assistants, games became fun, while also providing the acquisition of a skill and the social contact for all students.  Students learned that adapting game rules to include all was a fair and caring strategy for inclusion.  Children never complained about the adaptations and in fact allowed themselves to get tagged by slower children who were using adaptive strategies.  We observed children who had difficulty with social interactions approach other children with a smile, a huge gain!!!!  Children learned concepts like tagging children, throwing balls,  hitting, kicking, using hula hoops etc., things that had they tried to use them in their own P.E. class might not have meant as much.  We had many children who wanted to accompany children with special needs to help them move from class to class, so this integration had a wonderful caring effect on all children, who were more than happy to find ways to included different children!

The difficulties we experienced as teachers were:  children showing up at any time so we had to be prepared to teach to any child and be ready to adapt games; Children who had shouting behaviors were the most difficult because of the distraction to the class when we gave directions.  We solved that by having the shouting students practice their listening skills for a duration that fit within their capabilities and or we asked the assistant to take them for a walk until we could finish our directions and then have the student join us to participate in the skill and to have fun.  At times, we had students come into the gym to do something different than what the class was doing and we stopped that as it was to distracting.  So, we decided that anyone could attend but that they had to do whatever the class was doing and we soon found that to not be a problem.

In conclusion, its more of a challenge for the teacher to deal with children dropping into a class but it’s the benefits to the children that make this challenge well worth the time.  The concept of children learning at their best time during the day just makes sense in the P.E setting.

Baseball Hitting!

In this unit, we are hitting off of a cone and playing "Homerun Derby" as a way to keep kids excited, practice their hitting and learn a fun game that they can play at home. Children at all ability levels can have fun!

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BMI findings for 2012 -2013


I checked the BMI scores and found the amount of children in the BMI range in the catagory of overweight and obese to be 35% for First graders.
I compared the first grade children who are on the BMI list for overweight of which there are 20 children comprising 24%;
and children classified in the Obese range of which there are 9 children or 11%, which when combined the rate is thus 35% population.

I checked the children who did the Pacer cardio test and I found that 14 of the 20 children classified as overweight performed at their class average or better and showed improvement on the cardio test over the 3 testing periods of the school year.

Also, of the Obese classified children 4 out of  the 9 total in this catagory, twere able to  perform the pace test at the class average or better and also improved on the cardio test over the year..

So, out of the 35% of children in this category, thru their work efforts during our P.E. classes over the year, we were able to help them to improve their pacer score, their cardio health over the course of the year.to an average score or better for 62% of the children who scored high in the BMI assessnment.
Only 11 children or 13% of the children did not improve their health or show improvement in their ability to improve physically.

Overall, I think this is good news because I think it demonstrates that with help that children can improve their cardio health from the time they come into the school in the Fall to the end of school.

Completed May 10, 2013

Throwing and catching skills require correct throwing  mechanics, accuracy of the throw and how to catch a ball by tracking the ball into your hands which need to be in the right position!  all grades need practice!

Jump Rope For Heart-2013

Well we completed our fundraising efforts on behalf of the American Heart Association  and the results are:

We raised $2800 !!!!!!!!!
We had an 18% participation rate
And the average donation was $44/child

So, Thanks to all who participated and we are so proud of the children and families that responded to our efforts.

Thanks,
Bob and Kevin

Jump Rope For Heart 2013..Baker Style!

At the Ezra H. Baker Innovation School, Jump Rope For Heart was part of the regular P.E. class and consisted of 12 fun stations. See the SMILES!

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great heights!

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Our children REACH NEW Heights!!!!!! Amazing strength!

Fun tag games for all!

Tag games adapted for children with special needs in terms of movement but as to fun no diffeerences in children!

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Parachute Fun!

Parachute activities provide a vigorous and fun way for any child to be part of the action and fun! At Baker school having FUN is ESSENTIAL!!!

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Jump Rope For Heart 2013

Dear Parents, Within the next few days your child will be bringing home a collection envelope for this year’s Jump Rope For Heart. Some children may have already brought the envelope home. Please place the envelope in a safe place, perhaps on the refrigerator, or in some other place in your house. This will be our 10th annual fundraiser to help the American Heart Association. This event provides our students with a wonderful lesson in charity. We hope that all children will try to raise money this year. We do not want any children going door to door! We suggest that children ask their family members, relatives, and good friends for donations. Some children have had great success asking mom or dad or a friend to take the collection envelope to work and circulating it there. The Heart Association provides the children with prizes they can win based on the donations they receive. The prizes are listed on the back of the collection envelope. Collection envelopes must be returned by March 27th. Feel free to return them earlier if you like. Students should return the envelopes to their gym teacher. The event will be held over the course of 5 days, March 18 to March 22. All children will participate during their regularly scheduled gym periods. Their will be 12 stations of varying challenges of jumping activities for fun for the children to participate in during their class. Having the event during school time allows every student in the school the opportunity to participate in the jump. We hope your family can celebrate that no one has been touched by heart disease or stroke. Those families that have lost a loved one to heart disease or stroke might choose to make a donation in their honor. This “honor” donation will then be posted on our Honors poster and placed in the gym as a reminder throughout the year. We have talked with all children about the various circumstances that family’s today face. Not all families are in a position to give but the children will be eager to ask for donations. At the same time, we hope they have understood that people can only give what their present circumstances allow. Please do what is comfortable for you and your family. Thank you in advance for your help and support. You may follow us along with the posting of children in action on our P.E. blog site: http://baker08.blogspot.com/ Mr. Fantaroni & Mr. Raudonaitis Physical Education Dept.@ Ezra Baker School

