My First Week

The first week of teaching has flown by and what a week it was.....I gave my first class on the female anatomy and it turned out to be more than I expected.  The girls was so interested in learning more about their bodies and so willing to ask questions.  Great emphasis was placed on the importance of respecting their bodies and being the sole decision maker on what intimacy to allow for themselves.  We all giggled alot especially when I called their breasts "the girls".  One girl ask me about which bra was good to wear and I spoke about a sports bra because it had no underwires.  When they didn't understand what that was saying I simply lifted my shirt to show them.  Well, that caused complete hysteria and I even got some applause! I guess they understood what I was talking about after that!!!!!  I ended the lecture with Amy Carol Webb's song "I Come From Women" and had the girls dancing in the aisles of the classroom.  It was such fun and hopefully they walked away understanding that as women we are all alike with the same parts, desires and needs.

The creative labs we did during the week focused on the words kindness, optimistic, brave, confident and persistent. These words were selected from an assignment where they had to think about a women in their life who had a leadership quality that they admired and use one word to describe them. We discussed the reason why they made these choices.For many girls it was their grandmother or mother that made a difference to them. The stories were numerous and many were touching to our hearts.  One girl spoke of her mother and the struggle she had with an abusive father. Her mother left her father and went to live in a one room apt. She said her mother worked "all day" and at age ten she had to care for her brothers and sisters.  Despite all this adversity what she saw and learned from her mother with strength and optimism that her mother had for"she never gave up" and "kept moving forward".  Another student spoke about "not being liked" because she was a girl.  "My parents didn't want me"  her loving grandmother raise her and "always told me I was a good person and that I was loved".  These girls are amazing to be with and what teachers they are to me.  I am in awe of there determination and gentleness that each girl has. i am definitely in love.