I have decided that I can only be a teacher if I have the opportunity to truly help my stu-
dents. I want to work with the students that Kohl talks about because I believe that I am ca-
pable of getting through to them. I am sure that there is a lot of work involved with Kohl’s
ideas for restructuring a class, but it is the kind of work teachers must be willing to do if they
are teaching students and not simply content.
Journal Entry 3: Say yes to students.
Of all the books I read during my short “career” as an education student, none had quite the
impact that Judy Logan’sTeaching Storieshad on me. As a middle school English teacher, I
can completely relate to Judy’s classroom and her approach to teaching, and I appreciate
the candor with which she deals with the critical issues that confront adolescents and their
teachers. Since completing the book, I have begun to think long and hard about the individ-
ual needs of my students and the ways a teacher can reach each one of them.
One of the most important things I learned from Judy Logan is to say “yes” to students.
Sometimes saying “yes” will be hard, but if I really want to make a difference and to make ed-
ucation relevant, I must take the risk. It will mean learning to loosen the reins and letting stu-
dents pursue avenues that interest them.
As a student teacher, I do not really control what is happening in the classroom, though
when my cooperating teacher said a class was mine, I tried to make decisions I thought were
right. On several occasions, students came to me with alternative ideas for assignments. I
knew the only way I could empower them was to say “Do it your way,” but I was afraid my
cooperating teacher would feel I used poor judgment. I decided to say “yes” anyway, but
kept it a secret between us. When they handed in their work, I was very pleased with the re-
sults.
Recently I began a unit on how to write research papers, a subject that usually is a drag
for students and teachers. After reading Judy Logan’s piece about her Woman’s History
Quilt Project, I decided that papers should be about a famous woman in American history. I
excluded contemporary pop culture personalities and some students were disappointed
with this limitation. As I went around the classroom to help them decide on people, several
students asked if I would allow them to do musicians such as Courtney Love, Mariah Carey,
Selena, and Janis Joplin. I hesitated at first, but I heard Judy Logan’s voice inside my head
saying “Yes! Yes!” and I answered with a resounding, “Yes!!!” I detected a look of disappoint-
ment on my cooperating teacher’s face, but I did not let it change my decision. I asked my-
self what the goal was for this unit. My goal was to teach students how to write a research
paper, and if they could learn that while writing about someone they were interested in, then
I had done my part. I’m not here to make education a drag for kids.
I also want my students to learn that there are strong women who are not written about
in the history books and encyclopedias. In conjunction with the research paper assignment,
I had them write about a positive female role model from their everyday lives. Many of them
wrote about their mothers, family friends, and teachers, people who have had a profound in-
fluence in their lives. I think it was a good opportunity for students to see how much women
do and are capable of doing.
Emily Styles’ metaphor of curriculum as a window and mirror is a lot like Judy Logan’s ap-
proach to teaching and an important idea for new teachers to consider. Styles believes that
students should be able to see themselves mirrored in the content of the curriculum, and
they should also be able to look through the windows of curriculum to see other people’s
stories. I think students who are given the opportunity to tell their own stories will be better
listeners to the stories told by other people. Empowering students to talk with and to listen
260 CHAPTER 10