upworthy

teaching

Canva Photos

Teachers have to learn dozens or hundreds of new names every year. Here's how they do it.

My youngest daughter just recently started taking karate at a local dojo. One interesting thing about the classes is that kids come twice per week, but they're free to come to any session throughout the week. Depending on which nights we go, we see a lot of the same kids, but it's always a slightly different blend of folks depending on everyone's schedules.

What stuck out to me was that by the second training session, the instructors knew my daughter's name perfectly. She didn't need to be signed in, didn't wear a name tag, they just knew who she was, just as they knew the names of the six to ten other kids in her class. They also knew the names of every person in the advanced group of about 20 people that waits patiently off to the side while the youngins finish their practice.

I can barely remember the names of a few of my kids' friends, so I was immediately in awe of this skill—not to mention, jealous.

Teachers meet dozens or even hundreds of new students every year and are expected to have all of their names memorized within the first few days of school. How do they do it?

teachers, teaching, students, school, names, remembering names, memory, memory tricks, brain training Don't be like the famous Key and Peele substitute teacher sketch. Giphy

It's not unlike the karate instructors at my kids' dojo, who interact with a constantly-rotating cast of different children, teens, and even adults. How do they manage to keep all the names straight? Never mind remembering specific details about each person like their strengths, weakness, personalities, and interests—how do they consistently place the right name to a face?

To answer this, here's what real teachers are saying.

One thread on Reddit is full of tips and tricks from veteran teachers.

One user, an English teacher, recommended raising the stakes by setting a penalty for yourself if you don't learn the names: "I have 100 students and I told them that if I didn’t know their first and last names by the third day of school I’d bake them cookies. I made them sit in the same seat every single day. I’ve done that for five years and have never failed. It’s the idea of baking that many cookies that drives me!"

Another swears by good, old-fashioned repetition: "I make sure to use their names as often as possible during BOY. 'Yes, Sara.' 'Thank you, Sara.' 'Good point, Sara' the repetition helps me."

One teacher tracks their progress in learning the names visually: "I designate a white board to 'names' and every student in every class makes a postit with his/her name on it. For the first days of school, kids get the post-it off the board and put it on the fronts of their desks so I can see their names. The other benefit is that it helps me take attendance the first week or so. After a couple of weeks I start to remove post-its for the kids whose names I know - so then there's maybe 5 per class with the post-its and then I learn those and then mission accomplished!"

Another says they try to peg some kind of personal detail to a student's name to make it stickier in their memory: "I do my best to know something unique and identifiable about each kid, not a physical feature, just a personality or background detail that makes them easier to call to mind. Working with middle school kids, this relationship building aspect is absolutely crucial."

Marieum, who works as a substitute teacher, doesn't have the luxury of slowly learning kids' names throughout the course of several days or weeks. She has a few special tricks of her own up her sleeve.

"When I take attendance... I tell my students, 'Teach me your name', instead of 'Tell me your name.' That way they can tell me of any nicknames, any kind of pronunciation." That helps make the interactions more memorable and personal. She also says she tries not to fault herself for forgetting a name. After all, she's only human.

"Don't be shy to ask... 'Hey, remind me your name.'"

@marieum.ahmad

Names are meant to be learned! Put in your best effort and that’s all that matters! #substituteteacher #substituteteachertips #futureteacher #studentteachingessentials #teacherinspo #teacheroutfit #teacherlife #substituteteacherexperience #substitueteacherlife #earlyelementary #howtobecomeateacher #teachersoftiktok #teacherjourney #teacherintroduction

Teacher Samantha Pasche sets aside five minutes per day the first few days of school to practice all of her students' names, then she actually quizzes herself on them and tracks her improvement.

Her goal is to learn 100% of her student's names by the end of the third day. She'll even have her students switch desks multiple times that first week so that she can re-quiz herself based on the new arrangement–ensuring she's not just memorizing the order of the names, but actually learning the faces. What a dedicated educator!

It's maybe not as applicable to us non-teachers, but imagine if you could get a roster of, say, your kid's classmates and their parents, or their teammates on the soccer team, or even everyone in a new friend group you've been spending time with. Could you quiz yourself for five minutes per day for three days and burn those names and faces into your memory forever?

@samanthapasche

Replying to @Ms Dienger Learning students’ names is so important! Here is what I do to learn them in 4 days! #teachersoftiktok #teachertok #middleschool #middleschoolteacher #firstweekofschool

Tamara says she has about 170 new students every year and it takes about a month for her to learn their names. Even then, she misses a few and still makes lot of mistakes. But her advice is still spot on:

"Just let them know that you love them, just be there for them. They're gonna love you. Don't be nervous."

It's a good reminder that a lot of people are bad at names. If you're feeling anxious about not remembering someone's name, there's no guarantee that they remember yours either! Just be honest and kind to people and the names will come when they come.

