A little insight into my fussy love for numbers, the use of terrible sporting analogies and a lot of waffling on about how essential it is to learn ALL of your students' names in less than a week.
I am teaching 181 different students this year.
Actually, let me go back and re-count because surely my total number of students isn’t going to be a prime number. I’m not sure if this is the maths teacher coming out in me, or the fact that I have many (very mild!) OCD tendencies….perhaps a mixture of the two?! I mentioned last blog post that I LOVE words. I also LOVE numbers…..although I’m much more particular about which numbers I give my heart to.
Just to give you a quick insight, the following situations make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up:
1. The TV volume MUST be on a number that is divisible by 2 or 5. If it’s divisible by both, that would be bloody fabulous. If it's on 47 or 99 or 17....NOT OK and we can't be friends.
2. If I pause a movie, TV show or a Youtube clip, then it must be on an exact number. None of this 40:12, or 1:32:42. Nope. Nein. No. Non. Niet. Nee. Na. (Get it?!!) I will wait the 48 or 18 or 59 seconds, until I can press pause on an exact number. If I miss it, then I’ll dedicate a whole other minute of my life to this very important job, and try again. Just ask my students if you need some hard evidence.
3. I find it therapeutic to count things. Trees. Steps. Tiles. Sometimes in 1s, often in 2s, never in 3s.
I’m just going to stop right here to share with you some sensational news. Some life-changing, brilliant news that has just been brought to my attention. Are you sitting down? If not I highly recommend that you grab your nearest chair and plonk yourself down…….
The verdict is in: I AM TEACHING 180 STUDENTS THIS YEAR. 180, what a number!!! Divisible by: 1,2,3,4,5,6,9 and 10. For those maths whizzes out there, 180 has the following FABULOUS characteristics…..180 is:
-an abundant number
-a compositie number
-a practical number
-a refactorable number.
This makes my heart sing. Just as I’m sure my delightful 180 students will this year.
180 students is a lot of students, and currently I am three days into a new school year, and am trying very hard to learn 180 names. Learning names, ASAP, is a really important step in forming a positive relationship with your students. I feel like you have about a week’s Grace Period, and by Week 2 if you don’t know their names, or call them the wrong name, or use a variation of their actual name, they are a little hurt. Luckily they are sweet and forgiving, but they also think that if we don’t learn their names, we are not trying to get to know them for the beautiful individual that they are. And I agree, so I have exactly 2 (phew that that’s an even number!) days left to make sure I know all 180 names.
Can’t picture 180 kids? Maybe you can picture:
-16 cricket teams
-10 AFL teams
-20 softball teams
-36 basketball teams.
If you're more of a visual learner, here are 180 teenagers:
I hope that helps you visualise the enormity of my task. The enormity of any high school teacher’s task. If you’re a coach, you must know your players names. You can’t spend the season calling out “Hey You!” or “Good job Number 14”. You can't decide who is good at what and allocate players positions, if you don't know their names. Once you know your players names, you can then treat each player as an individual, and after you learn their names, you can figure out the individual skills they bring to the team (or 16 teams if you fancy coaching 180 players!), gain respect, build positive relationships and you'll then get the best outcomes from your players!
This terrible sporting coach analogy is not that different from being a teacher.
Once you learn their names, you can move on to getting to understand their learning styles, personalities and challenges.
Here's a random list of 10 strategies I have used over the past 3 days, to try and learn as many names as possible:
1. I sit the students in alphabetical order. That way when I do the roll it’s a beautiful and orderly chorus of “here Miss” and I know where to look so I can put a face to a name. I might even do the roll twice, just to mix things up a bit!
2. I get the students to chat to the person next to them for a few minutes. Then each student has to introduce themselves to the class, stating their name and one additional piece of information. They then have to introduce the person next to them to the class, stating their name and one additional piece of information. What I love about this is that I get to then hear the student’s names again TWICE.
3. I pose this challenge to the class (I randomly tried this, this week and it was so helpful): “Who thinks they know EVERY STUDENT’S NAME in the class?”. There are usually some super keen kids who put their hands up eagerly, and I give them a go. So far no student has gotten 100%, but don’t underestimate the value of this simple task to help you as a teacher to learn the student’s names fast.
4. Always use the students name. “Welcome Thomas”, “Here you go Ella”, “Great answer Nick”….etc. They will soon correct you if you are wrong. If they have named notebooks or laptops in front of them, I cheat a little bit, but it sure helps.
5. For the last 5 minutes of class, when the students are packed up, grab a ball and get the class to throw it around. Every time before they throw the ball they have to say the student’s name that they are throwing to. I play too.
6. I create a wordsearch with all of the student’s names hidden. The class have to find each student’s name and give them a wave when they have found it. If they don’t know who the student is they ask around, and then introduce themselves.
