This weekend Sir Kenneth Robinson passed away from a brief sickness.

As an English teacher who believes that standardized tests are harmful and that our lawmakers on Raleigh seem to stifle the arts and other creative outlets for students (think Class Size Chaos), reading and observing Robinson was highly instructional.

In the fifteen years I have taught AP English Language and Composition, few prompts have elicited as much of a passionate response from students as this from the 2014 test.

Every year, I also introduce my students to the repository of TED Talks.: ethical and logical arguments made on stage by a variety of experts in fields that can capture almost anyone’s attention.

If you looked for the most watched TED Talks of all time, then Robinson shows up quickly.

In fact, his talk “Do schools kill creativity?” is the most watched TED Talk of all time.

But it is this visual TED Talk he presented that I think every person who is interested in public education should look at.

And then imagine what could be done if we didn’t spend so much time testing students for the sake of testing.