Help learning names!
Title says it all. I’m just over 6 months in at a training center and have had ~180 students between 6-10 since day one. I tried and thought I’d learn em over time but it’s been long enough that it’s past awkward. Any tips to reverse engineer it—in class games or something? My Chinese coworkers handle collecting all the papers students hand in and marking them so I never get the chance to put a written name to a face. I feel like a total jerk tbh.
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u/Plenty_Surround_9584 5d ago
Instead of looking at someone and saying "you", do the exact opposite. Look at your register, say a name and then see who responds.
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u/TheDeclineOfAll 5d ago
Seating chart or hey bro always work. You should also be moving around your classroom and learning names through interactions. I really like standing next to talkers or groups that aren't paying attention BTW.
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u/Possible_Door_9719 5d ago
I was in the same situation two years ago and I never remembered their names.
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u/Konyaata 5d ago
I keep a clipboard with all the names of the class that I'm teaching. It's a table with their student number, names/nicknames, any notes about them, and their progress. I have 4 classes of 40 kids for a total of 160 students. I write notes about all of the students, but it's difficult to remember the shy students who never raise their hands. On a good year I can remember about 95% of them. This year (about 4 months into the school year) I can only remember a little over half of them so far. It comes with time and those little memorable moments you have with them each day.
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u/maenad2 2d ago
Get a list of all the names, take it home, and memorise then all. Then call out name and see who responds.
İ don't see how anybody can teach a good lesson while also making meaningful collections which let you remember their names. Split up the process.
Anything thing which can be fun is to take photos and use them as flash cards. İ photograph students in groups of four, then write their names above them on the whiteboard, then photograph them again. Then go through the list on the metro each day.
The main disadvantage of this is that you'll never get around to learning names of students who were sick that day.
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u/J0hNNyUt4h420 5d ago
If possible get the TA to draw up a seating plan for your class. If you have a register/want to call out students you can have it nearby so you can easily match their names to their seats.
Make sure you use the names as much as possible when nominating/picking students for answers to help remember.
I had 280 secondary students last year and this is the only way I’d get close to learning them all.