7. Paddle Pop Sticks (my best friend). I always prepare a class set of paddle pop sticks with the student’s names written on them. When I ask the class questions, instead of hands up, I draw out a paddle pop stick and the student who is drawn out has to answer. This helps early in the term learning names, but is also a great strategy to ensure all students are able to participate in the lesson.
8. Chat to the students as they are working, to get to know a little about them. If it’s not just a face and a name, but something more personal it is easier for the name to sink in, in my opinion.
9. Don’t just do “getting to know you activities” in the first lesson. Do them every lesson for a week. These include some of the activities I’ve already mentioned in previous blogs, that are also available to download on my page: Icebreaker Bingo, M&M Get to Know You, Who I Am Profile Page….etc.
10. Lastly, practice. I stop the class randomly and tell the class I’m going to have a go at saying all of their names. Either I get them all right and the kids cheer! Or I realise I only have a handful of names left to learn, and focus my energy on learning those students names.
*Disclaimer.
Do not, I repeat DO NOT, ask a student to spell their name, when you have forgotten their name, as a subtle way to not let them know you have forgotten their name. You'll embarrass yourself more than if you just tell them you forgot their name. I did that this week. The student’s name was Tom. He politely spelt it T-O-M…..but looked at me like I wouldn’t progress to Level 2 of a Year 3 Spelling Bee. Why did I choose Tom to try this strategy out with, and not Franckcheskka?!
Putting the effort in STRAIGHT AWAY to learn student’s names is 100% worth it. When students know that you haven’t learnt their names, or if they feel like you’re not really trying, I think they feel a little anonymous in your class. A little unknown. It’s easy for teachers to learn the names of the outgoing or misbehaving students first, and the quiet and reserved students later. I make a conscious effort to learn them all ASAP, so all students feel equal and valued by me as their teacher.
As I said earlier, the names are just the beginning. They are a very important beginning, but just the tip of the iceberg as far as what else we as teachers need to know about our learners. Once you’ve learnt their names you can get to know them. You can get to know their background, their likes and dislikes, their fears, adventures they have had, about their family and friends, their accomplishments and hopes and dreams for the future. This shows students you care about them, makes them remember that you're human also and hopefully helps them realise that you are a trustworthy adult who cares and not just an adult who is there to teach them algebra and give them a report card.
The name is just the starting point in a positive relationship with a student. For me, the starting point in a positive relationship with 180 students. Through many questions, informal conversations, sharing times and other modes, I get to know as much as I can about each and every student. I have a great memory, and I genuinely care, so they are usually delighted when I remember what they tell me, even if they told me 5 months ago. If students want to chat after class, or send you an email with an accomplishment or some news, or chat at lunch time, let them. Make sure they know you genuinely care about them, be friendly and approachable and ensure this stretches beyond the allocated time in the classroom.
The more you know about a student, the better you can cater for their individual needs in the classroom. You soon learn who likes to work in groups, who likes working individually, who is more of a hands on learner and who learns best by reading and writing. You also learn who struggles and who needs to be challenged with higher level work. These things are important to know straight away so you can plan your lessons to reach every student, during every lesson.
Something I have repeated a lot this week, as I have my introductory lessons with each class, is about difference, and how we embrace it. The world, as I told my students this week, would be a pretty boring place if we’re all the same. Our classroom would be a pretty boring place if we we're all the same.
I show this image often in class and feel like it portrays a simple, yet powerful message.
Why do I show it? I want to make sure right away that students know it is okay to be different and that we all have different learning needs, and sometimes what they think is unfair, is actually very fair.
This below image is important for fellow teachers to remember that all students learn differently and at different paces.
And this one below, gets you thinking. If they aren’t getting it, maybe you have to dig deep into your repertoire of teaching strategies, and change the way you are teaching them!
The first few weeks of a new school year, are indubitably some of the hardest weeks of the year. I go home every day for the first week or two with a headache and a sore throat, from talking ALL day and forgetting to stop and have a drink for at least 5 hours. My sleep is disrupted because I am visualising my classes and quizzing myself with student’s names….at the inconvenient time of 3am. I also wonder whether Sammy found her lunchbox and whether Andrew will be in class next week. During the first few weeks of term I get home and prepare for a few hours each night and I plan lessons all weekend to make sure I cater for difference in my classroom. I send introductory emails to the families of my 180 students. I write 180 names in my mark book, I make 180 student folders on my laptop. I read 180 student files.
This may sound like I’m whinging, but I promise you I’m not, this is the reality of being a teacher during the first few weeks of a school year, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I LOVE my job.
If I ever have doubts about whether I’m in the right career, I’m reminded each and every time I am standing in front of my classes, that I am doing the right thing. Being in the classroom makes my heart happy. If there is any part of my job that I dislike, it is all of the stuff that doesn't happen in the classroom.