Week 11 - Day 49

today we had a morning program planned for veteran’s day. we left right after homeroom and headed on down to the gymnasium. the 7^th and 8^th grade bands and choir were playing and singing throughout the program. the gym was packed with the entire school, community members and veterans. the program was very nice and the students did a good job being respectful and not goofing around during the program. i was very impressed with two student speakers...who happened to be students in my classes...and i told them so later.

the classes later that afternoon had worksheets to complete during the period. it was too hard to plan lessons when one class is 20 minutes, another is 35 minutes, and the rest were ~40 minutes. i told the students that if they completed them, they’d receive extra credit. the worksheets were on contagious diseases caused by bacteria. i now know that i can stand in front of 12 and 13 year olds and say “penis and vagina” without being embarrassed. we talked about gonorrhea (and other diseases)...which is caused by bacteria and how it can make a person sterile if left untreated. i was surprised i didn’t hear any giggles or outright laughter...just a lot of “ewwwww, that’s disgusting!” i didn’t expect to field questions dealing with std’s. my ct was well aware of the conversations and stated that the conversations were appropriate and informative. i doubt it’ll happen, but i’m comfortable enough that if i had to teach sex education, health, or biology dealing with reproductive organs, etc., i’d be cool about it.