I visit a local middle school every week to meet with a small group of eighth graders, all of whom I adore, by the way. Last year I was at this school for two weeks in May, talking with their sixth graders for our Learning about Me program. I was there last week and as I left, there was a group of students standing by the front door waiting for their rides. One boy looked at me for a moment and said “Hey! You’re that sex-ed teacher aren’t you!” The rest of the students-most of whom were seventh graders I had taught last year- turned and looked and a few other kids said similar things. I stopped and talked with them for a minute and then went on my way.
I have to admit, I felt pretty cool.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Really?
Time just announced their Person of the Year on the Today Show. To no one's surprise, it was President-Elect Barack Obama. The shows hosts asks what the President-Elect's reaction was to be given this honor...really? The man was just elected to be the President of his nation...and we expect him to clap and squeal at being named Time's Person of the Year? Particularly ridiculous when you consider that every President since Herbert Hoover
has been named Person of the Year at some point. Sigh.
has been named Person of the Year at some point. Sigh.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
This summer I attended a meeting where I heard a gentleman speak about a Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program in southern Illinois. They use MySpace to interact with the kids in their programs, and suddenly, a floodgate was opened. My boss was intrigued by the idea of using MySpace and I volunteered to set this up. In August we had a MySpace tutorial at my cubicle, where I showed 5 co-workers how to use the accounts I had created for them. I've been playing with ways to use the blog feature to keep kids thinking about the things we talk about in groups and really enjoying the ability to communicate with them in a more casual fashion than calling or writing them.
I'm also on a committee that organizes an annual conference for junior & senior high school students and by agreeing with another member that a website would be useful for our group, I became the website committee. I've now created a googlepages website, which I am pretty proud of, given my absolute lack of talent for this sort of thing. I've also purchased domain names and created MySpace and Facebook profiles for the conference and read dozens of articles about using social networking within nonprofit groups. Last month my boss volunteered me to join the website redesign committee for my agency and I'm thinking about how I am going to restructure my department's presence on MySpace next summer to make our staff available to every student that hears a presentation or attends a group(last year we served 1,356 through presentations and 539 through ongoing group services).
And now I've made a Twitter account. I'm not sure how well we will be able to use Twitter, either within the agency or the youth conference, but I plan to do lots of looking around and playing with my personal account in the next few weeks. I am just amused that I've become the go-to person in my office for this kind of thing, even in college, I was never a huge Facebook person and I didn't even own a computer until I was 20 years old and Chris gave me a hand-me-down machine that he'd put together.
So has anyone heard of a group that has successfully used these sites for non-profit agencies? Any tips or suggestions for me?
I'm also on a committee that organizes an annual conference for junior & senior high school students and by agreeing with another member that a website would be useful for our group, I became the website committee. I've now created a googlepages website, which I am pretty proud of, given my absolute lack of talent for this sort of thing. I've also purchased domain names and created MySpace and Facebook profiles for the conference and read dozens of articles about using social networking within nonprofit groups. Last month my boss volunteered me to join the website redesign committee for my agency and I'm thinking about how I am going to restructure my department's presence on MySpace next summer to make our staff available to every student that hears a presentation or attends a group(last year we served 1,356 through presentations and 539 through ongoing group services).
And now I've made a Twitter account. I'm not sure how well we will be able to use Twitter, either within the agency or the youth conference, but I plan to do lots of looking around and playing with my personal account in the next few weeks. I am just amused that I've become the go-to person in my office for this kind of thing, even in college, I was never a huge Facebook person and I didn't even own a computer until I was 20 years old and Chris gave me a hand-me-down machine that he'd put together.
So has anyone heard of a group that has successfully used these sites for non-profit agencies? Any tips or suggestions for me?
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Oh those 6th graders...
I realized today that my job involves two very sensitive topics: talking to kids about sex and telling parents how to raise their children. It is no wonder, then, that I am filled with adrenaline and nervous energy before every appointment and come home wiped out many nights . You'd think I'd get used to it, but nope, still agitated and flushed most of the time.
Last week was ... something. I did Learning About Me all week, although only for one class period.This is the program for 6th graders and it was fun, as usual. By the end of the week i was in love with the kids, I felt like i really knew them individually. The highlight of the week was Thursday.. At this point, we've talked about puberty and the kids are warming up, they usually begin tot realize that I will take them seriously by this point. We were talking about types of contraception, and the group was really fixated on whether a woman can get pregnant in specific scenarios. One young lady had just asked about homosexual couples and a boy in the back raised his hand. Thankfully, i walked back to his desk and he asked "what about if two men and a woman are having sex and one man is in the front and another is in the back, can she get pregnant?"
The other kids did not hear his question(they were still in a bit of an uproar about the idea of homosexuality) and honestly, I addressed only the minimum the question required. I usually pride myself on answering any and all questions truthfully and openly, but I don't usually get threesome questions asked to my face. I have gotten them before, but always on a piece of paper. The hardest part was the kid's sincerity, he was not asking to get a reaction out of me, but genuinely wanted to know. In case you were wondering, my answer was walking to the front of the room, shouting "OK, Brian asked a question about a woman getting pregnant during a very specific sex act and I want to explain this to you guys again." I got out my Female Reproductive System Poster(to the groans of the class) and pointed out that anytime sperm gets near a vagina, pregnancy can occur. I freaked them out with the old 'even if you don't have sex!" story and and got a debate started about whether sperm are alive. A successful diversion, I think.
