First Day of Class: Introductions

 The Layout of a Smart Classroom

The Importance of Learning Students’ Names by Tamara Glenz

Learning your students' names is the first step in knowing who they are. Calling students by name communicates respect, helps them feel recognized as individuals, and helps to draw out and include shy students in class discussions.  

Useful techniques to assist you with learning your students’ names.  

Check your roster. Read through your class roster several times before the first day of class so they sound familiar when you meet them in person. 

Take a visual approach. Create name tents to set on the desks or tables. This approach assists both the teacher and the classmates with remembering names. 

Collect the tents after each class to keep track of attendance. (Kees, 2008, p. 22) Use a seating chart. This can be temporary until you are able to match names with faces. 

Passport for class. Have the students create a passport for class. Provide them with a notecard and ask them to attach a small photograph of themselves as well as some specific information about themselves (i.e. a brief biography, interests, something they know a lot about). Collect these cards and review them to help memorize names and learn more about your students. (Hardy, 2008, p. 27)  

Student introductions. Have a few students introduce themselves. Then stop the introductions and ask another student to name all the classmates who have been introduced. Once the first few names have been recalled move on to a few more, until everyone has been introduced. 

Student interviews. Have each student pair up and introduce themselves using questions such as unique traits, unusual hobbies, future goals, etc. After a few minutes, students introduce their partner to the class.  

Don’t be afraid to ask. Ask students to say their name before asking or answering a question. This gives both you and their classmates a change to learn names and can be continued until everyone feels they know the people in the room. 

Use association techniques. If a student has the same name as someone you know, or has any characteristic that you can distinguish, they can be associated together. For example: a thin student named Jim can be remembered as “Slim Jim”.  

Use students’ names often. Greet your students by name when they enter the classroom or use their names as you pass back homework. Most importantly, keep a positive attitude! Set a goal to learn a few names per day. Don’t get discouraged or overwhelmed. Try different techniques until you find what works best for you.

 

 Our Classroom Layout: first Day

Michael       Taylor  Greg  DJ  Ambur

                  Kacei  July  Andrew  DJ              Remi  Brooke   Lexi   Jonathan

                  John  Kai  Kathleen  Kyle            Sonny Rachel  Jamie  Jessica

                                   Prince   Noah               Kalie  Emily  Claudia  Milly

                           Faith  Sydney  Val

References

Suo, Yue. The Layout of a Smart Classroom.

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/The-Layout-of-Smart-Classroom_fig13_226896013

Glenz, Tamara. The Importance of Learning Students’ Names.

http://teachingonpurpose.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Glenz-T.-2014.-The-importance-of-learning-students-names.pdf