Born to be a man on a bridge over troubled waters

Ireland's Nobel Laureate George Bernard Shaw said: "I want to be all used up when I die.”
Tell it on every town green, every street corner, shout it from every mountaintop.
I want to be used up when I die on that bridge for equality for all,
I want to be used up when I die on that bridge for paying working people a living wage,
I want to be used up when I die on that bridge for equality and justice in our public schools,
I want to be used up when I die on that bridge for justice for all,
I want to be used up when I die on that bridge for voting rights,
I want to be used up when I die on that bridge fighting for human rights.
Born to be a man standing on a bridge,
Jesse The Walking Man Turner

If you are wondering what this walking man listened to on his walk through the snow this morning...it's Simon and Garfunkel's "Bridge over troubled water"
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjNgn4r6SOA <

If we can't stand for children, teachers & public schools then we can't stand for anything!

If we oppose high stakes testing,
If we oppose children as data points,
If we believe that children are more than test scores,
If we oppose public schools for sale,
If we oppose the Common Core,
Then we will do everything possible to join others in Washington DC for the Save Our Schools Coalition: March For Public Education and Social Justice this July 8 at the Lincoln Memorial.
We are marching to take back our schools.
It's time to save your nickles and dimes,
It's time to plan your trip to DC,
Trust me it matters,

Jesse The Walking Man Turner

PS If we can't stand up for our children, their teachers and public schools, then we can't stand for anything!

If you want to know what this walking man is listening to on his morning walk....it's Tracy Chapman's version of the Dylan classic "The Times Are A Changing"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCZWv5U5wJ4

The potential of literacy should be more than proficiency levels

Everyone agrees teaching children to read is important. What we don't agree on is how we measure our success. Our policy makers and political leaders view accountability as cut off scores on standardized measures. They like quantifiable measures, neat little numbers that box literacy into perfect little boxes.
The problem with this type of accountability is it misses the point that what we read and write about has the potential to make us more empathic, more caring, more open, and better human beings.
I recognized the kind of man I wanted to be in the ninth grade when we read Harper Lee's To Kill A Mocking Bird. I saw it right there on the page in one
Atticus Finch. “I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what."
What if rather than choose either A, B, C, D, or none of the above, we chase something greater than something quantifiable? What if we realized the real power of reading and writing can't be boxed into proficiency levels.
What if the goal is to read and write to build character, to value freedom and to care for our neighbors and ourselves?
Imagining something bigger than little boxes,
Dr. Jesse Patrick Turner

If you want to listen to what I was listening to on my walk this morning....it's "Teach Your Children" by Crosby Stills,
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztVaqZajq-I <