My Teacher Remembers around 115 names YEARLY? (Or: All praises be to those teacher who remember around 115 names yearly)
Name: noun. a word or set of words by which a person, animal, place, or thing is known, addressed, or referred to.
Imagine having a bunch of chickens, racoons, birds, sheeps, snakes, rabbits, cats, dogs, all bundled up in one class, and you have to remember each of their names for a whole year. The best part? Probably only for a year, before the cycle happens again.
Teachers have it hard, man. They really don’t get enough appreciation for their awesome memory skills. This time at least we can get a deeper (quick) dive into the minds of teachers concerning the issue of student names.
Ms. Edwards, when asked how she felt when she couldn’t remember a student’s name, replied, “Terrible.” In many ways, remembering a person’s name shows how much we care for that person, however we cannot forget the fact that we are also human. To help, tricks and tips can be used.
Both Ms. Mondloch, English, and Ms. Edwards, Marketing, have pointed out that using name plates, seating charts, or something along those lines have helped them remember names of students. Mr. Sulkin, Journalism, says that geolocating (if a student keeps sitting in the same place he can remember their name) is useful, but he can’t really remember if that student sat somewhere else.
Mr. Jehu, Chemistry, also finds it easier to remember last names rather than first ones (another reason being that he doesn’t want to offend students by mis-pronouncing their first names). In one of the conversations, he states, “One of my professors in college used to call me that (Young Scholar) and it made me feel like the most special student on campus. I want my students to have that same feeling when they hear Young Scholar.”
But what if a student confronted their teacher directly about their name?
Mr. Jehu, who once experienced this situation early in the year, thankfully could reply by stating the students last name. However, the first name he couldn’t. What would you do if your teacher couldn’t remember your name?
Sediqa Ibrahim, 12, talked about a substitute last year who just could not pronounce her name right. From calling her name in attendance and correcting her name over and over again, the teacher finally stated (along the lines) that he would just pronounce her name the way he said it.
Life is hard on both sides; students who have to fill up their young memory with eight or ten teachers, versus the teachers who have to remember around a hundred or so students’ names. However, it is indeed true that both sides have to put in effort into remembering those people’s names.
Wrapping it up, I would like to ask you a question:
Students: What was that one teacher who made you feel the happiest in the world for pronouncing your name right- ON THE FIRST TRY.
Teachers: What was that one moment you internally cried after realizing you said a student’s name wrong THE WHOLE YEAR.
