group either their own experiences as they entered puberty or the experience of a close fe-
male friend or relative. Once we start going around the room, the stories become more and
more painful as the women report on their own ignorance and fear as their bodies began to
change and the humiliations they suffered at the hands of the boys in their classes. Some-
times the atmosphere in class becomes so intense that the men begin to spontaneously
apologize declaring, “We didn’t know. We didn’t understand.” The point, however, is that
there was no way they could know because the subject of sexual maturation was taboo in
their classes. By taking menstruation out of the closet and making it a subject for discussion
and celebration, Judy Logan made it possible for the young women and men in her classes
to reconsider their behavior and build a classroom based on respect and gender equity.
I confess that I was rarely as brave as Judy Logan, yet I still consider some of my personal
teaching stories as moments of triumph. Others, however, are so embarrassing I never dis-
cuss them. But they have all shaped me as a teacher and an individual. As you begin to
teach, you will assemble your own collection of teaching stories. In the meantime, some vet-
eran teachers have agreed to share theirs with you. As you read Maureen Murphy’s story
about how her childhood and educational experiences led her to become an English teacher
and Rhonda Eisenberg’s discussion of being a mathematics teacher and department chair in
an inner-city high school, ask yourselves, “What is a teacher?”
JOIN THE CONVERSATION—JUDY LOGAN’S TEACHING STORIESQuestions to Consider:- What do you think of Judy Logan’s approach to teaching? Why?
2.Do you having any teaching stories of your own yet? If yes, why are they important to
you?
I Come From a Family of Teachersby Maureen Murphy
Maureen Murphy is one of the assisting editors of this book and a good friend. She is the English
education coordinator in the Hofstra University School of Education and Allied Human Services.
She taught secondary school briefly as a young woman before going to graduate school and be-
coming a university professor. Her area of expertise is Irish literature and history and she edited a
1,000-page interdisciplinary curriculum guide on the Great Irish Famine for the New York State
Department of Education.—Alan Singer
I come from a family of teachers. My grandmother taught in a one-room school house and my
mother was an elementary school teacher and principal in the town of Valley Stream, New
York. It is not surprising that my mother was actively involved in my education and that of my
brothers. When we were little, we sat at the kitchen table and did our homework while our
mother sat at a small picnic table nearby and did her school work. When she ironed clothes,
she would read to us at the same time. My mom was a strong proponent of John Dewey’s edu-
cational philosophy and always encouraged us when we worked on special projects.
Because of my mother’s jobs, the boundaries between school and home virtually disap-
peared. She would bring kids home from school who needed extra attention. My father used
to say that when he died, he would have to be buried in the backyard, because my mother
would not be able to take a whole day off from school to go to the cemetery. In our house,
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