What's In A Name?

“Ma’am it’s Justin po, not David.”

I have lost count of the times that I called out a student by a different name. Remembering names is quite a struggle especially if you have to deal with 50 students in a cramped classroom. Worse, I teach 7 classes which makes it even harder to match a student’s face with his name.

This lapse of memory was never an issue during my first few years as a teacher. I just stared long enough at a student’s face and voila, the details get stored in my memory bank at a snap of a finger. It seemed easy as ABC to me. Let it be said, my memory then never failed me.

9 years and over 70 classes may have caused this slight memory decline. However, even that is not a valid reason. In college, we were reminded to make an effort in memorizing students’ names. That way, a teacher could make class discussions more personal rather than the stiff and formal setup that we’ve all been used to.

A student who is called by his name feels a certain kind of affinity to his teacher. He no longer thinks of himself as merely a line on a teacher’s record book or another paper to be marked. It is like the Berlin Wall being torn down. Somehow he regains his confidence and individuality.

A name distinguishes an individual from the rest. It’s his mark; his identity. Take the name out of the person and he becomes just a face in the crowd. Barely noticed, easily forgotten.

In a classroom, there are voices that want to be heard but since they are not fully recognized, they tend to hide inside their shell. All it takes is a simple gesture of reaching out. Knowing them by name is a good start.

I can’t guarantee that I will no longer have “memory lapses.” It would probably occur every now and then but as they say, the journey of a mile starts with the first step.