Teaching Stories

When nearly everyone else is telling kids no-"No, do it this way....No, I don't want to hear what you think....No, sit down and pay attention"-Judy Logan says yes, to a child's passions, interests, and hopes. The results have been news-making; her students blossom academically, winning essay contests, prizes, and entrance to the country's best colleges. Armed with a strong sense of who they are and what they think, her students also blossom personally-resisting peer pressure, understanding racial and gender stereotypes, and connecting to the world in which they live.
Drawing on over thirty years "knee deep in adolescence" as a teacher in a public middle school, Judy Logan shows that it is the very vulnerability of adolescence that makes it a time of tremendous opportunity for emotional, intellectual, and social growth. Uniting creativity and compassion, Logan's vivid classroom stories bring into focus for all parents numerous effective strategies for working with adolescents.
Above all, Judy Logan is a compelling storyteller who loves and respects her students and the work of learning. Eye-opening and inspirational, the stories she has to tell take the simple human drama of day-to-day classroom life and create an all-embracing vision of the possibilities of public education in America.

Judy Logan taught middle school at inner-city public schools in San Francisco for more than 30 years (which automatically makes her a hero), and in this collection of short essays, she tells about her experiences. Logan uses an inclusive curriculum that incorporates life elements that her students bring in. She believes in saying "yes" to her students as often as possible, and in balancing the "have-tos" and the "get-tos" of assignments. In "The Story of Two Quilts," each student makes a quilting patch: "Can I do Cyndi Lauper?" "Yes." "Can I sew on buttons, ribbons, sparkles?" "Yes." "Can I stuff cotton underneath to make it three dimensional?" "Yes." Logan's students, who have been encouraged and taught to think for themselves, win awards, achieve in high school, and achieve in life. We should all be so lucky as to have Logan, or teachers like her, in our children's lives.