See the child, not the score

We hear a great deal about what it means to assess children in schools these days. Policy makers and Ed Reformers love to talk rigorous standards and testing. 
But, I say if we look at the original Latin root assess is assessus "a sitting by," past participle of assidere/adsidere "to sit beside." Nowhere does it say test, nowhere does it say be more rigorous, insist on one size fits all, hold them to tougher standards. Nowhere does it say be objective, cold, and void of any empathy.
It says to "sit beside", it's the sitting with, that gives teachers the data that really matters, helps the child understand this isn't something teachers do to them, but with them.
Both teacher and child learn from each other...  In the real world, the most important data is sitting right next to you. See the child, not the score. Remember hope is born on the wings of our empathy.
These Ed Reformers and policy makers are the ones who never sit beside children, and I say they don't have a clue about teaching and learning.
Respectfully,
Dr. Jesse P. Turner 
Moral Monday Connecticut Ambassador

See the child not the score, give hope, and watch them grow. 

If you want to listen to the tune that inspired my morning walk today...it is More Than a Number by Amy Ludwig VanDerwater and Barry Lane > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_Vf8cwTWRY <

Teaching is not rooted in Rigor, it's comes from the heart.

There something immensely evil in these education reforms demanding rigor, zero tolerance policies, endless testing, mad data driven instruction. These efforts to evaluate every minute of our teaching day, and the reduce children to strategic learning objectives.

Great Teachers, see the single rose.

French aristocrat, writer, poet, and pioneering aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's book 'The Little Prince' opened my heart to understanding where great pedagogy begins...it's not in the data, not in the methodology, it's not in the studies, it's not in the textbooks...no it begins in the heart, and a teacher without heart is no teacher at all.

Of all the misguided efforts to reform public education, the worst is the effort to close the teacher's heart. The effort to turn teaching in to something scientific, objective, data driven, and heartless.

“People where you live, the little prince said, grow five thousand roses in one garden... Yet they don't find what they're looking for... And yet what they're looking for could be found in a single rose.” ~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

There is not a day that goes by where I do not find all I need from one single rose.

Great teachers don't see rows of children.

They see one child at a time.

Great teachers don't see test scores.

They see children.

Great lessons begin not in moving data points.

Great lessons begin in moving the heart.

Respectfully,

Dr. Jesse P. Turner
CCSU Literacy Center Director

If you like to listen to the song that inspire this Walking Man's morning walk today...it's Brandon Move Away by Judy Domeny Bowen  > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cructhdh-oQ <

The Kids are alright, they're just waiting for us to get right.

Last night, I awarded our first medals of the semester. Last night, we began to change the narrative. Last night our Children and their teachers shined. Last night Mem Fox's Boris "The Tough Pirate" who cried when his parrot died.. helped us find our joyful groove. Dr. Turner's got his groove back!

We can learn a great deal about teaching and learning from authors. Patricia Polacco wrote in "Thank You Mr. Falker" about her own struggle to learn how to read: "“[Honey is sweet] and so is knowledge, but knowledge is like the bee that made that sweet honey, you have to chase it through the pages of a book.” “You'd have to go through at least four different hugs to get from the kitchen to the front room."

In a world that reduces childhood to data points, teachers and literacy to test scores...teachers have to change the narrative. Reducing Literacy to test scores and levels removes that sweet honey from learning to read.

Like Patricia Polacco whose books are loved by all our children in the Literacy Center...I have found that seeing the child, not the score, and a few silly plastic gold medals, bowing down telling children their brains are so much bigger than mine, and kids rule and teachers drool...changes the narrative from boring to fun...you should always follow the joy.

I remember the books that sang to my heart like the back of my hand. I spend my days holding them near, and searching for new ones. In Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, "The Little Prince" I found the secret to unlashing my teaching super power....“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

See with the heart teachers, and you'll see rightly,
Dr. Jesse P. Turner
CCSU Literacy Center Director

The kids are alright, they're just waiting for us to get right

If you like to listen to the tune that inspired my walk in the rain this morning..it's SOJA featuring Michael Franti and Nahko's "I believe" > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X2YmB5xTt8 <