Names, Names, Names
Posted by Diane Badden on 11 Aug 2010 | Posted in: Classroom Management
Student names put me in a mild panic at the start of every school year. I worried that I’d be slow to learn my students’ names. I worried that I’d mispronounce a student’s name. I worried that I’d call a student by the wrong name. Kinda crazy, huh? And you know what? I don’t remember a year when I didn’t have my students’ names down pat in two or three days. Of course, desktags were a lifesaver and the students themselves were extremely helpful too.
I do have a funny story to share. This incident still causes me to shake my head. It was the first time I’d ever had a child whose name was spelled “Jorge.” I’d had a student named George before, but I’d never seen this particular spelling. Can you imagine the puzzled look I received when I called this little guy “Hor-heh”? 
I was so certain the name was Spanish that I even trilled the r! Oh my!
What tips do you have for getting a handle on student names?
Happily,
Diane
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I pass a stuffed animal bee around the circle. We chant:
“Hickety Pickety Bumble Bee
Won’t you say your name for me?”
“Juan”
All together:
“Juan, Juan”
Juan passes the bee to the next student, and we repeat.
For a quieter game, you can whisper:
“Hickety Pickety Bumble Bee
Won’t you whisper your name for me?”
I also have a story about a name confusion. A few years ago, I had started a new teaching assignment and had a little girl in my classroom whose name was Jaslexis ((Jazz-lexis). I had another teacher stop in and tell me that JAA-Lay’s mother was picking her up early….I told her that I was sorry but that she must be in another classroom. The teacher just gave me a puzzled look and left. Later that day the mother showed up in my room and told me she was there to pick up JAA-Lay….I said that I was sorry but not sure whose class she was in. She said to me that I was her teacher and called to her daughter….to my surprise Jazz-Lexis ran over to her! Oh, my….I was terribly embarrassed and began to apologize to this mother. She laughed and told me that they call her JAA-Lay BUT it actually was pronounced Jazz-lexis. Talk about relief but I still felt a bit embarrassed.
I too, worry about getting student names right, I have had a few unusual names that took me a little longer to consistantly get right but my kindergarteners are usually very helpful.
I use name tags the first week or so not only to help in the room but the PE. Art, Library teachers and the cafeteria staff.
I start of the year with a “Who Took the Cookie From the Cookie Jar?” name activity. I have an empty box of vanilla wafers, and I “laminated” it with clear packing tape to make it last. I put in name/picture cards & pull them out one at a time while singing the following with the students:
“Who took the cookie from the cookie jar?
________ took the cookie from the cookie jar!
Who me? (student)
Yes, you! (teacher/group)
Not me! (student)
Then who? (teacher/group)”
Repeat until the end.
It’s always fun, and it helps us to learn each others’ names.
I can identify with the “Jorge” story in reverse. I, too, had a Jorge in my class several years ago. There was never any question he was “Hor,hey.” One afternoon, the office called to ask me to send “George _________” to the office. I said I didn’t have a George ________; the office would need to call another class. My class, as young first graders will do, wanted to know what the call was about. I said, the office wanted “George _______, to come to the office. They all looked at each other and sort of laughed, as they also didn’t know “George.” Then “Jorge” spoke up, in a timid little voice, “sometimes my family calls me “George.” We all got a good laugh out of that. Even when Mom showed up for the pick up, she laughed with me, as I said, I have always called him “Jorge”, I never think of him as “George.” I mentioned this to him just last spring, “Jorge, you will always be Jorge to me.”
We are lucky enough to have a scheduled visiting day the day before school starts. Students and their families are each assigned a 15 minute window to visit, determined by alphabetical order. Most/all of our families usually show up, so I take family pics of each group and print them out after everyone goes home so I can put them up on our bulletin board (Fantastic Families!) and practice matching names with faces before the next day! Of course, if I forget, calling someone “friend” usually works
My TA and I have enjoyed using clothespin “nametags” during the first week or so of school. It also helps the Specials teachers when our children go to Music, Art, P.E., etc. We decorate the clothespins with their name, and glue foam stars near the opening. We clip them to a wide ribbon flowing from a star close to our classroom door. When the students arrive each morning, they clip their “star” on their shirt; which also helps with attendance. After a few weeks, we put them away and use them whenever we have a classroom visitor or substitute! This really works well for our kinders!
I use name tags and name plates for all of my classes both 3 and 4 yr. Daily we do a song The More We Get Together and go around the circle and each child says their name. I also include lots of name activities. The first few days of school I am great at usiing the word Buddy.
Another help is to take pictures of the children or have a friend do this to free up your time) as they arrive at Open House or the first day of school. Putting names on these gives you an afternoon reminder and also makes a wonderful bulletin board. A sun with “Shining in __ Grade” or stars as the back ground of the picture and “Our Shining Stars” as the title.
I think it’s a great idea, I also use name tags for my Three yr. old class.
We sing a little song on the first day of kindergarten: “We have a new friend; _____ is my name.” Make up your own tune.
I sing the first line and ask kids to sing with me. First time around, I sing the answer line with my name in the blank. We go around the Story Rug Circle and sing the song for each child; that child stands for his/her turn and sings or says the last line.