Why should you make an effort to learn a child’s name? We are known by our names, and when someone calls us by name–if it’s in a nice way–we tend to connect with them better. When we have a kind, trusting relationship with our students, they are more open to learning from us. We become true friends.
Learning a child’s name and calling them by name is a way we show love as teachers. It’s very important!
But it can be hard to learn a classroom full of children’s names when you only teach them once a week. Here are some ways Delicious Music (and other) teachers have learned the children’s names:
Name board: Jess
ica made this board and wrote each child’s name on the musical sign. What a great idea to use this board repetitively when calling on children to come up and perform in front of the class, so that each child eventually gets a turn.
Cup of popsicle sticks: Write each child’s name on a popsicle stick. Pick a stick to call on a child to answer a question or come up in front to perform. Turn the stick over so that the name is not showing to know who has had a turn.
Name tags on ribbon: One year I made name tags with different colored “Song Seed” notes on them, and with the children’s name written on the tag. The tags hung from ribbon around their necks. The classroom teacher passed out the tags at the beginning of each class. I also have used the clip-on type tags, which are also re-usable year after year, passing out and collecting name tags each class. I stored the tags in a Ziploc bag in between classes.
Have a great idea you’d like to share for learning the children’s names? Email me! liz@freedeliciousmusic.org.