Your students’ hormones are popping.
They come to school smelly.
They’re sexting and watching pornography.
They know consent is a big deal and they want to know how it works.
You’re the P.E. teacher and you’ve been teaching soccer, but now you’re mandated to teach sexual health education too.
How do you pull it off when you’re not an expert?
The Sex Ed Circuit is a two-day professional development training (with the option for a bonus lesson demonstration day) for P.E. teachers who will learn to deliver a 75-minute “grab & go” sex ed lesson to their students. It offers an accessible way for teachers to meet their P.H.E. teaching requirement, without having to have a whole lot of expertise. It is student-driven and encourages inquiry-based learning without teachers having to hover.
The lesson involves moving from station to station—much like a fitness circuit—learning about different aspects of sexual and physical health, as well as healthy relationships. Examples of stations include:
An information-based scavenger hunt is included as part of the lesson to keep students engaged and thinking critically.
There are three iterations of The Sex Ed Circuit for grades eight, nine, and ten. Each iteration reflects where the students are at in their sexual development and is focused on them taking care of their bodies, minds and emotional well beings, as well as knowing their rights and how to ask for what they need.
This is a fun pro-do offering and lesson!
NOTE: The Askable Adult is a prerequisite for The Sex Ed Circuit and is factored into the pro-d schedule and cost.
The Sex Ed Circuit is for P.E. teachers who need to meet the Physical and Health Education Outcomes mandated by the province. But you may feel nervous about it or out of your depth. You want to bring sexuality and gender into the classroom (or gym) in a safe, accessible, and easy way.
You’re willing to hold space for a student-centred lesson that requires you to manage the flow and be a leader. You want to build your capacity to be comfortable talking about sexuality in a professional environment and you want your students to see you as an ally.
As for your students, the grade eights are usually a bit silly and insecure. They’re at a new school. They might also have a new phone for the first time. The girls may use theirs to look for attention online. The boys may use theirs for gaming. They’re all focused on belonging and they hate being called out. The girls are more developed than the boys and are probably sick of penis jokes. They’re all interested in conversations around puberty and how to take care of their bodies, but most of them couldn’t handle—or don’t need—a condom demo quite yet.
The grade nines students are more physically developed. They’re navigating the commodification of bodies and they need critical thinking skills to make choices based on values. They’re figuring out how they want to be treated in person and online. They have their ears wide open and are really interested in learning. They might be talking about sex with each other, but it’s new to talk about it in this way. They can handle the condom demo.
The grade ten students are beginning to look more like young adults. They’re more seasoned. Some of them might be in relationships and a few are having sex (but most won’t make their sexual debut until they’re 17). They want to know what consent looks like and they have lots of questions. They need to not only see the condom demo, but also need to try putting a condom on a wooden lifestyles penis themselves.
No matter what age your students are, sexuality is present in the culture. All of them want to learn about sexuality and intimacy, to know that they’re okay, and to have a safe adult to check in with.
NOTE: While it is generally P.E. teachers who teach sexual health education, this offering is appropriate for any teacher who is doing the same.
P.E. Teachers
The Sex Ed Circuit is a lesson that can be run in the gym or dance studio. P.E. teachers can run the lesson anytime and repeat it as often as necessary. Stations can even be mixed and matched and customized as needed.
P.E. teachers can find their way into a sometimes difficult conversation through this training. You’ll learn to hold space for a safe environment for learning, but you don’t have to have a lot of expertise or direct engagement with sexuality based topics. You can start the process of inquiry for students and lead them to reliable resources. And your P.H.E. requirement can be met in a really accessible and fun way.
Plus, you will build your capacity to talk comfortably and confidently about sexual health education. You will also be better able to support your students as an “askable adult”.
Principals
You can take pressure off of the school counsellors by giving the P.E. teachers this professional development training. You can rest assured that the P.H.E. requirement is actually being met in your school and you’ll know that the P.E. teachers have been trained and supported.
Your staff will be better able to manage sexual health related behaviours and situations that arise. The overall health of your school will increase when there are more safe, askable adults for your students.
Districts
You can build the capacity of the district to navigate the challenges and concerns that arise out of sexuality with this professional development training.
You will be supporting teachers in addressing topics outside of their comfort zones.
SOGI will be integrated into your schools in a natural and meaningful way and teachers can communicate the school’s values within the container of The Circuit.
You can take the lead and build your brand as a progressive district that cares about the mental health and overall wellbeing of its students and the relationships they are a part of.
The Sex Ed Circuit also, of course, benefits students who will learn the following:
GRADE EIGHTS will learn:
GRADE NINES will learn:
GRADE TENS will learn:
Booking the Training
Suitable for between 5 and 28 teachers from one or more (up to five) schools, The Sex Ed Circuit can be booked during regular school hours, on any two days between Monday and Friday (ideally consecutively, but otherwise with not more than eight weeks in between).
This training is usually booked and organized by a department head. Pick your days (with some options if you can’t get your first choice) and get in touch with me. We’ll book it and go over the details. Then it’s up to you to involve other schools if you wish. You can give them a shout, send them a link to this page, and save money for your school by teaming up.
Please note that a kit is provided for the host school as part of the training, but each guest school will need to purchase their own kit.
Please also note, that the Bonus Lesson Demonstration Day can only be booked for one school at a time.
Delivery/Schedule
The Sex Ed Circuit is offered as a two-day professional development training. Start and end times are flexible, but generally 8:30am to 3:30pm works best.
The first day begins with The Askable Adult, which is a prerequisite that aims to give teachers the ability to build their capacity to teach sexual health, to respond to student questions, and to manage sensitive issues. It also helps you understand the role you play and requires you to clarify your own values and biases so you don’t project them onto your students.
The Askable Adult is followed by learning The Sex Ed Circuit lessons and layouts, participating in the lessons, getting familiar with the scavenger hunt questions, and identifying strategies to teach aspects of the P.H.E. curriculum.
We’ll cover the grade 8 circuit on the first day, and the grades 9 and 10 circuits on the next day. You’ll get to experience the scope and sequence and see how they build on each other.
Bonus Lesson Demonstration Day
Again, 8:30am to 3:30pm tends to work best, with 3 x 75-minute lessons (1st, 2nd, and 3rd blocks work best with the 4th block to debrief)
I will demonstrate all three lessons to one grade 8 class, one grade 9 class, and one grade 10 class (maximum 30 students per class) so that teachers can see it in action. There’ll be a debriefing afterward to go over questions, customizations, etc.
Again, please note that this bonus offering can only be booked for one school at a time.
NOTE: If a professional development training is out of the question, I can also teach The Sex Ed Circuit myself as a one-off offering. I will show up as a sex-positive expert with my own kit, set-up, and teach any of the 75-minute lessons from start to finish (including the condom demo if it’s for a grade 9 or 10 class). I will hold the space and deepen the level of inquiry. I will also manage any language or behaviours that may derail the lesson. Class size is limited to 30 students (i.e. no double classes).
In terms of teaching materials, The Sex Ed Circuit comes with a lesson flash drive. One station kit per school also need to be purchased.
A LESSON FLASH DRIVE WITH:
STATION KIT (packed in a Rubbermaid container) FOR ALL THREE GRADES CONTAINING:
I will travel to any school within Vancouver and [the province] to deliver the training. A travel fee, to be discussed, applies to trainings hosted outside of Vancouver.
The preferred venue is a high school gymnasium or dance studio.