Introductions
After the introduction of myself and the course, I occasionally ask my students to introduce each other. I prepare some interview questions in advance and after a few minutes of interview time, I have my students introduce each other. I have found it is easier for students to introduce and talk about others than it is to talk about themselves before a group!
Hi Deb,
Great job with the introductions. By keeping it going the students get to reinforce their knowledge of what they know about each other. This method helps them get comfortable with each other, share some laughs and get settled into the course. Keep up the good work.
Gary
I also use this method alot but hten take it one step further & have one student be assigned role call for subsequent classes rotating this position each period. This way they continue to get to know each other and we all learn more about each other. They have to come up with a different question each time-such as " your favorite movie" or "favorite food". (This works best for new students.)
Hi Dianne,
Thank you for sharing this name learning strategy. I know it will be of benefit to other instructors facing the task of learning the names of new students on a frequent basis.
Gary
I often use folded tents and I find if I have them give me three facts about themselves the name "clicks"
Hi Jack,
Great way to remember student names. The key is use and that is what you are doing by repeating the names every chance you get.
I am like you when it comes to remembering previous students' names. A student will call me up or stop by my office to ask a question or ask me to serve as a reference and he or she will mention that they took one of my courses twelve years ago in the fall. That is approximately 600 students ago, not to mention the time lapse. So I like you mention that that was a long time ago and that I am going to need a refresher on their name. They will almost always laugh a bit since they hadn't thought about how many students ago that was and give me their names and we then start our chat.
Gary
Another tool I often use is repeating the student's name as often as possible during the first meetings, forcing myself to assosiate the face with the name. I refer to the student by name, use the student's name when answering the question and even further references back to the question or the answer will include the orriginal student's namd.
The far more difficult task is to remember the name of a returning student, sometimes years down the road - an almost impossible task. In that situation, I will at once ask to be reminded his or her name, thus at once showing I am human (and possibly slightly embarrassed) and preventing myself from getting too deep into the conversation without a name (most definately an embarrassment).
Hi Melanie,
You are right about talking about others rather than themselves as being easier. Not sure why but certainly true. This is why I use ice breakers during introduction time that have this component. Also, it helps to bring the class together quicker.
Thanks for sharing this observation with us.
Gary
