Fostering a Positive Self-Identity

There are so many avenues of finding a positive sense of self-identity. As a teacher, it is important to always listen and pay attention to students. By doing these two things, a teacher will be more in tune with students and can make better decisions on how to work with them. Creating lessons that help students take a look at their idea of self-identity is also important. Most students like to create artwork that is connected to them or is about them.



It is so hard to find yourself, especially in middle and high school. Creating a positive environment for students is very important. The teachers that I confided in and trusted during these years were the ones that always listened and had an open classroom. By this I mean that they were there before and after school, truly cared about their students, and took the time to listen. They also took extra time to help students whom didn’t understand material. My point is that they were willing to go the extra mile to foster a positive self identity in their students. I believe that having an open classroom is very important. This to me means that it is controlled as well as laid back. It enables students to feel comfortable and more open to positive influences in their life and in the classroom. When students feel comfortable in their environment, they will be much more likely to succeed and develop a positive sense of self-identity.
Conducting your classroom in a way that enables students to feel good about their work and themselves is another key point. One cannot be happy if they are not happy with themselves. Acknowledging differences in students and viewing them as positive aspects of students is a way to do this. When students take pride in the things they do, they develop a positive sense of worth, which is part of their self-identity. There are many ways to help students foster a positive sense of self-identity, but it can be very specific to a particular student. Listening, paying attention, providing a comfortable and positive environment, and creating lesson plans that make students look at their identity can help students form positive self-identities.

Collaborate Art

I really like the idea of including the community in a project or creating artwork that will enhance the community's awareness of art. There are many different ideas that come to mind when I think of community collaboration and the arts. I would love to do at least one community wide project with my students per year.
One idea that I think would be great for the community is to have students create a sign that welcomes people to the town or to the school (depending on the size of a town). I had the opportunity to grow up in a small town that was very community oriented. We have a welcome sign to state the name of our town. For this project I would include other teachers and community members. Not all schools have a shop class, but if there was one at the school I was teaching in, I would collaborate with the teacher to work with students in building a sign. The sign could be made of metal or wood, depending on the resources and equipment. I would then have my students work together to create a sign that would be used at the entryway of the town/city. If this was not possible, I would strive to place it at the entrance to the school. This project would allow students to feel pleasure and pride in their community or school. It would also ensure that many people see the artwork and enhance their awareness of the art program at the school.

Another idea is to have students create stepping stones (with stained glass) that could be used in various areas around the town. I would like the stepping stones to be places in a park, but this would vary depending on what the community offers. My mother works with stained glass and I have done a few stepping stones. I could have my mother come in as a guest speaker and talk with students about stained glass. The materials would be hard to come by, especially with budget cuts, but I know many places that would donate broken glass. Companies would also be much more likely to donate to a community project for students. Cement can be mixed easily and I have all the other materials needed for this project, so it wouldn't be too hard to execute. I would invite members of the community to come help with the project and would have a sign posted by the stones in the park to let viewers know that students made the stones for the community.