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Sunday, October 18, 2015

Semper Fidelis Dr. Gentile

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Before No Child Left Behind, before schools were racing to the bottom, before the Common Core, and High Stakes Testing came to save our schools. Teachers and students could be innovative, creative, and work on good works. This is one of those "Good Works" project I use to do with children and teachers. This one was called "Heroes Walk Among Us" Middle School students would identify heroes in their communities, invite them to speak at their schools, and they produces little movies about them. They filmed their hero interviews, filmed them at work, and interviewed their people who knew them.
The student above is interviewing two United States Marine Honor Guards at the
Iwo Jima Memorial in New Britain Connecticut on Memorial Day where Dr. George Gentile just laid a remembrance wreath for his fallen brothers.

Our students loved Dr. Gentile, and each year new students would select him. He never grew tired of it, and neither did we. Dr. Gentile United States Marine and Iwo Jima survivor valued those good works, and he understand good works matter more than test scores. He died before the Common Core Standards came along and passed before testing became everything. Although we miss him dearly, I am glad he is not here to see how high-stakes testing ended our good works.

Rest in peace Dr. Gentile. I am doing my best to fight against this madness overtaking our public schools. I have drawn the line in the sand, marched into every battle, and I am still standing. I am able and ready, because I met you, because I shook hands with a gentle Iwo Jima Marine who always honor his fallen buddies, and lived his days doing good works.
Semper Fidelis,
Jesse The Walking Man Turner



If you are wondering what song this walking man was listening to on his walk this afternoon through woods? It was "I rather go blind" by Playing For Change.
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw1kwnnpTw0 <

Friday, October 16, 2015

Evaluate that!

Billionaires and hedge fund managers want to evaluate teachers, label teachers, rate teachers by the test scores of their students. These number crunches lack any sense of humanity.
Victor Hugo said "“To love another person is to see the face of God.”
I was a child whose father ran out, who was homeless once, and every statistic pointed to a dark future, but like that rose that grows in between the cracks I found my way to the sun. I am not special, just one of the lucky ones blessed by the helping hands of teachers, the clergy, great friends, and good neighbors who watered, fed, and nourished a soul lost in the dark. In other words, I am blessed by the people in my life.
Well those people blessing my life still feed this soul, this heart, and this walking man.
Some men crave fame, fortune, and power. I crave the the joy of giving and sharing. The best part of my teaching day is giving out cheap 10 cent plastic gold medals to children who never ever give up. I may not have the ear of the powerful, the connected, or the wealthy, but I know how to water those beautiful roses growing between the cracks. Evaluate That!
I see the face of God in the faces I meet,
Jesse The Walking Man Turner

If you want to know what the walking Man is listening to this morning? It Ben E. King's "There Is A Rose That Grows In Spanish Harlem" > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOoutJtMCi8 <
 

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Indifference is not a choice in the struggle to Save Our Public Schools


Elie Wiesel said “There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”
We may sit by while inequality in our public schools is left unchallenged,
We may remain silent while our children, their teachers and local schools are reduced to data points,
We may be apathetic to the placing of for sale signs on our public schools,
Or you can stand up,
Speak up, and
Fight...
My name is Jesse Turner, and I have chosen to stand, speak up, and fight for our children, their parents, their teachers and their local public schools.
Still marching,
Jesse The Walking Man Turner

My song of the day by "Talking about a revolution" by Tracy Chapman
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rZbvi6Tj6E&list=PLzIABX0TGTI0rYaLFWekTzLi336LYB1QC&index=4 <