Climbing Wall and Cargo Net

The children are learning to gain confidence in climbing, developing upper body strength and having soOOO much fun!

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February Fun and Fitness

This month we focused on our Floor Hockey, Pillo Polo and scooter hockey units, all having similar skill sets to teach on how to control a puck or ball. The children enjoyed playing all versions of the varying games. Safety was a consistent factor in keeping Pillo Polos' and floor hockey sticks on the floor and only using half swings to make contact. Needless to say that there were many penalties for high sticking but the learning curve improved and the children played many of the activities without injuries. Mixed in with these skills were tag games, again focused on cardio vascular endurance and learning game strategies. The two videos captured a moment in our time for floor hockey and a Valentine's game. A fun month as we conclude this unit and look forward to our climbing units.

Valentine Tag game-grade 3

The children enjoyed being a cavity tagger and sending tagged kids to the dentist, and being saved by Cupid!

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February Fun @ Baker

Scooter hockey is part of our floor hcokey and pillo polo unit. Children learn to pass and control the ball and play positions.

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January Physical Education activities

This month we covered Basketball skills and fun games. The Basketball skills taught were: dribbling using the finger pads of the hand, double and single hand dribbling depending upon age and skill level, bounce and chest pass practice, shooting styles, and dribbling practice for short periods of time. Backyard game instruction in which the children can play at home with family and friends are: Around The World, 21, and Horse. We also played tag games in which children had to shoot a basket if tagged and they got the ball in the basket they got free as did everyone else in line and they got back into the game. The Pacer test for cardiovascular fitness was again administered. We administered this test in the Fall to get a baseline of performance for each child and determine class averages.. We then set a goal based upon a 12 % gain for this winter performance for all children. In the winter test we will again set a goal for a 13% goal and thus a 25% overall gain for the year ending in June. So far, all grades improved their overall class performance. Although not all children made a personal gain, it gives us something to work on for the final Spring score. Some children had a hard time understanding the concept of a goal and how to achieve a goal which is an important concept for us to work on for this last quarter, along with improved fitness. In the Kindergarten class we worked again on locomotor developmental skills and with these skills we have seen huge grade level improvements. Towards the end of this month we introduced pillo polo as a lead up skill to our floor hockey unit. We introduced the various ways in which to control a puck/ball, such as: carrying the puck, dribbling and stick handling. All three techniques will be carried on as we move to floor hockey skills. Overall, a terrific month in which children demonstrated improvements in their personal efforts to improve their own skill level.

My Video 2/13/13 at OneTrueMedia.com

K grade learns to practice their skipping skills with motivating music and a cardio workout. Results are in and skipping skills increased for 90% of the children 1 grade level.

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Pillo Polo Unit

Our kids are great! this is a lead up skill to our floor hockey unit. Keeping sticks down and learning the ways to control a ball/puck are essential. Regardless of their ability level, each child can find a level of success. We then challenge the children by the 2 staff being pirates to knowck away their balls/pucks. Other children will join us when we need more pirates! So much fun! Enjoy!

My Video 2/8/13 at OneTrueMedia.com

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Professional Lecture Series@Baker Elementary

Professional Lecture Series January 16th, 2013 6 to 7 Pm In the Baker Gym Sponsored by the Ezra H. Baker Elementary Innovation school Possible topics for discussion which could be your own questions or about some of the following topics: P.E at the elementary level and basic purpose Health concepts Goal setting and skill building P.E. Class structure, injuries, R&R etc. Sportsmanship issues Understanding self esteem and the emotions of games Testing and goal setting within P.E Special Education considerations Medical considerations in P.E.: asthma, brain injury, concussions, children in wheelchairs. Disability awareness in P.E. Learning strategies within P.E. Executive functions and academic relationships within the P.E setting The positive side in looking at BMI as a health tool. Please return this bottom portion by MONDAY Jan. 14th, if you plan on coming and list any particular discussion topics that would be of interest to you: Yes....NAME:________________________ Topics of Interest: Thank You and looking forward to our discussion: Robert Fantaroni Kevin Raudonaitis P.E Staff @ Ezra H. Baker