Here’s What Real Teachers Say About BRI’s Think the Vote

<p>With election season upon us, multiple generations are being told to “get out and vote.”</p>

<p>But what role can civics play in helping produce future generations of well-informed, engaged voters and citizens?</p>

<p>Think the Vote was started by the Bill of Rights Institute in 2016 to provide students with the opportunity &nbsp;to think critically about current issues. Students have the opportunity to research, express their opinions, and vote on important topics, and engage in healthy civil discourse with their fellow students.</p>

<p>But what do real teachers have to say about using Think the Vote as a classroom resource?</p>

<p>Sean Redmond, who teaches civics and U.S. History at Bulsa Grande High School in Garden Grove, Calif., said it’s essential for his students to learn “how to engage in civil discourse, how to think critically about issues, how to analyze different people&#8217;s views.”</p>

<p>“Think the Vote complements my classroom experience because I&#8217;m teaching the things that are important as far as their engagement, their responsibility in society as citizens, as well as their rights,” Redmond said. “So their responsibility is to engage in these civic ideas and to help formulate opinions to drive our country in the direction that they think is best.”</p>

<p>Redmond added that he believes Think the Vote helps students focus on their own opinions and understand the views of others “and try to arrange that in a way that makes them think about what they really stand for and what the country stands for.”</p>

<p>Kathy Hagee believes Think the Vote teaches students to consider multiple perspectives and reconsider preconceptions.</p>

<p>“It forces them to think from that perspective, but then compare that to another perspective that they may not have heard or been exposed to,” said Hagee, who teaches U.S. History, civics, and social justice at the Santa Monica School in San Antonio, Calif.</p>

<p>Hagee believes her students often think they have all the answers about current issues, “so I love to use another resource in my class to force them to not only rethink their ideas but to build awareness and an opportunity for them to have perspective,” she said.</p>

<p>According to Hagee, humility is also necessary when understanding other perspectives.</p>

<p>“I have to humble myself enough to recognize that my view is not the only view,” she said. “So as I&#8217;m role modeling that to my students on a daily basis, there&#8217;s nothing better than to be able to go to the [Bill of Rights Institute] website and pull up a plethora of choices, arguments, and counterarguments that they can pick to practice this.”</p>

<p>Tracey Downey, a U.S. History teacher from Florida, believes Think the Vote does a great job creating dialogue, and she has had her students try it out for themselves.</p>

<p>“You&#8217;ve now made that spark go off for the kids because now their voice is relevant, even if it&#8217;s online,” Downey said. “Then the second thing that happens is the kids want to talk about it. They want to know why they voted for this or why you, as a teacher, have an opinion. It&#8217;s this passionate dialogue that gets to be had just because you voted for something.”</p>

<p>Think the Vote also emphasizes the importance of having sources, Downey said, which she constantly reinforces to her students.</p>

<p>“You have to cite your sources, so it&#8217;s really fun when I say, ‘Don&#8217;t answer without a source,’” Downey said. “It makes these kids, regardless of whether they&#8217;re going to Wikipedia or anywhere . . . it&#8217;s making them start to think for themselves and have an opinion because they know . . . I&#8217;m going to question it.”</p>

<p>Downey believes teachers are sometimes afraid to broach a topic with their students and said Think the Vote is a great way to generate good discussion in the classroom.</p>

<p>“I think it just adds to a dialogue,” Downey said. “So it opens that door for them to have a voice in the system, and it opens the door for everyone in the classroom to be able to discuss.”</p>

<p>For more information on Think the Vote, visit <a href="https://billofrightsinstitute.org/ttv/about">https://billofrightsinstitute.org/ttv/about</a>.</p>