Before the activist there was the teacher

Most people know me as Dr. Jesse P. Turner CCSU Literacy Center Director or as Jesse The Walking Man Turner an education activist.
But, before these things, there was a teacher who loved his students with all his heart. Here is a link to my dissertation that tells the story that drives my work today. Here is your chance to look inside the mind of my learning and teaching journey at one of the most rewarding teaching times in my career. All roads in writing lead us to Donald Graves. He often reminded us sharing your writing is akin to getting naked in front of everyone....a teacher who asks others to write but does not write is like a fully dressed person in a nudist colony. So today I stand naked with my teaching story and images from the journey that made this teacher become an activist. It's a long read, but skip around, peek in here or there, or maybe read it all.
Standing naked inside my teaching mind,
Jesse The Walking Man Turner

Here is the link to the teacher before he became an education activist link 
https://repository.arizona.edu/bitstream/handle/10150/279997/azu_td_3002511_sip1_m.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y&fbclid=IwAR1y4uuCKaSx0nNXHZbEI7cpjOBpm5PEBbRzP5tIf2f7r9q7Z4TSOlOCBCA 
Some images from my days in the desert and on the masas of Arizona with the best students any teacher could ever have. 

If you like to listen to the song that inspired my walk on the Avon Mountain this morning its Robbie Robertson's "Ghost Dance" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLM1H8JH9XA

Dear Mr. President, no one is above the law

Dear  Mr. President, you are not above the law.

President Teddy Roosevelt had this to say about the law: "No man is above the law and no man is below it; nor do we ask any man's permission when we require him to obey it."
Today, President Trump is the speaker at the 2019 International Association of Chiefs of Police's annual conference in Chicago. I wonder what they think? Is the president above the law as Trump's lawyers have often claimed?
It is clear where Trump and his lawyers stand: "It remains our position that the President's actions here, by virtue of his position as the chief law enforcement officer could neither constitutionally nor legally constitute obstruction because that would amount to him obstructing himself, and that he could, if he wished, terminate the inquiry, or even exercise his power to pardon if he so desired." ~ President Trump Legal Team in their 2018 letter to the NY Times to Robert Mueller.

This is what the Impeachment Process is all about in 2019. In President Teddy Roosevelt's it was clear at the turn of the 20th century that no one is above the law. In 2019 it comes down to is the president above the law?
Last week in court President Trump lawyers fighting the efforts to obtain his tax returns. One of his lawyers representing him in court argued that "he didn’t need to release them because he will be immune from any prosecution until he leaves office—even if he shot someone on New York City’s Fifth Avenue (echoing Trump’s 2016 comment that he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose support)." ~ Attorney for the President William Consovoy.
No matter how his supporters spin it, these impeachment proceedings are about if one man is above the law.
Respectfully,
Jesse The Walking Man Turner

If you like to listen to the tune that inspired my walk this morning its The Honey Drippers "Impeach The President" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpFZQtBJkMI

I've been to the mountaintop teachers, trust me it is all we dreamed

My Thursday class is for certified Literacy Specialists who have already completed their masters. These specialists are completing an extremely rigorous program with demanding practicum assignments to become Literacy Consultants. Every assignment is authentic and happens in real-world time. You can't fake it.  It is a rigorous two-part course, requiring massive amounts of documentation and extensive reflections link to the International Literacy Association Standards for Advance Literacy Supervisors.

I teach part one, and my colleague Dr. Valerie teaches the other part. We work well together, and our students trust us. We love teaching this course.

Our specialists in the course are confident, able, and ready to learn. I teach the course in a workshop mold, there are mini-lessons, lots of conferring, and plenty of authentic of in class going on. It resembles more of a shared art studio, where everyone is painting and working together. It closely resembles Donal Graves's notion of his Writing Workshop atmosphere. At this point in the semester it is a genuine learning community. Some of the work is about planning the tasks because some of them will take more than one semester to actually implement. A great deal of it requires their district and school approval, and even then they need to fit on the district timeline not ours. So some students have to carry work over to the second course. We discuss all of this together, and we work it out together. My nickname is the captain because I begin every semester with the line I am like a good captain, I bring everyone home to port. No one is cast adrift on my watch. 

At the end of class, a few students stay after class a bit. Usually, students who have taken classes in our Department over the years. They began talking about faculty who retired or who passed away. Who is still here, and who is gone. It was all good stuff.

Then one looked at me, and ask when are you planning on retiring Dr. Turner. I said when I am no longer relevant. I know there that time will come, but I have this legacy mission going on in my mind. It is about being a voice of hope, a role model for advocacy and activism. These are tough times for teachers and children. I will not leave until victory is in sight. It is a sort of Dr. King thing going on with me. Dr. King said this on the night before he died:

“But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to the mountaintop … I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land”

So, we ended with Dr. Turner retires when teachers and children see the promised land of equity and justice in our public schools. If I die, before that day, know that I'll be there waiting for you. I won't fall, or tire, I am an old school teacher build to go the distance.

Then we walked out of the building together, knowing the mission is strong, and we all have a role in it,
Jesse The Walking Man Turner

If you like to hear the song that inspired my morning walk today...its Patty Griffin's "Up To The Mountain" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA6Q5-Ap3o8