Hot Topic #2: New Beginnings

New Beginnings

My first college teaching experience was at a private college in New York City. As an emergency replacement for a professor who had taken ill, I had only 3 days to familiarize myself with the textbook and create a syllabus and lesson plans for two sections of Human Sexuality. On the first day of the semester, I got stuck in traffic, turned downtown instead of uptown, and lost my GPS signal amid the skyscrapers. I pulled into a parking space across from the campus with 15 minutes to spare, threw my coat in the adjunct professors’ office, signed some paperwork, met my department head, and breezed into my new classroom, nervous and near breathless.

Now, I look forward to starting each semester with the eager anticipation I feel when giving someone a nicely wrapped gift. The first day allows me to present students with the package (the syllabus, assignment calendar, and textbook). Over the coming weeks, the students unwrap the course layer by layer, to reveal the gift of new knowledge and personal growth.

Day One

The first day of the semester is about first impressions. You have the opportunity to introduce yourself in a way that builds comfort with you as a subject matter expert, as a competent and interesting educator, and, if you choose to take on the role, as someone in whom students can confide personal concerns. It is also the time to introduce students to the range of topics they will cover in class and to set the tone for how class will be conducted.

I assign Chapter One of Sexuality Now: Embracing Diversity as pre-reading for the first class. The chapter provides an historical background for the theoretical, political, medical and socio-cultural issues covered throughout the rest of the text. The reading also prepares students for the reality that while a college-level human sexuality course can be interesting, engaging, and fun, it will require considerable academic effort.

Didactic lessons often lead to students’ daydreaming, web surfing, or sleeping, so I move around the room while speaking, and I require students to move around the room and “vote with their feet” on issues, to form discussion dyads and triads, to create and hang (temporarily) newsprint posters, and to make brief presentations. I establish the pattern of in-class movement with the following icebreaking activity, which takes place immediately after I welcome students and introduce myself formally.

I use this activity for several reasons: it helps me and my students learn each others’ names quickly; it starts the class on a light note before the syllabus and academic matters are discussed; and it shakes out some of the nervousness students may feel about the course because they can laugh when Mike buys a masturbatorium or Alex buys anal beads. Most importantly, the activity shows students that nothing they say will rattle you, and that’s a powerful message to get across at the start.

Activity: A Visit to the Adult Store

Allow approximately 30 minutes for 25 students.

• Have students stand in a circle and explain that in a course addressing sensitive issues, knowing each other’s names is an important part of building trust.
• Model what you want them to say, i.e., “I’m Melanie, and I’m going to an adult store to buy Motion Lotion personal lubricant.” Explain that the item purchased must begin with the first letter of the person’s name, and as introductions move around the circle, students must not only introduce themselves but also the students who have already been introduced. For example, a student to your left named Sue, could say, “This is Melanie, and she’s buying Motion Lotion. I’m Sue, and I’m buying sexy stilettos.” Bob, standing on Sue’s left, could say, “Melanie is buying Motion Lotion, Sue’s buying sexy stilettos, and I’m Bob, and I’m buying bondage straps.” And so on.
• Encourage students to help each other recall names and items or to suggest items when students are at a loss. Have some benign suggestions in mind for students who seem shy, such as a medical exam, a book, or contraceptives. Give students the option to simply state their names if product naming makes them truly uncomfortable.
• When everyone in the circle has been introduced, take another turn and recite the students’ names and purchases. This will reinforce their names in your memory.           

Optional:  Repeat the activity on Day Two, with students standing in the same order, if possible. On the last day of the semester, gather students in a circle for a closing activity that includes students trying to remember the items they purchased on Day One.

Tip: Throughout the semester, use students’ names frequently to help students remember each others’ names. When you break them into small groups early on, suggest that they re-introduce themselves. By the time you address more sensitive topics, students will be able to speak more comfortably because they feel more connected to each other.

How do you bring hot topics into your Human Sexuality classroom? How can you refine a lesson based on the Carroll text? I invite you to contact me for help. Reach me at Carroll3e@cengage.com

Melanie J. Davis, MEd, teaches Human Sexuality as well as Marriage and the Family at Moravian College. She is a doctoral candidate in Human Sexuality Education and is the owner of Honest Exchange LLC, a sexuality consulting and resource development practice based in Somerville, NJ. Melanie is a partner in the New Jersey Center for Sexual Wellness, located in Bedminster, NJ.