What educators are saying about This I Believe

 

Thousands of teachers around the country have embraced This I Believe as a powerful educational tool. They have downloaded the free educational curriculum and brochures for using This I Believe in middle and high school classrooms and in college courses. The curriculum helps teachers guide students through exploring their beliefs and then composing personal essays about them.

 

Some thoughts from educators on using This I Believe in their classrooms

 

“My students eventually unearthed a cache of wonderful beliefs buried under years of schooling. As they went around the room sharing their beliefs, they felt their power surge. This, I believe, could trigger a new era of education—and maybe even a revolution.”

              – high school writing instructor

 

“This has been one of the most enriching writing assignments I have ever experienced in my 20 years of teaching. The assignment has been a lesson in taking risks, developing voice, and being concise. As we celebrated finishing our essays—many students choosing to read theirs out loud—our class cried, laughed, and stood in awe of the depth and passion exhibited. Thank you for this experience.”

              – high school teacher, Algonquin, Illinois

 

“While all of us can benefit from the exercise of a This I Believe essay, I believe it is good that more people at a younger age start thinking about their own beliefs and what they stand for, to enable them to make better choices as they grow and mature. Thank you for this wonderful radio program.”

     – university instructor, teaching Advocacy Through Media

 

“Please, please, please—publish these essays as a book with an accompanying CD of the essayists reading their essays! The educational market—especially all the freshman composition teachers—will love you for it forever.”

          – high school English teacher, Overland Park, Kansas

 

“[My students] are excited about ‘someone important’ wanting to read their beliefs.”

              – high school teacher, Dowagiac, Michigan

 

“I’m incredibly proud…Some students chose very sensitive topics, such as being bullied at the middle school level and dealing with that. Some students wrote about hardships their families had been through. It was a nice surprise to see the level of reflection.”

    – high school American studies teacher, Chelsea Vermont

 

“I am an English teacher at a university in Prishtina, Kosovo. One of the things my students have asked me to teach them is how to write a personal statement, something to put on an American college application, anything to give them the hope of getting out of here and getting a proper education. I’ve been basing my lessons around the very personal statements of [This I Believe] essays.”

              – university English teacher, Prishtina, Kosovo

 

“The producers of ‘This I Believe’ have said that understanding comes from sharing our stories with each other… I don’t know if listening is enough to change us on the grand scale, moving us from a country of bickering partisans to a community of empathizers, but it works on the small scale—perhaps where it matters most—in a classroom of students as diverse as the nation.”

       – high school English teacher, Charlotte, North Carolina

 

Chelsea Public School—Chelsea, Vermont

In November 2005, Chelsea Public School high school English instructor Stephanie Joyce asked her students to write essays based on This I Believe. After her students reviewed the requirements and read a few sample essays on the This I Believe website, they completed the writing assignment and then had an in-class reading of their essays.

 

Ms. Joyce then extended the project outside of her classroom by inviting her students to read their essays at the school’s teacher-parent open house. Principal Karl Stein invited all students, teachers, parents, and other community members to a community essay reading that night.

 

Before an overflowing crowd in the Chelsea Public School library, students talked of beliefs in hard work and commitment, the importance of laughing and smiling, and being okay with sitting on the bench and still loving the sport. Principal Karl Stein, teacher Stephanie Joyce, and a member of the school board all shared their essays. And community members accepted the invitation as well. Instructor Stephanie Joyce said, “I used the essay project in one of my English classes, and it turned into an incredible experience for my students, myself, and the community… Your project helped in creating a wonderful open house for our high school—many thanks.”

 

University of California at Davis—Davis, California

In September 2005, UC Davis started a new initiative modeled after the This I Believe program. Their initiative, called My Personal Compass, is designed to encourage campus community members to write about the beliefs that guide their daily lives and to encourage people of different beliefs to listen to one another.

 

UC Davis Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef said about the project, “I’m hopeful…that we can achieve the greater collective understanding necessary to solve our collective challenges as members of this community and as citizens of this world. I invite members of our campus family to thoughtfully write about their guiding beliefs and to share their essays through the My Personal Compass project.”