To stand up to bullying is to be a real-life superhero. To put yourself out there like that takes courage, inner strength, smarts, and determination. Which is why I’m about to reveal the full depths of my nerd-dom by telling you about my favorite superhero. When I first picked up a trade paperback of The… Read more »
On Monday I wrote about romantic and sexual relationships and the potential intersection with bullying. Today I want to think a little bit about stereotypes and how they lend themselves to an atmosphere that is accepting of bullying. Bullying can and is, of course, based on a wide range of “reasons” that include everything from… Read more »
Continuing my post from last week about bullying, today I am pondering what, exactly, constitutes bullying and how it relates to sexuality, sexual activities, etc. When we talk about bullying on a larger scale, I rarely see sexual contact as an integral part of that conversation. For example, bullying is rarely talked about as something… Read more »
I am thinking a lot about bullying these days, and so as I’m going through CSE manuals, I’m looking for those lessons that support participants as they stand firm in their own identities and sexual decisions. I’ve already talked about many lesson plans that address this issue, like Protect Yourself from Positive Images (about partner… Read more »
This week it’s going to be all Positive Images, all the time. I think the title of this manual is sometimes hard to decipher, so we’re going to kick the week off with the introduction to this manual so you can get a feel for exactly what it’s about. These pieces of front matter are… Read more »
(Okay, so you don’t actually do either of the things suggested in the title. But it is a game show!) I’ve posted about game shows before – or maybe it was reality television? The point is that I have a private love of these things. Oh don’t get me wrong, they’re a complete waste of… Read more »
I’ve been attending basketball games regularly for the first time this academic year. My older daughter is playing basketball – and really loving it! In fact, I just got back from a game tonight. (My daughter wasn’t playing – but we knew many of the girls who were.) It was one of those games where… Read more »
Yesterday I talked about a lesson that taught about how a young person might perceive themselves – this lesson is about how other people perceive them. Understanding this flip in perception – that someone might see us as other than we are – is not a trivial one. To further it one more step to… Read more »
Teenagers, including younger teenagers, are on a process of self-discovery. Who they feel themselves to be may vary from day to day – and certainly varies from year to year. Acknowledging these shifts in an explicit way lets young people integrate that shift into their sense of self rather than being disconcerted by the changes. This… Read more »
Continuing yesterday’s post from Chapter 8 (Problem Solving and Perception) from Changes, Changes, Changes, today I want to discuss a really fantastic lesson plan. It’s tailored perfectly for the young adolescent – it uses absurd silliness as an entry point for accessing a deeper conversation. ADJUSTING TO CHANGES Objectives: By the end of this lesson,… Read more »
I’ve been thinking about puberty more recently, and how to go about addressing a topic that can range from the very, deeply emotional to something that is barely noticed. My own experience with puberty was relatively easy. I certainly wasn’t traumatized by the experience, but I know people who were. And so this week I am… Read more »
You know those days when you’re feeling down at work, feeling unappreciated, not entirely sure that you’re on the right path anyway? You look around your little work space, dejected, wanting some recognition for everything you put into your company? If nothing else, even a raise would do it for you. It’s not emotional validation,… Read more »
Today, the Monday before Christmas, I find myself sitting at my father’s kitchen table. My family is bustling around, working, cleaning, cooking. There are laundry and dishes being washed. A lot is happening. A lot of good. It’s making me grateful for family, communication, and other good things. So today and tomorrow I’m writing about lessons… Read more »
Learning your ABCs…it happened so long ago, in such wonderful, family-oriented, sing-songy ways, right? I mean, surely everyone’s early childhood was filled with Sesame-Street-style-goodness? No? Hm. Well, okay then, maybe at this point at least, as adults, literacy comes easily to everyone? Wait, what? That’s not so? Okay, okay, okay, then at least we all… Read more »
Yesterday I wrote about LGBTQAI individuals being left out of safer sex conversations. They do, however, get included in many conversations about healthy relationships and more. People with special needs, however, are endemically left out of sexuality education in all ways. Today’s lesson goes a little way towards addressing that vast gap as it applies… Read more »
On to Lesson 2 from Section 1 of Volume 2 of Teaching Safer Sex! (And if all of those designations being needed to differentiate the variety of options that Teaching Safer Sex offers educators doesn’t make you want to run out and buy a copy I don’t know what will!) This lesson lands near and dear to… Read more »
As we continue to dive into Teaching Safer Sex, I want to draw attention to Volume 2, Section 2, which is titled “Socio-Cultural Aspects of Safer Sex.” Because really, what doesn’t have socio-cultural overlays on it? Condoms? Hormonal birth control? Consensual decision making? The implications about the group and cultural statements around these topics are huge…. Read more »
It’s November 19th today. That means the National Sex Ed Conference is a short thirteen days away. This year, I’m co-chairing the event, which means I’m neck deep in emails with varying levels of frantic tones behind them. Because I’m not quite keeping up with the pace of emails and I’m a few more emails… Read more »
I was flipping through lesson plans, looking for something on adoption to note National Adoption Month, when this activity leapt out of the table of contents and demanded that I pay attention. I mean, National Adoption Day is still a week or so away, and how on earth could I pass up something about reality… Read more »
While today’s lesson plan isn’t focused specifically on LARCs, as the rest of the week has been, the organization of the lesson definitely focuses on the differences between LARCs and other common hormonal contraceptive methods. LARCs stand in a class of their own regarding ease of use and effectiveness – something students benefit from knowing,… Read more »
