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  Home > Resources > Teaching FAQ's > Managing the Class Climate > Remember Students' Names

How do I remember names?

• Read through your class roster several times before the first day of class. Roll the names over in your head, so they will sound familiar when you meet the students.
  
  
• Play a Name Game
  The first student introduces him/herself. The second student introduces him/herself and the first student. The third student introduces him/herself, the second student and the first student. Go through the entire class, and you go last. Throughout this process you must:
  • keep a smile on your face so people don't get upset when they miss names
  • clarify any mispronounced names: "Good job, Jon, but it's Georgeanne, not Georgeanna"
  • you will need to do a quick round of introductions on day two to refresh everyone.
    
    
• When you learn a new name, take a moment to think up a vivid story or phrase to go with it. This is a very effective technique recommended by many people. To remember Mike Jones, think of a microphone in Davey Jones' locker.
  
  
• Give lots of short assignments, so you'll get plenty of practice handing them back and thereby associating names with faces.
  
  
• Ask students to say their names before asking or answering a question. This gives you and other classmates a chance to work on learning names.
  
  
• Ask students to bring a picture of themselves to class. Any reasonable resemblance will do. Practice with pictures like flashcards.
  
  
• Have students keep a class journal. These are not necessarily the kind of journals that contain a lot of personal information. Consider them a log which tracks the student's progress in the class. Reserve five minutes at the end of class for a journal entry, and have the students turn their journals in weekly. This way you can practice names and track the students' progress.
  
  
• Use a seating chart. This can be temporary until you learn names.
  
  
• Try this for remembering students' names in large classes.

 

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