By Ms. Jenson
About this blog: I am a language arts teacher at Crittenden Middle School and the facilitator of the CMS Panther Pen blog. I grew up in the Bay Area and I love it here. I went to school in Santa Clara, and studied literature and political science ...
(More)About this blog: I am a language arts teacher at Crittenden Middle School and the facilitator of the CMS Panther Pen blog. I grew up in the Bay Area and I love it here. I went to school in Santa Clara, and studied literature and political science at SJSU. My teaching career began with a short stint with high schoolers in 2004, and I moved to my home at Crittenden in 2006. There are too many reasons to list here about why I love my job, but the most important one is that I love the students that I work with. When not talking about books and writing at school, I am home enjoying playtime with my two daughters and music teacher husband. This blog is a collaboration between the thoughtful and inspiring students, staff, and parents of Crittenden Middle School. We will be sharing this space with all of the stakeholders in our Panther community. I would like it to be a place where Crittenden Panthers of all ages can write about issues or ideas that are important to them - whether they be silly or serious - and have a response from the community that validates that they are here, they are heard, and they are valued for who they are.
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I love NPR Perspectives, and now so do my 8th grade Exploratory students! This writing is another Perspectives piece, written in the style of the very popular radio feature. After listening to and analyzing over a dozen recordings, students were given the direction to "write about something you're passionate about." Below, Aaron "preaches" his position on opinions and touches on the divisive nature of politics. Enjoy, Ms. J
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I think that people concern themselves too much with the differences of other's opinion. ESPECIALLY in politics. We all know that our rants about how right we are and how wrong they are aren't going to change anyone's mind. All it does is make most people uncomfortable and dislike those with different opinions. America was founded on the idea of freedom to practice religion and the right to your own opinion, but now, sharing your political opinion is a quick way to lose friends. Someone could be the most charitable person in the world, and if their opinion varies in the slightest from yours? all of a sudden they're a villain.
We care too much if this person shares the same opinion as us; instead we should embrace our differences in what we think is right! One of us has to come up with the best, most efficient way to run a country? But even if someone DID find the "most efficient way to run a country," someone else would disagree with them and start threatening. It is a viscous cycle of opinion and everyone becomes an economy major as soon as you ask, "So, what do you think of President Obama?"
So, IN MY OPINION, I agree with Voltaire when he said, "I don't agree with a word you say. But I will fight to the death for your right to say it."
With a Perspective, I'm Aaron A.
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Panther Pen -- The Panther Pen is a collaboration between the students, staff, and parents of Crittenden Middle School.The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Crittenden Middle School or Mountain View Whisman School District.
