15 Strategies for Learning Students' Names

“To weave the magic of a thing, you see, one must find its true name. In my lands we keep our true names hidden all our lives long, from all but those we trust utterly; for there is great power, and great peril, in a name.”

-Ged, the wizard, The Tombs of Atuan

Do we have a more important job as educators early in the year than learning our students’ names? It’s one way we show connection and begin to build positive relationships.

In What We Say and How We Say It Matter, I encourage teachers to consider a few key points about learning and using students names:

Use students’ real and/or preferred names. Avoid terms of endearment (sweetie, honey, etc.) or proxies such as “ma’am” and “sir” which make it easy to not learn students’ names.
Use students’ names positively. Some children only seem to hear their names when they’re being redirected or reprimanded. Make sure students hear their names in lots of positive contexts.
Learn students’ names as quickly as possible. When students know they’re known, they can form stronger bonds with us and with school in general.
Pronounce students’ names correctly. They might say, “That’s close enough,” but don’t settle for “close enough.” It’s more than common courtesy. Pronouncing names correctly shows you really care about your students.

15 Strategies for Learning Students' Names

If you’re an elementary classroom teacher, learning names probably isn’t too hard. You can probably have all 25 (or so) names down by the end of the first day of school. If you’re a teacher who works with multiple classes of students, it can be a lot harder. You might teach middle or high school and have 5-7 classes of students to learn. Or, you might be a unified arts teacher and have an entire school of names to master!

I recently had the privilege of working with educators from Greenfield, WI, and together, we came up with a bunch of ideas to try. As you read this list, try picking one or two you might use in your setting!

Have students and staff all wear name tags for the first few weeks of school.
Circle name game: students introduce their first name with something they like that starts with the same letter. They introduce each person before them as well.
Students make a Flipgrid video teaching people how to pronounce their name.
Have students create a name tent for their table/desk.
Have students conduct a mini research project on the etymology and/or story of their name.
Use students' pictures on your seating charts.
On your seating charts, include a note about each student.
Write each student's name phonetically and include on seating chart.
Name game: students pair a kinesthetic movement to help with recall.
Have students create all-about-me information pages.
Take attendance out loud, making eye contact with each student.
Use sentence starters on index cards to get to know one another.
Use last year’s yearbook to review student names.
Practice duing your commute: picture students and recall their names.
Name game: have students use letters of their first/last name with adjectives.

These are just a few ideas. What are other strategies you use? Add an idea in the comments section of this post to share with other educators!

Mike Anderson

Mike Anderson has been an educator for more than 25 years. A public school teacher for 15 years, he has also taught preschool, coached swim teams, and taught university graduate level classes. He now works as a consultant providing professional learning for teachers throughout the US and beyond. In 2004, Mike was awarded a national Milken Educator Award, and in 2005 he was a finalist for NH Teacher of the Year. In 2020, he was awarded the Outstanding Educational Leader Award by NHASCD for his work as a consultant. A best-selling author, Mike has written nine books about great teaching and learning. His latest book is Tackling the Motivation Crisis: How to Activate Student Learning Without Behavior Charts, Pizza Parties, or Other Hard-to-Quit Incentive Systems. When not working, Mike can be found hanging with his family, tending his perennial gardens, and searching for new running routes around his home in Durham, NH.

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