I have been listening to a great podcast lately named “Teaching In Higher Ed” and it’s a great combination of teaching advice, new trends, productivity tips, and technology recommendations. You can find it on iTunes here, or go directly to the web site. I was listening to Episode 12 which dealt with ways to learn student names and it reminded me of a blog I shared in my old WordPress blog and I thought it was time for an update. Enjoy!

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Day One

On the first day of class, especially in a developmental math class, our students are full of fear and anxiety. They feel that math is their worst subject and it’s beyond their reach. They know few, if any, of their classmates. This is not the time to start lecturing. This is the time to start building a community of learners!

I do not lecture on the first day of class. (As a rule, I teach classes that meet 4 times a week for 50 minutes at a time.) I start in a pretty traditional way – I take roll, read through the syllabus, and make sure that everyone understands how the class will go. Then I give my students a survey that allows me to collect information about them. Most of the questions are designed to help the students understand their strengths and weaknesses, and alert them to future potential problems such as working full-time while taking 18 units and taking care of 3 children. (If you would like a copy of my survey, just let me know.) I also ask my students to tell me something that is special or unique about them – it’s a great way to show your students that you are truly interested in them (and their success).

Once the surveys are complete I form groups of 4, giving each group a folder. I ask each group to share their stories with each other, including their response to the special/unique prompt. I then ask them to put their names on the front of the folder and to come up with a group name. It may sound a little juvenile, but it really encourages students to talk to each other. Some groups will sit there and stare at each other, but when I let them know that I will name their group and that they will most definitely not like the name I choose they start talking.

I use these folders to take roll during the semester, and find that it really helps me to learn my students’ names quickly. My goal is to memorize at least one student’s name in each group each day. Some groups have a 3:1 gender ratio, which also helps to learn the name of that one student. Within a week I know everyone’s name and I address them by their name whenever I can. I also refer to their surveys as I take roll, so I get to know them.

The goal here is to get students to be comfortable with at least 3 other students in the class. As I figure it, connection to classmates leads to connection with the class as a whole, which hopefully leads to a connection with me and the material.

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This technique really helps me to learn student names in a quick fashion. How do you learn your students’ names? How important is community to you? Please leave a comment or reach me through the contact page at my web site – georgewoodbury.com.

-George