We counter the status quo narrative, break the silence, and keep on marching

Today is my third annual TEDxCCSU event in Connecticut. There are no seats available, the house is full, and we have 7 great TedxCCSU Talkers ready to share good ideas that just might change the world. If you are one of those tireless warriors fighting the status quo of 49 states spending more money on their wealthy schools than their poor schools. You will recognized many of our speakers tonight, they speak truth to power, bring light into a dark world, and always change the narrative of hopelessness. For those of you who can't be here, don't worry in two weeks their talks will go online at TED.com The plan is to rock that house of testing pain and lies with truth to power.
So you say you want a revolution,
Jesse The Walking Man Turner

Be gone you doom Sayers,
Be gone you voices of hopelessness,
Be gone you the voices of money,
Be gone you the powerful,
Be gone you the connected.

Mark well my words world,
We are the many and they are the few,
We are the people, and we are rising,
We reject silence,
We reject apathy,
We are:
Speaking up,
Standing up,
Marching.

See in us those justice warriors of old reborn,
See in us the people's hope walking,
See in us change on the march,
For we are the people come to take back our democracy, our communities, and our schools.
We are the revolution you have been waiting for,
Jesse The Walking Man Turner

If you want to know what this Walking Man from Jersey City where we watched those two towers fall, where we prayed for our loved ones, where we hope, were we grieved, where just when we thought we were broken, we came together....Today it's all Bruce Springsteen signing "The Rising"
>  https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?hspart=GenieoYaho&hsimp=yhs-fh_hp&type=a1440685521479216&p=youtube+bruce+springsteen+the+rising <

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 <

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 <