"My Name is Carly and I like Candy" - My Own Oops

 I always was dedicated to learning all of my students' names on Day 1. I did everything I could to help me with this! I studied pictures in our school's information system before the first day. When the first day began, I would try to be sure that all of us knew each others' names before lunch - or at least, I made sure the efforts were all there. Most often, I would have kids go around and share their name or preferred nickname, how to pronounce it, and share something they liked that start with the same letter. For example, "My name is Carly. CAR, LEE. I like candy." Then, each of us would continue in the circle, trying to name each student and their preferred food before us. However, by doing this- I missed the mark. 

The purpose was to build community and help us learn each others' names, BUT I should have paused and asked myself some questions - like, what was the rush? And also, is there a more authentic, meaningful way to do this?

Kids in all grades are navigating a lot of NEW in the first few days of any school year. A new teacher, new classmates, new routines, new places to put things, etc! That's a LOT to remember! I wish I would have slowed this part down a little bit, merely out of respect for the amount of new, and the amount of things we expect kids to remember. That's a lot of strain on our memory. Really. And if kids struggle with memory games, this can be so stressful. And that's definitely not the vibe I was going for on the first day of school.

Having an entire class of new faces and new names is already hard. I shouldn't put pressure on any of us to learn them all immediately.

Sometimes I don't realize when something is a not-so-good idea until I hear it from someone else. A kid I love recently came to me and said that they did this very activity. They tried to come up with a food they liked that started with the same letter of their name, and they picked something they didn't even like just to have something to share. It made me pause. I then asked if they knew everyone's names yet. They responded, "I think I know three names. The rest of them I know by their foods - there's a Hot Dog, a Watermelon, and a Cheeto." 

Oops... (and like this kid who shared with me, those kids may not even like those foods). 

I wish I would have paused in doing this. On the first day, just try to learn the names of the kids who sit at your table group. Start small. Have fun conversations with each other. Practice saying each other's names correctly. Slow and steady. We have all year to learn each others' names.