Imagine walking down a school hallway and one of your favorite teachers are heading your way, you say hello to them but the teacher only acknowledges you with a smile, a nod or a simple hello and keeps on walking. You are crushed because you are so excited to see this teacher and they acted like you were unimportant.

In my experience, if a student knows your name you are expected to know theirs. As a substitute teacher this is difficult as you can see hundreds of students every year. I am bad with names so when I see a student that obviously wants to talk to me or remembers me, I make it a point to say hello and ask them how school is going. If I do not know their name I call them Sweetie or Honey. During the past eight years none of these children have realized that I did not remember their name. Teachers should be able to act as an actress would but not seem fake, untrue, or unreal. I do try to remember as many names as possible. I feel that the more personal I can be with students the more of an impact I will make on them. Students will even come up to me in the local supermarket just to say hello to me. That is indeed a very special feeling for me, so I can imagine how the student feels when I acknowledge them.

One of a teachers job is to instill confidence in a student. Acknowledging a student, especially by name provides self-confidence within this student. In their minds they believe that you indeed do remember them and that they are special because you remember them and called them by their name. If a teacher leaves a positive impact on a student, this will in turn lead to success in many areas of the student's life. If a simple act such as remembering a name has a positive impact then a teacher should do their best to remember the names of all of their students. Sometimes it is difficult to remember the names but as long as the teacher remember the face or something about the student, this will suffice. The student feels good about themselves and they hold their heads up high for the rest of the day. They feel as if they are special and every teacher knows that ALL students are special in some way.

To recap, I do feel that it is important to recognize a student by their name. If this is not possible, at least try to remember something about the student. Make them feel that they are important enough for you to remember them. Self- confidence is the key to succeed. We teachers need to do whatever it takes to ensure success and if that starts by remembering a name, then so be it.

Learn more about this author, Cynthia Sherman.
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