This semester at the U of R, one of the classes I'm in is focussed on strategies for teaching and implementing physical education. Last class, our professor had us read several articles that examined the relationship between technology and the increasing rates of physical inactivity in children.  After we read the articles, the professor had us discuss as a class what we thought of the articles.  Everyone in the class started knocking technology and saying how it's to blame for kids not being active enough nowadays.  If I would have been in this class a year ago, I would have been right in there with the anti-technology comments.  But from working at a medically inclusive daycare and having recently been enrolled in the class ECMP 355, which promotes technology as a learning tool, I was able to see technology as an asset and give the class an example of how technology enables the group of kids I work with to get active.  

I explained to the class how, at the daycare I work at, which is situated in an older school in Regina, there are three classrooms that each have ten to twelve children in them with varying conditions/diverse needs, and that there is only one nurse who circulates between the three rooms.  If it were not for cell phones, our group would never be able to go to the gym or outside because there would be no way to quickly communicate with the nurse if one of the kids needed something or started to decline.  If we did not have cell phones, our group would only be able to go to the gym or outside when the nurse had a few free minutes to go with us and we would have to go back inside when it was time for him/her to go see one of the other two classrooms.  So, depending on the situation, technology is sometimes the only thing that can help  get children active.  
 
For the past few weeks, I have been busy organizing things for the summer program at Hope's Home, the daycare I work at.  The program is for school-age children with exceptionalities and/or diverse medical needs and their siblings.  One type of activity that we will be doing a lot of is what's called sensory play.  

 
Today at daycare, we took the kids to the new playground in Gocki Park, which is between Saint Augustine School and the Core Ritchie Neighbourhood Centre on 15th Avenue, here, in Regina.

 
If you haven't heard of Hope's Home, it's probably because it's the first daycare of its kind in Canada.  It's a medical daycare, which means that children with diverse medical needs can learn, play, and be cared for in an inclusive environment.  Here's a video that gives a great overview of the daycare, its mission, and what's at the heart of it all - the children.

 
I'm still on cloud nine from what I accomplished at daycare today - I successfully brought two very diverse kids together.  It was near the end of the day when this break-through occurred; I only had two kids left in my care - one was a kid who uses a wheelchair and cannot speak and the other was a very outspoken kid who does not use a wheelchair.

 
Please have a listen to my first podcast, which discusses the (in)accessibility issues that surround people with disabilities.