My Goals for This Week:
Write 5 lesson plans covering: The basics of the reproductive system, the biology of pregnancy and birth, the personal impact of teen pregnancy, and two lesson plans on STDs.
My Mentor:
I emailed my mentor early in the week about my bill deadline, and then today with my lesson plans attached.
My Research:
When putting together my first lesson plan about the basics of the reproductive system in males in females, I noticed a huge flaw in my research: I did not know what the restrictions are for pictures of genitalia. I know that some states make exceptions for educators about handing 'pornographic' material to students, but I didn't know what those rules are for Texas.
The law for Texas defines "obscenity" (in ways it might apply to sex education) as pictures where: "the male or female genitals in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal", "taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, and scientific value" (Sec. 43. 21 of the Texas Penal Code)
This means that when choosing what handouts/diagrams to use in a sex ed class in Texas, I have to be aware of how people might perceive that image (i.e. a picture showing the difference between a circumcised and uncircumcised penis would probably not be allowed).
When planning out what to cover and how many days to allot to a certain topic, I don't think I realized how much information I needed to cover in such a short amount of time. I will continue writing them as if they would be 45 minutes long, but next week I need to research how long an average sexuality unit is in Texas (or the United States) to see if I can adjust what I have any.
My Goals For Next Week:
Turn in my deadline, do research on average unit length, and find supporting documents for the lesson plans I have written so far.
Write 5 lesson plans covering: The basics of the reproductive system, the biology of pregnancy and birth, the personal impact of teen pregnancy, and two lesson plans on STDs.
My Mentor:
I emailed my mentor early in the week about my bill deadline, and then today with my lesson plans attached.
My Research:
When putting together my first lesson plan about the basics of the reproductive system in males in females, I noticed a huge flaw in my research: I did not know what the restrictions are for pictures of genitalia. I know that some states make exceptions for educators about handing 'pornographic' material to students, but I didn't know what those rules are for Texas.
The law for Texas defines "obscenity" (in ways it might apply to sex education) as pictures where: "the male or female genitals in a state of sexual stimulation or arousal", "taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, and scientific value" (Sec. 43. 21 of the Texas Penal Code)
This means that when choosing what handouts/diagrams to use in a sex ed class in Texas, I have to be aware of how people might perceive that image (i.e. a picture showing the difference between a circumcised and uncircumcised penis would probably not be allowed).
When planning out what to cover and how many days to allot to a certain topic, I don't think I realized how much information I needed to cover in such a short amount of time. I will continue writing them as if they would be 45 minutes long, but next week I need to research how long an average sexuality unit is in Texas (or the United States) to see if I can adjust what I have any.
My Goals For Next Week:
Turn in my deadline, do research on average unit length, and find supporting documents for the lesson plans I have written so far.