from single index cards or cardstock (fold the paper in half horizontally). Have a box for each class of nametags and ask students to pick them up and return them to the box each period. The hard (but good) part is after two weeks, you pick out each name and try to place it on the right student’s desk.
• Checks: When students are writing, ask yourself quietly, “What’s his or her name?” Try to answer it first, then walk over, and check out your answer by looking at the student’s name on a paper or asking.
Figure 1.2: Student profile card.
Visit go.SolutionTree.com/instruction for a free reproducible version of this figure.
• Alliteration: Link a word that begins with the same consonant as the student’s first name. Use connections like, “Laura longhair,” “Benny in a bowtie,” “Michael has a motorcycle,” and “Jasmine likes jam.” Then, visualize the connection in your mind’s eye.
• Self quizzes: As students enter the class, greet them by name, or ask them to give you a prompt or cue to trigger their name. Tell students they can’t enter your classroom until you say their names correctly. Then, use their names as you make eye contact and give a compliment. (“Eric, good to see you today.”)
• Likes: Do a quick energizer by asking students to stand in areas of the room by likes or dislikes. (“If you like green vegetables, stand over there. Stand over here if you are a St. Louis Cardinals fan.”) The point of this activity is to help you remember students by associating them with their preferences. If you print out profile cards for your students (refer to figure 1.2), you can jot down notes about each student’s answer on their profile card.
• Nametags: For the first two weeks or so have students wear nametags. Make a contest to see who can learn the most names in class. For younger students, tags will last longer on their backs.
• Rhyming: Link a word that sounds like the student’s first name to each student. (“Jamal at the mall,” “Tim is slim,” or “Jake swims in a lake.”)
• “I’m going shopping” game: Students stand up, one by one. The game begins like this: “My name is Eric, and I am buying medicine for my earache.” The next student stands and says, “His name is Eric, and he is buying medicine for his earache. My name is Kim, and I am buying a coke.” Each student stands, repeats prior students’ statements, and adds his or her own shopping item. You can be the last person to add to the shopping list.
• Returns: When you return papers or assignments in the first three to four weeks, use names as you give the paper back to the student (“Loved your perfect spelling, Kenisha”).
• Interviews: Give students two to three minutes in pairs to interview each other and discover something that no one can forget. Each pair stands, then asks students to introduce each other, allowing about one minute per pair.
• Classroom roles: Students apply for (or are given) jobs so you can tie the student to his or her class job (“Ryan the reporter” or “Kayla the class leader”). You can read more about assigning classroom jobs in chapter 12 (page 128).
Name-Learning Strategies for Students
Ensuring students also know each other’s names is also a useful way to build relationships between peers, because strong social glue builds valuable respect, familiarity, and trust. That can break down barriers and reduce cliques in class.
A fun activity for students to learn each other’s names is the name game. On a blank, 3” × 5” notecard, ask everyone to write one word that begins with the same letter as his or her first name. The word should connect with something about him or her (“Eric is energetic”). Then, put your students in small groups of four to six. In a circle, ask everyone to say his or her name, the word, and the connection to the word. Then, the group can put the cards in the center of the circle in a box or basket. Using a timer, ask a pair of volunteers to see how long it will take them to return the correct card to the other students in the group. Next week, switch up students so all of them are in a new group. Continue this for the first four weeks until everyone is pretty good at others’ names. Use the tracking sheet in figure 1.3 to help you keep track of the names and attributes for each student in a class.
Figure 1.3: Name-learning tracking sheet.
Visit go.SolutionTree.com/instruction for a free reproducible version of this figure.
These memory tools will build the confidence and social glue to foster cognitive capacity (for attention and for short- and long-term memory). Additionally, during group work, invite students to always address each other by name. When students pair up with a new partner, ask them to introduce themselves to others with eye contact, a greeting, and a handshake.
Create a Me Bag
Another way to build a culture of personalization is to use variations of the Me Bag activity during the first week of school. This is a great activity for all K–12 students because most students, no matter their age, want to know some personal things about their teacher. First, you’ll model the process for your own students. Start with a paper bag that has small objects, items you collect about yourself: photos, receipts, ticket stubs, a favorite snack, keys, or mementos that help tell a story about yourself. Share those objects and stories in about seven to ten minutes. Use figure 1.4 to brainstorm some items you could put into a Me Bag and what you might want to say about them.
Figure 1.4: Ideas for a Me Bag.
Visit go.SolutionTree.com/instruction for a free reproducible version of this figure.
Share an Everyday Problem
Whether you want to be a role model or not, you are a role model. Give students what they need so badly—a real-world model of how to live as an adult. You can think of this as a way to extend the work you began with the Me Bag activity. That means about once a week, share a piece of your world, something that presents a challenge or problem that you had, maybe something you experienced over the weekend. A short, three-minute slice of a teacher’s life can do wonders for fostering the relational mindset.
Consider the following teacher’s story.
Last weekend something weird happened. I had promised to help my friend move on Saturday. But when I went out to my car that morning, I turned the key to start it and click … nothing! My car wouldn’t start, and I was freaking out because I made a promise to her. “Friends keep promises to friends,” I said to myself. Now, what could I possibly do?
Well, students, it’s time for your challenge of the day. Work with a partner, and come up with two possible solutions to my problem. You see, even though I was freaking out, I found a way to solve the problem. How would you solve this problem?
Your