@teaching_mrsh

Replying to @Mrs.Rhinoooo😝 Learning Student Names? I haven’t found a way to do it quickly, with 170 students it takes me, as a teacher, at least a month into the school year to have the majority memorized. Be patient with yourself. Study their photos if you can. And don’t be nervous. You’ve got this. Also since no one reads the caption, if you did - drop your favorite color in the comments. Mine is blue. #teachingmrsh #teacherlife #teachertips #teachingadvice How to learn student names Teacher advice for first week of school Teaching advice Teaching high school

A lot of teachers on Reddit, TikTok, and other social media swear by the classics. The art and science of remembering people's names really boils down to a few things:

The first is repetition. When you're first learning someone's name, the more you can use it while you interact with them, the quicker your brain will peg the name to their face. One teacher on TikTok says learning the correct spelling and pronunciation of names, then repeating them as often as possible, helps her learn over 150 new names every year.

Next is either a visual or mnemonic device to help make a name catchier and stickier. One teacher on social media wrote she asks students to introduce themselves with an alliterative description, like Genius Jenny or Nice Nicole. Rhymes are great, too! Like Red Ted, if Ted has red hair, or memorable nicknames like Jake the Snake.

One thing we can all learn from teachers is the time, care, and dedication they take to get to know their students. Many of them practice and study names, with correct spelling and punctuation, and realize the importance of that in building the relationship. All the tricks and memory games in the world won't help you if you don't make the effort to authentically connect with people, but a few ideas from the pros can really help.

Arnold Ford shares a birthday—and birthday joy—with one of his students.

When Arnold Ford went to work on his birthday in February of 2024, he knew he was in for a treat. One of his students, a girl named Cali, has the same birthday as he does, and Ford was ready. As soon as he saw Cali come bounding down the hallway with her arms spread wide, the assistant principal tossed his backpack aside, swooped the girl up, and spun her around in joyful celebration.

Then the two raced down the hallway, arm in arm, so Cali could give him a balloon and a cupcake she had saved for him. All of this was captured on the security cameras at west Philadelphia's Mastery Charter School, Mann Elementary, and the footage has people cheering for amazing educators.

"I’m so grateful to God for allowing me to see another year," Ford wrote when he shared the video on his Instagram page. "I’m even more grateful that LOVE continues to be the centerpiece of my entire life."

"And… as you can see… I’m also grateful that I get to share a birthday with one of my favorite students," he continued. "And yes… she brought me a balloon and a cupcake, and in exchange, I told her she could dress down today. Fair trade if you ask me!"

People are gushing over the exchange in the comments.

"Do y'all teach 25th grade!? I need an elementary school experience do-over!" wrote one person.

"Bro my own parents never been that happy to see me 😭," wrote another.

"Can you imagine marinating in that love on a daily basis? What a gift this man is!" shared another.

Several people pointed out that no one else in the video so much as blinked, which is a testament to the fact that this wasn't out of the ordinary. Clearly, Mr. Ford brings this energy to work every day.

"I think it’s important for us to celebrate WITH our students and families," Ford told Upworthy. "[Cali's] birthday is a big deal to her, and so is mine. We talk about it ALL year. So when that day came, what you saw was just a natural, genuine reaction that we both had. She was excited to be celebrating me, and I was excited to be celebrating her."

celebrate, happy birthday, students, joy, happiness, celebration Students and faculty celebrating one another is pure joy. Giphy

Educators like Ford can make such an enormous difference in children's lives, transforming a school into a place filled with positive interactions where kids know people genuinely care about and enjoy being around them. That's what Ford loves about his job as well.

"It really is the reciprocal nature of the work," he told Upworthy. "We get so much more than we ever put out. Love. Joy. Laughter. The more we sow those things, we see them return exponentially in this work. That’s why when I often say, 'Love is the curriculum,' it’s because I recognize how blessed I am to be able to put positivity and joy at the center of my experience with them. It’s humbling."

love, teaching, school, assistant principal, administrators, educators "Love is the curriculum." - Arnold Ford, Assistant PrincipalCanva

"In other words, I love that I don’t have to wait until Fridays to get paid." he adds.

Educating kids involves so much more than teaching them academics. Here's to Mr. Ford and all of the dedicated, incredible educators out there who pour their love into helping children learn and grow and thrive. They really do deserve all the balloons and cupcakes—and all the pay raises as well.

You can follow Arnold Ford on Instagram.

This article originally appeared last year.

Kids

Teachers share how different students are in 2024 than when they first started teaching

So many teachers got brutally honest about the struggles they've been facing in the classroom.

Things have changed. And not necessarily for the better.

The country has been experiencing a major teacher burnout for quite a while. Obviously, COVID-19 only exacerbated issues that were already present. But beyond dealing with grossly low wages, a never-ending list of extra responsibilities, and battling against phones for attention, there’s a more existential shift in students that’s making teachers become both disillusioned with their vocation and concerned about this younger generation.

Last year, someone considering becoming a teacher asked other more experienced educators on Reddit to share the "biggest difference you see in kids from the time you started teaching to right now in 2024?" The responses offer a bluntly candid glimpse of some of the challenges faced in schools today—but there are also some positive nuggets thrown in.

