Right now I'm finishing up the grade 9 reproduction unit with my classes. Here is a taste of some of the questions I've been fielding for the past couple of weeks:
"Miss, what would happen if a monkey and a human... you know...?" (Actually, this question was a good way to discuss the concept of species.)
"Miss, can a girl get pregnant before her first period?"
"Miss, what happens when a person is born with two different... things?" (This is a popular one.)
"Miss, omigosh! Did you know you could be allergic to sperm?" (Someone came across that one today while researching fertility drugs.)
"Miss, are flowers he-shes?" (Technically they are, but we use the word hermaphrodite in science class.)
"Miss, can a virgin get pregnant if the sperm gets near her?"
"Miss, is ecstasy a fertility drug?"
I'm so looking forward to the end of this unit. The test is next Wednesday.
Today my infamous period 4 class had me in stitches. They had just completed a project where they had to create an ecology board game. (Ecology - what a nice tame, sex-free topic.) I gave them some time to play the games today. They were totally into this one game that was totally impossible to win because there were many "Go back to the Start" spaces on the board. They wanted me to play, which I did, and they were quite impressed that there was a board game that even the science teacher could not win, despite her text-book perfect answers to their questions.
So, tomorrow is parent-teacher interview night and I'm booked solid. This means I'll be talking for 3 hours straight. I really should be in bed right now resting up. Luckily, we have a PD day on Friday to recuperate, which means that we can shuffle into school a bit late and sit through many meetings and brainstorming type sessions and whatnot. The lack of teenagers will make the day restful.
Good night and happy Thursday!
6 comments:
Oh how I wish I could have sat in on a class with your 9th graders!!! ......Ahh who am I kidding, I would have loved to sit in on the whole unit! LOL
However, I might have been sent to the principals office for all my laughing.
I love it... that must be the funniest unit ever to teach... can a virgin get pregnant from being near sperm???/ Haha... and I think that you could make the argument that ecstasy is a fertility drug..haha..
Scott
Tooo funny. Don't ya just love telling school stories. Get this: our parent-teacher interviews go from 1:30 - 9:00 next Thurday night, with a one hour break for supper. It's insane and exhausting to deal with parents for that long and to talk for that long.
I used to teach Science 9 too in Alberta and Health 9. We had a question box. One of the standouts were: What does sperm taste like?
Wow look how popular your blog has gotten! I'm glad to see so many readers :)
Ahh grade 9 reproduction.. I can still remember BEING in that class, lol
I don't envy you for teaching it that's for sure! Sounds fun though :)
I've always missed the point of parent teacher interviews, or doubted the effectiveness anyways. As a kid, it always seemed like it was mostly the more accomplished kids parents that ever showed up, and they knew what was going on anyways.
It was the kids that were having difficulties that a teacher would want to meet the parents of, but rarely saw them. Same thing still true?
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