Last week was ... something. I did Learning About Me all week, although only for one class period.This is the program for 6th graders and it was fun, as usual. By the end of the week i was in love with the kids, I felt like i really knew them individually. The highlight of the week was Thursday.. At this point, we've talked about puberty and the kids are warming up, they usually begin tot realize that I will take them seriously by this point. We were talking about types of contraception, and the group was really fixated on whether a woman can get pregnant in specific scenarios. One young lady had just asked about homosexual couples and a boy in the back raised his hand. Thankfully, i walked back to his desk and he asked "what about if two men and a woman are having sex and one man is in the front and another is in the back, can she get pregnant?"
The other kids did not hear his question(they were still in a bit of an uproar about the idea of homosexuality) and honestly, I addressed only the minimum the question required. I usually pride myself on answering any and all questions truthfully and openly, but I don't usually get threesome questions asked to my face. I have gotten them before, but always on a piece of paper. The hardest part was the kid's sincerity, he was not asking to get a reaction out of me, but genuinely wanted to know. In case you were wondering, my answer was walking to the front of the room, shouting "OK, Brian asked a question about a woman getting pregnant during a very specific sex act and I want to explain this to you guys again." I got out my Female Reproductive System Poster(to the groans of the class) and pointed out that anytime sperm gets near a vagina, pregnancy can occur. I freaked them out with the old 'even if you don't have sex!" story and and got a debate started about whether sperm are alive. A successful diversion, I think.
Monday, October 27, 2008
"Summer is over and gone," they sang. "Over and gone, over and gone. Summer is dying, dying."
Summer is officially gone. With it goes gardening season, the time of growing green things. The temperature is dropping everyday and I felt frozen precipitation on my face over the weekend. And so my first season as a home gardener has come to an end.
The potato crop was pathetic, my carrots were quite entertaining and I had a good tomato crop for my first year. In fact, my tomato plants were still blossoming last week! We will probably have frost tonight, but there are a number of green tomatoes left on the plants that I will try to collect tomorrow if they survive. I've successfully detached myself from the fate of the tomato plants, and even the oregano plant we bought at the farmer's market that is still gripping life with its last few leaves. But the lettuce that reseeded itself...I'm really worrying about.
Tonight I took an old sheet and tucked it over and around the 1" lettuce plants that have made a thick carpet across one of my beds. From what I've read, this will probably protect it from being ruined by the frost. I'm hoping to save it until I have time to transplant it into pots this weekend.
Why so much concern for things that I didn't even plant? Good question. All season, the lettuce has been my pet project. I was devastated when I discovered rabbits were chomping plants off at the stems. I was the proud parent, dragging zip lock bags of salad to coworkers and potlucks. And now I am nurturing the unplanned offspring of my plants which have long since moved on to the compost pile. I do not understand it, but I really love my lettuce plants.
Speaking of compost piles, my dad bought me a pitchfork for my birthday. I am freaking excited about this. Last week I turned the entire pile using a shovel. It was not fun. Although, I am happy to report that there is quite a lot of brown, crumbly material at the bottom of the pile(as well as some horrible ammonia-smelling parts, thanks to a miscalculated addition of lawn fertilizer. oops.)
Winter is coming on and now I will have time for more indoor projects. I am excited to finally use the sewing machine I received as a Christmas present and get back into reading. But I miss my garden already. Which is why I am planning to maintain indoor lettuce and cherry tomatoes and an active compost heap throughout an Iowa winter. Wish me luck.
The potato crop was pathetic, my carrots were quite entertaining and I had a good tomato crop for my first year. In fact, my tomato plants were still blossoming last week! We will probably have frost tonight, but there are a number of green tomatoes left on the plants that I will try to collect tomorrow if they survive. I've successfully detached myself from the fate of the tomato plants, and even the oregano plant we bought at the farmer's market that is still gripping life with its last few leaves. But the lettuce that reseeded itself...I'm really worrying about.
Tonight I took an old sheet and tucked it over and around the 1" lettuce plants that have made a thick carpet across one of my beds. From what I've read, this will probably protect it from being ruined by the frost. I'm hoping to save it until I have time to transplant it into pots this weekend.
Why so much concern for things that I didn't even plant? Good question. All season, the lettuce has been my pet project. I was devastated when I discovered rabbits were chomping plants off at the stems. I was the proud parent, dragging zip lock bags of salad to coworkers and potlucks. And now I am nurturing the unplanned offspring of my plants which have long since moved on to the compost pile. I do not understand it, but I really love my lettuce plants.
Speaking of compost piles, my dad bought me a pitchfork for my birthday. I am freaking excited about this. Last week I turned the entire pile using a shovel. It was not fun. Although, I am happy to report that there is quite a lot of brown, crumbly material at the bottom of the pile(as well as some horrible ammonia-smelling parts, thanks to a miscalculated addition of lawn fertilizer. oops.)
