Something Leanna brought up today in class was learning your students' names. I think this is such a critical thing, as it can really convey to a student (or a colleague, or the administration) that they matter and are acknowledged.
This is a huge one for me, because I am so bad at remembering names! And I've gotten pretty good at finding my way around having to call someone by name. Example: when I got married, I didn't know what I should call my mother-in-law. I was hung up on whether I should call her "mom" or by her first name. Her first name seemed so formal, but calling her "mom" seemed to casual. For my first few years of marriage, I literally managed to not address her at all, yet still interact with her and have conversations with her.
Somehow, I don't think that will fly in the classroom! So, I've been trying to think of ideas on how to aid me in this (if it was my classroom, maybe a seating plan?). Does anyone else have trouble remembering the names to a sea of faces? And does anyone have any ideas for some quick tricks to solve this dilemma? Like everyone else out there, I'd love to make a great impression by remembering a persons name, and conveying in that simple way that they are important to me.
9 comments:
Well, in my musical theatre classes I always play name games on the first day. These are kind of meant for a drama class so it might be weird in a science class or something like that but you can always adapt them a little. Might sound cheesy but it works for me. Some examples are:
1. Presenting: Everyone stands in a circle (including you) and one person at a time says their name and does an action to go along with it and then everyone else repeats the name and the action as a group
2. Name Game: Still in a circle, go around the circle once or twice and have everyone say their name. You can either have one person start, then have the person next to them say the first person's name and then their own, and so on, so that last person has to say everyone's name in the class, or anyone who's interested can try and get everyone's names.
3. Vampire/Zombie game: One person is in the middle of the circle and they are the zombie/vampire/some kind of monster, and they slowly walk towards someone in the circle (arms outstretched, ready to get them) and the only way to save yourself is to say someone else's name, and the monster then goes after that person. Then that person has to say someone else's name, and so forth. So the monster is constantly going after someone different as different names are getting shouted out, so the monster needs to know pretty much everyone's names already if they can.
A suggestion for the less theatrical among us...One activity my EDCI prof did was to give everyone a card to write their name and answer a few questions on, such as what their favourite movie is, what sports they play, one weird talent they have, what they hoped to learn from the class, etc. That way, the teacher has a bit more info about the student than just their name. Supplying tent-cards for students to decorate and leave on their desk for the first week works too.
I like the Zombie game but for a Maths class, I would prefer to use tent-cards. Stickers that students could stick on their shirts could work too... An other problem that we may encounter with names is the pronunciation. I remember a boy in my class called Kwiatowski...The teacher was never able to pronounce his name correctly!...
Great ideas so far -
**just for information sake - there is a document on the Moodle (found under classroom management) with lots of ideas for learning names - be sure to check it out at some point.
One aspect of learning names that we need to remember is that it is quite likely that the class already knows eachother's names - it is just the teacher that needs to learn them! I really like the idea of taking pictures of the class in order to learn their names. To get around any possible issues surrounding privacy rights of taking photographs we would have to get permission from the students and the principal.
I've worked at summer basketball camps for the past few years and on any given week we would have up to 80 kids at camp. As the leader I needed to learn all of their names as quickly as possible. A few tricks that helped me:
The night before camp started I would read the list of campers names several times to memorize as many as possible before putting faces to them.
On Monday morning as the campers were arriving I would try to greet them individually at the door and have an introduction. If possible I would try to ask them questions and get to know them a bit.
I took attendance each morning and would repeat the names back to the campers and try to remember something unique about them.
For the first day each camper wore a name tag. Not very original but it was helpful for both the coaches and the kids.
I would begin each week by breaking the campers into smaller groups and have them come up with a team name and cheer. During that time I would circulate and ask the students their names if I was still unsure.
As soon as possible after camp, I would read the class list again and attempt to put faces to the names.
Nothing special and no games but by Tuesday morning I almost always knew everyone's names
I've worked at summer basketball camps for the past few years and on any given week we would have up to 80 kids at camp. As the leader I needed to learn all of their names as quickly as possible. A few tricks that helped me:
The night before camp started I would read the list of campers names several times to memorize as many as possible before putting faces to them.
On Monday morning as the campers were arriving I would try to greet them individually at the door and have an introduction. If possible I would try to ask them questions and get to know them a bit.
I took attendance each morning and would repeat the names back to the campers and try to remember something unique about them.
For the first day each camper wore a name tag. Not very original but it was helpful for both the coaches and the kids.
I would begin each week by breaking the campers into smaller groups and have them come up with a team name and cheer. During that time I would circulate and ask the students their names if I was still unsure.
As soon as possible after camp, I would read the class list again and attempt to put faces to the names.
Nothing special and no games but by Tuesday morning I almost always knew everyone's names
I worked in a secondary school as a language monitor last year (Odyssey program). I was worried about not being able to memorize all the students' names, especially because a lot of them were French names that I had not heard before. When I asked for my class list at the office, I was given sheets with names and photos on them! I do not know how common it is in B.C., but it was very helpful.
If it is not a possibility, then taking your own photographs could be a good idea.
One little piece of advice...I have found that when learning names, like when being introduced to someone new, it is always a good idea to repeat the name, by addressing the person by it right away. This can be done by asking a question, making a comment, etc. I find that it works well for me. Keep it in mind, try it out.
I have found that while teaching chemistry at the university that I tend to associate people and remembering there names with something that stood out about them.
"oh yeah he is the guy that always wears golf shirts."
or
"she is the one with the really cool shoes"
after that I found that it was easy for me to remember my students names.
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