Identity Development Plan

• At the beginning of the year I will try and establish trust by being kind and reliable in my classroom. I will establish an environment of respect for my students and I will do what I tell my students I will do so that they can know I take their education and development seriously. By showing kindness to all students they can feel secure coming to me with their needs and by being reliable they can develop a sense of security in the routines of my classroom so there is not uncertainty or doubt about what to expect in my class. 
• I will then help my students establish autonomy by giving them the background knowledge and skills they need and then allowing them to rely on their own skills first. We will do activities that begin with individual work and work up to pair work, group work, and then class work rather than the other way around. This will allow students to learn to depend first on themselves before relying on my or other student's skills or knowledge.
• Then I will allow my students to take some initiative by giving them choice in all aspects of my classroom. Whether it be how they take notes, how they demonstrate understanding, how they complete assessments, my students will have the choice to do what works best for them and what will help them learn best. This will also help me establish trust as it will require greater collaboration between myself and my students.
• This will prepare students to develop industry because when they trust me to work with them and they learn to rely on themselves and are given the choice to complete tasks in the ways they find most interesting they can develop a greater sense of pride in their work. As their teacher I will encourage and praise their creativity and encourage students that make mistakes and need to redo a task so that they do not get discouraged.
• I will engage students in developing aspects of their identity by introducing topics to them in my curriculum that guides them to think about who they are, what they believe, and what they hope to accomplish. This is relatively easy in a health class because our very curriculum encourages students to discover things about themselves and their preferences that will help them in the future. For example, we will discuss self esteem, mental health, body image, decision making and goal setting, prejudice, learning profiles, responsibility, and safety. Talking about these topics and assigning contemplative writing assignments will naturally allow students to explore their beliefs and identity.
• I will help my students learn to develop true intimacy by planning activities that bring people closer. Students tend to balk at team building exercises but I feel they foster unity and provide an opportunity for people that normally wouldn't work together to solve problems and collaborate. I will also keep my room open to students during free time and lunch when possible for people that are looking to develop friendships to come and find people to bond with. 
• I will provide an opportunity for my students to feel generatively by interacting with my students one on one and emphasizing the difference they make in my classroom. I will also display student work and highlight student accomplishment so that my students can feel that the work they're doing is successful and productive and valued.
• I will help my students feel a sense of integrity by continually planning projects in my class that allow students to illustrate and explore their feelings about themselves. This will help me to see who in my class is struggling with feelings of integrity so that I can work with them more closely. Also, when we discuss topics regarding the self I can offer my students encouragement and empowerment and teach them to be patient with themselves while they discover who they are and learn to accept that.