Winter is coming on and now I will have time for more indoor projects. I am excited to finally use the sewing machine I received as a Christmas present and get back into reading. But I miss my garden already. Which is why I am planning to maintain indoor lettuce and cherry tomatoes and an active compost heap throughout an Iowa winter. Wish me luck.
My blog is the first result in a search for "my teacher darling"
Why would you want to search for "my teacher darling" you ask? Well, I don't know for sure, but someone in Turkey does. That's right, Turkey!
StatCounter: one of the many items on my top ten fascinating things list that I would not know about if it were not for my amazing partner in crime, Chris. He somehow set my account up(I've tried to set it up with a project at work. 6 weeks later and it still isn't registering views) and now whenever someone looks at my blog, I get to stalk them! Sort of. I don't actually know who they are. But i can see how they found me, where they are from, how often they're coming back, etc.
Here's the breakdown of where you all are:
From what I understand, the numbers represent pageloads, or views. Kind of. i think. but not individuals, at any rate.
I'm also on the first page of a google search for the phrases "raj patel sex ed" "what i am in your life"(which was just part of a sentence when I said it, but taken out of context, is sort of poetic) and "darling doggie" . This is probably not interesting to anyone except me. This blog is also on the 10th page for a search of "iowa teen pregnancy prevention programs" (someone in Ankeny was very determined...if you are still looking, let me know, I have connections!) It looks like people have found this blog while searching for information on breastfeeding teachers, sex with teachers, weekend sex, composting sex and "'psyche myself out' sex". there were a few looking for a combination of "homemade" "teachers" and "sex" (is homemade teacher porn really this popular?) and a few looking for breastfeeding support, especially for teen moms(La Leche League!)
Someone in Seattle looked at the blog 32 times between June and September. Thanks, whoever you are!!
For the most part, though, there were no referring links. People found me through Facebook, emails or the blogs of other amazing people(namely Christofer, Erin and Josh).
Anyway, now that I've consumed most of my evening by obsessively pouring over StatCounter entries(and writing about it as though it were fascinating) I should move on to other things. like cleaning my kitchen.
StatCounter: one of the many items on my top ten fascinating things list that I would not know about if it were not for my amazing partner in crime, Chris. He somehow set my account up(I've tried to set it up with a project at work. 6 weeks later and it still isn't registering views) and now whenever someone looks at my blog, I get to stalk them! Sort of. I don't actually know who they are. But i can see how they found me, where they are from, how often they're coming back, etc.
Here's the breakdown of where you all are:
 | 65 | Iowa | United States |  |
| 62 | New York | United States | |
| 62 | Illinois | United States | |
| 32 | Washington | United States | |
| 20 | - | - | - |
| 16 | California | United States | |
| 13 | Missouri | United States | |
| 12 | Ohio | United States | |
| 10 | Florida | United States | |
| 7 | Kentucky | United States | |
| 6 | Maryland | United States | |
| 4 | Wisconsin | United States | |
| 3 | Texas | United States | |
| 3 | Buenos Aires | Argentina |  |
| 3 | Ontario | Canada |  |
| 2 | Berlin | Germany |  |
| 2 | Tel Aviv | Israel |  |
| 2 | Nebraska | United States | |
| 1 | Colorado | United States | |
| 1 | Quebec | Canada | |
| 1 | Sao Paulo | Brazil |  |
| 1 | District Of Columbia | United States | |
| 1 | Louisiana | United States | |
| 1 | Connecticut | United States | |
| 1 | Arizona | United States | |
| 1 | England | United Kingdom |  |
| 1 | Emilia-romagna | Italy |  |
| 1 | Minnesota | United States | |
| 1 | Gauteng | South Africa |  |
| 1 | North Carolina | United States | |
From what I understand, the numbers represent pageloads, or views. Kind of. i think. but not individuals, at any rate.
I'm also on the first page of a google search for the phrases "raj patel sex ed" "what i am in your life"(which was just part of a sentence when I said it, but taken out of context, is sort of poetic) and "darling doggie" . This is probably not interesting to anyone except me. This blog is also on the 10th page for a search of "iowa teen pregnancy prevention programs" (someone in Ankeny was very determined...if you are still looking, let me know, I have connections!) It looks like people have found this blog while searching for information on breastfeeding teachers, sex with teachers, weekend sex, composting sex and "'psyche myself out' sex". there were a few looking for a combination of "homemade" "teachers" and "sex" (is homemade teacher porn really this popular?) and a few looking for breastfeeding support, especially for teen moms(La Leche League!)
Someone in Seattle looked at the blog 32 times between June and September. Thanks, whoever you are!!
For the most part, though, there were no referring links. People found me through Facebook, emails or the blogs of other amazing people(namely Christofer, Erin and Josh).
Anyway, now that I've consumed most of my evening by obsessively pouring over StatCounter entries(and writing about it as though it were fascinating) I should move on to other things. like cleaning my kitchen.
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