1. Identity Pack Session: I Am Who I am Because of Everyone
Please note that this PowerPoint is one of six sessions/ideas and resources in the SL Identity Pack. You will need to look through it carefully and edit it for your class/group. This work is only recommended where a teacher is working with a group they know well. It is particularly important to be aware of any students in the group who are looked after.

2. Session: I Am Who I Am Because of Everyone
Learning Objective To understand that people have a impact on who we are. To realise that people are made up of stories and their interactions with people they meet. Leaning Outcome I can assess and evaluate the impact that different people have had on my life.

3. Starter
In small groups, share your stories about the people who are important to you.
Remind students of the lines from Skin Again and that a person’s identity is more than what is seen on the outside. People are made up of stories and their interactions with people they meet. See the pack for some stories people have written.

4. Main activity Watch these two adverts: I Am Everyone advert
I Am Everyone advert with Mark Beaumont
Ask if anyone can explain what the adverts are about. Can they remember any of the people mentioned in the adverts? Mention that Mark Beaumont is talking about all the people in his life with whom he shares stories, the people he feels make up the story of who he is. Without these people, he is saying he would not have broken the round-the-world cycling record. Ask the students to think of someone special to them and what it is that makes that person special. What qualities do they have? What stories do the students share with that person? Why do they feel that person has had an impact on who they are?

5. I Am Mark Beaumont I am my mother Yeena And my sisters Heather and Hannah. I am my grandfather, Who gave me a heavy bike on Christmas, And the neighbour who took the stabilisers off. I am my friend Bobby, Who helped me through my training, And the schoolkids from Dundee who raised money for my trip. I am the woman who knocked me off my bike in Louisiana And her son who fixed it. I am the people of the Nalabar, Who gave me water when I needed it most. I am Mark Beaumont And this year I broke the round-the-world cycling record. I am who I am because of everyone.
Source of photos: Wikimedia Commons (both photographs taken by Anna Frodesiak)

6. Think about these possible sentence starters:
I am (name of a person)…
I am…
I am like…
I like…
E.g. I am my mum when she teaches me to be kind.
Now try and write five or six statements about different people who have had an impact on you or changed you in some way.
Depending on time and the ability of the group, you could turn these five or six statements into a poem. Some students may choose people who have had a negative impact on them.

7. As well as getting students to write poems, you could do posters with “I am…” in the middle, a class display, a video of students reading their statements, or create a group audio track.

8. Plenary
In a group, each share one of your “I am…” statements. Listen carefully for similarities and differences and discuss these with your group. Is it possible for people to have a negative impact on our identity?
In this last discussion, there may be a chance to bring up the topics of name-calling, stereotypes and people making assumptions.

9. For the Next Session
Please collect quotes from a few people about their hopes and dreams for the future. E.g. A parent, grandparent, another adult at school, older sibling and/or friend. You could record your ideas on a sheet like the one on the next page.
Some students might need help on this task and you will need to be aware of looked-after children.