I read four blog post, Not Just A Superintendent, A Testing Epidemic, The R Word, and The Simple Things. These blog post were all written extremely well and supported their argument through stories, personal experiences, descriptions, and opinions. In Not Just A Superintendent, I agreed with Ava that her father has both a challenging but rewarding job that allowed his to positively change students lives. Her father didn’t support standardized testing but his positive outlook explained that at least the students were learning. In A Testing Epidemic, Maddie discusses the issues of standardized testing and how it takes away from student’s passion for learning. I agreed that testing is taking away from students finding their passion because they are becoming board with their education and making them less likely to pursue a passion that they could possibly find throughout their education. The R Word truly made me think about how one word can change a person’s entire life. Matt wrote about his autistic camper who loved helicopters more than everything, but when he heard someone say the word “retarded” at Disneyland, his whole life changed. He went from being happy to being sad and depressed. After reading this blog, I believe that our society needs to be educated in the meaning of the hateful word and how it can affect someone’s entire life. The Simple Things was one of the most relatable blogs I read, it was about the Regina not having a connection to the Catholic church and not truly understanding the religion her family assumed she treasured. She then attending her friend’s youth group, where she was able to form a connection with God that truly changed her life. I also grew up within the catholic church and I would constantly question and get upset about the traditions and rituals. I had no connection to God until I created my own through prayer. My new found connection changed my life and helped me through many hard times.
Reading my peers blogs has really helped me understand more about their lives and backgrounds. Along with learning more about them, it has helped my writing and given me new ideas and perspectives towards topics that I wouldn’t have thought about before.
-Micaela Gotfredson