What's In a Name?  A Lot, Actually

During my graduation ceremony several years back, I was a little startled when a professor who had been my advisor for a couple of years couldn’t seem to recall my name. He tried once or twice before giving up, and I felt dejected. If this person I had been working closely with didn't know my name, did he in fact know much about me at all? And what did that say about the kind of impression I had made?

Names are important, often more so than we realize. When someone takes the trouble to learn our names, it means they have invested at least some time and care in knowing who we are. When students have teachers who still don’t have this basic information straight as the first weeks of school pass, they are more likely to conclude that the teacher has little interest in them. Therefore, it is vital to find ways to learn who kids are as quickly as possible. For those who don’t have memories that will do that with ease, the strategies below can help to expedite the process.

Make a seating chart.

Seating charts have a bad reputation, perhaps deservedly so. In many classrooms, they are used as behavior management tools to separate kids, which can be an effective strategy. However, it can also get out of hand with overuse or punitive overtones. A different way to use a seating chart is simply to get to know the individuals in the room, especially in that first week of school. Not only do seating charts help us start building relationships and understanding the kids we work with; they also help with the overall task of name recognition. While seating charts are not usually a permanent state of being in just one configuration, keeping students in one place in those first weeks of school is a huge help in learning their names.

Use name tags or tents.

Another temporary measure that helps with name recall is the use of tents or tags. On the first day of school, use cardstock to either create student name tents or ask them to do it themselves, depending on age and stage. Students can also decorate their name tents with additional images or information, like the kind of music they enjoy or what they like to be called. Name tags provide less physical space for that kind of creativity, they are also a helpful tool in the first week of school. However, both name tents and tags should disappear from use after those initial days. By that time, these scaffolds should no longer be necessary for the most part.

Prioritize community builders that focus on names.

While getting to content-based learning is important, the early days of school should be set aside for building a strong classroom community. Beyond the concept of icebreakers, community builders go beyond the standard of “getting to know you” on a surface level. For example, any activity that gets students to share information about themselves is useful, and that includes a deeper understanding of their names. Consider asking kids to write about their names for a few minutes and then invite them to share something from what they wrote with a partner (and then perhaps with the class), which helps establish deeper connections. Then, collect their papers and read about their names, which is another useful way to connect names to faces in a meaningful way.

Use photos where available.

While some teachers take photos of kids and use them to help learn names, many schools already house useful databases that include all kinds of information about the students we teach, including photos. Taking some time in the days before school begins to study the photos and (if possible) talk to teachers who had students in the year prior will help us to make connections before kids ever walk into a classroom. Revisiting the photos in the first week of school is also useful, since faces can become elusive without a reminder.

Hold yourself accountable.

Ultimately, establishing the priority of learning names is something that only individuals can hold themselves accountable for. I’ve spoken to teachers in the past who admitted to not knowing names as late as November, and that is clearly not an acceptable practice. Even if learning names is a significant challenge, making it a top priority will ensure that we put it first. The bottom line is that we cannot serve kids that we do not know, and names are that crucial first step in knowing who they are. 

Every now and then, I’m strolling through a grocery store or down the street and hear my name being called. No matter who greets me, it always makes me feel seen to have someone take the time to remember who I am. Students deserve that same feeling, especially from the teachers they will be working with all year long. Heading into the next school year, establishing a resolution to learn everybody’s name should be at the top of everyone’s to-do list.

Written by Miriam Plotinsky, Education World Contributing Writer

Miriam Plotinsky is an instructional specialist with Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, where she has taught and led for more than 20 years. She is the author of several education books with W.W. Norton and ASCD. She is also a National Board-Certified Teacher with additional certification in administration and supervision. She can be reached at www.miriamplotinsky.com or via Twitter: @MirPloMCPS