What's In a Name? Strategies for Remembering Students' Names

“Remember that a person’s name is to that person
the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”
-Dale Carnegie

Reasons to Learn Students’ Names:

• Students expect it (unless the class is very large).
• It tells students you are interested in them as individuals.
• It helps foster a sense of community.
• It makes the instructor appear more approachable and less remote.
• It is a powerful way to foster student-student and student-faculty interactions.
• In large classes, students can feel “like a number.” Knowing one's classmates' names fosters the feeling that there are peers in the class with whom the student can interact. A sense of community among the students begins to grow, fostering learning both inside and outside the classroom.
• Students are more conscious of their behavior when they perceive themselves as identifiable.

Strategies for Learning Names:

1. Have students make name tents out of 5”x 8” cards. Fold the 5”x 8” cards in half so they are tented, and with a thick marker, have the students write the name they wish to be addressed by in large letters on each side. Either have the students keep their name tents and bring them to each class, or collect them, and at the beginning of the next class try to match the names with the students while returning their tented nametags. (http://www.crlt.umich.edu/tstrategies/teachings.html)
2. Take a picture of each student, groups of students, or the whole class. Circulate the photographs and have students write their first names under their picture. (Digital cameras and scanners are available in the CTE.)
3. Ask students to stay in the same seats until you learn their names.
4. Ask students to give their name every time they speak aloud the first few times, then ask them to wait while you remember their name.
5. Use a seating chart for the first few weeks of class.
6. Tell students you are going to leave the classroom for five to ten minutes and that when you return, you want each student to be able to introduce five classmates on a first-name basis. How they go about it is up to them. This technique has been known to increase the energy level in the room. http://www.crlt.umich.edu/tstrategies/teachings.html
7. Have students prepare a “Passport” for your class on a note card. It could include their picture and any other info that would be helpful for learning their name.
8. Strive to memorize a row of students per day. http://www.crlt.umich.edu/tstrategies/teachings.html
9. During the semester, call students by name when you return homework or quizzes, and use names frequently in class. (Davis, 1993: 23)
10. Name game: Ask the first person to give her name. The second person gives the name of the first person and his name, and the third person gives the name of the first two people and her name. This continues until all students have given their name. The instructor goes last and recalls all of the students’ names. This works best in a small class. (Davis, 1993: 24)
11. For large classes, at the beginning of each class period have six to eight students introduce themselves.
12. Bring in a camera and have one of the students take headshots of each student. At the second class, return with the photos and have the students write something about themselves on the backs of their photos. Periodically review their photos and the information they listed, and you will soon know every student's name. http://www.indiana.edu/~teaching/allabout/pubs/learnames.shtml
13. Scavenger Hunt Make up a sheet of fairly inane traits, as many traits as you have students in the class. Traits might be something like “wearing shoes that require laces,” or “likes spaghetti with clam sauce.” Each trait has a space in front of the trait sufficient to write in a name. Everyone in the class gets a sheet, including the professor. The assignment is to find a person with that trait, meet them, and record their name. The rule is that you can use a person only once to complete your sheet. http://www.indiana.edu/~teaching/allabout/pubs/learnames.shtml
14. Unforgettable Neighbor Have students turn to their neighbor and introduce themselves. The assignment is for the neighbor to introduce his or her companion “with a trait that no one can forget.” Obviously, the partners have to be helpful with a trait or mnemonic aid. Pick randomly from around the room for introductions. After a third person is introduced, point to those introduced and ask the class to name the individuals. Continue with the introductions and cumulative reviews. The repetition in reviews really helps. http://www.indiana.edu/~teaching/allabout/pubs/learnames.shtml
15. Alternative Adjective Name Game The student sitting at one of the corner desks at the front of the room begins by taking the first letter of their name and selecting a (positive) adjective that begins with the same letter. Examples include: “Great Greg” or “Awesome Alicia.” The second person has to repeat the first person's name preceded by its alliterative adjective, and then give his/her name. The third person repeats from the beginning and adds her/his moniker to the game. When all of the students have participated, recount them all and add your own name at the end. http://www.indiana.edu/~teaching/allabout/pubs/learnames.shtml
16. Student Circle Have students sit in a circle with you and explain that each person is to give their name and a characteristic of themselves. For example, “My name is Judy and I have a good memory.” The second person has to repeat the first person's name and characteristic, and then give his own. And so on. Coaching is allowed! http://www.indiana.edu/~teaching/allabout/pubs/learnames.shtml
17. Annotations Annotate your class list. Write down individual features beside each student's name. http://www.indiana.edu/~teaching/allabout/pubs/learnames.shtml
18. Association Techniques Anyone who has the same name as someone you know is associated and remembered that way. Anyone who has a characteristic that you can distinguish is associated with that. Sometimes people “look like” their names. http://www.indiana.edu/~teaching/allabout/pubs/learnames.shtml
19. Ask students to include on a card the name they want to be called in class (with pronunciation instructions included), and “one sentence to make them memorable.” Students use the one sentence in a variety of ways: to share a favorite quote, to describe a hobby, to tell where they grew up, or to share something about their classroom “style” (e.g. sometimes falling asleep because they work late, that they don't especially like to participate in class, etc.). The instructor can review these prior to subsequent classes to aid in remembering the students’ names. http://www.indiana.edu/~teaching/allabout/pubs/learnames.shtml
20. Chaos to Order Ask the students to learn each other's names, but do not give them a system. At first there may be chaos, with students moving about asking each other their names, until they get organized and realize they need a system with repetition, practice, etc. Follow this up with a discussion of what worked and what principles of learning took place. The main goal, however, is to have students get to know each other and feel comfortable in the class. http://www.indiana.edu/~teaching/allabout/pubs/learnames.shtml
20. Some instructors sketch their students to help them remember who is who. The sketches can be quick, 20 second scribbles capturing the most prominent features of the student. These sketches can be placed in the class roster next to the student's name for quick identification. http://www.unl.edu/gradstudies/gsapd/resources/teachingtips/names.shtml
21. Two students interview each other using questions pertaining to unique traits, unusual hobbies, proudest moment, most prized possession, most unusual accomplishment, etc. Students then introduce their partner to the class. After everyone has been introduced, it's time for a memory test. The instructor begins by stating his/her name as he/she holds on to the end of a string from a ball of yarn. The instructor tosses the ball to someone and says something like, "I'm tossing the ball to Greg because I remember that Greg wrestles alligators in his spare time." The pattern continues until everyone in the class is connected. The class members then do the same thing in reverse as they untangle themselves and talk about the person immediately before them. (Option: While all class members are connected, the instructor may want to use the connected students as a model to explain how the class will grow from a collection of individuals to a network of educated students over the course of the semester.) http://www.unl.edu/gradstudies/gsapd/resources/teachingtips/names.shtml

References:

1. Davis, B. G. (1993) Tools for Teaching. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
2. Center for Research on Teaching and Learning (CRLT) at University of Michigan http://www.crlt.umich.edu/tstrategies/teachings.html
3. Indiana University website at http://www.indiana.edu/~teaching/allabout/pubs/learnames.shtml Teaching & Learning Center of University of Nebraska-Lincoln website at http://www.unl.edu/gradstudies/gsapd/resources/teachingtips/names.shtml