Here are some of the top answers.

1. "Level of curiosity... [it's] almost non-existent today. When I started in the '90s, there were always a handful of students in every class that wanted to know 'Why?' but in recent years, it's either 'Just tell me the answer' or 'Who cares? Just mark it wrong.'"—u/Pretend_Screen_5207

2. "I can't show movies or videos anymore because it is all boring to them. It is boring because they have Netflix on their phone and they can watch whatever they want at any time. It isn't special to watch a movie. "—u/Ferromagneticfluid

3. "Fine motor skills seems to be way down. I teach instrumental music, and kids [being able to figure] out where to put their fingers and how to maneuver them has gone way down since COVID." —u/eagledog

kids, school, boredom, unimpressed, checked out, COVID Boy bored in class. Canva Photos

4. "A huge difference I’ve noticed is it is becoming disturbingly common for parents to explicitly tell their kids that they don’t have to follow school rules. Students are always so smug about it when they say that their mom gave them permission, and then equally enraged when they still receive the related consequence because mom doesn’t make the rules at school…Absolutely could never have been me when I was a student, and this was not a thing when I first started teaching. But this kind of attitude has grown increasingly more common every year." —u/kaelhawh

5. "Kids just seem dumber overall. Could be the area I teach in, but basic math and literacy skills have constantly trended downward here. We keep lowering the bar for interventions because we don't have enough spots if half the school needs math and reading support.” —u/Baidar85

6. "Year 22 starts in July. I don't know if I can put it in words, but there's an air that little children have: it's a combination of silliness, joy, fearlessness, creativity, curiosity, imagination, and sweetness. Occasionally some naughtiness creeps in but it's all very innocent...I've taught K-1 most of my career and while many little kids still have all of these qualities, it's astonishing how many kids don't. You hand them a piece of paper and they say, 'I don't know what to draw,' or 'I don't like to color. You put on a silly dancing song and they not only refuse to stand up, they sit there whining 'This is BORING.' The water during science turns blue and they say 'Whatever.'

kids, school, boredom, unimpressed, checked out, COVID Young girl rolls her eyes. Canva Photos.

I think they're growing up too fast... They're afraid of looking silly or getting dirty or drawing attention to themselves by asking a question. They'd rather be on their phones more than anything in the whole wide world, but since they're at school, a Chromebook will do. If they're asked to do something challenging or ‘boring' they'll run to the counselor to complain about their big feelings so they can get access to a screen to 'calm down.' My kids are 5 to 8, generally, and they've just... lost a huge developmentally appropriate part of their childhoods. It's going to have long-lasting societal repercussions." —u/azemilyann26

7. "I’ve moved schools so I’m gonna have a rare opinion; they got much better in every area possible. Smarter, kinder, more respectful, self-aware, less entitled."—u/swift-tom-hanks

8. "I just finished year 34, all in upper elementary and middle school. Back in the day, I'd have one or two kids in a class who didn't give a flying f**k and who did literally nothing. Now it can be a third of the class. It's mind-blowing. I will have several assignments over the course of a trimester where less than half of the class will get the thing done and turned in. Nearly every assignment will have a couple of kids who write their names on it and then turn in blank pieces of paper." —u/DerbyWearingDude

9. "I've been in early childhood [education] for 10 years now, [and] was a sub for about five years before that. What I've noticed since COVID is a profound lack of social skills. Not just a lack of curiosity or emotional dysregulation, which I've seen in spades, but an inability to play or talk or cooperate with other kids. Each kid is their own little island and they have zero interest in visiting other islands. "I've literally had to teach 5-year-olds how to play basic 'toss the ball' games or work together to build a wall of blocks' whereas before, they would be coming up with wacky 'Calvinball' type games on their own and pulling everyone under four feet tall into the game with barely any effort. Now, I might as well be trying to teach them physics in Klingon." —u/the_owl_syndicate

10. "Their handwriting is…comically big, completely illegible, letters not formed correctly, not within lines/margins if it's on loose leaf paper - straight up looks like a 1st grader wrote it. And this [is] junior high...Sometimes I feel so frustrated at them not getting incredibly basic art concepts and techniques, such as copying a similar value/line/angle or whatever, then realize they can't even write a letter 'g 'correctly, and it makes sense." —u/_crassula_

kids, school, boredom, handwriting, basic skills, COVID "Their handwriting is…comically big, completely illegible..."Canva Photos.

11. "The maturity level has been reduced about three or four years since I started in 1990."—u/Felixsum

12. "As an English as a foreign language teacher, here's a positive one: the internet/phones/tablets have made English accessible for EVERYONE. "Even in countries like Egypt where the parents speak no English at all, I'm noticing their kids have a great base level just from playing on their phones. It's pretty cool! Even young kids know quite a bit now." —u/Accomplished-War1971

13. "When I sub, I rarely see students reading books or drawing for fun (even in art class); they mostly use their laptops/phones to listen to videos or play games…But even more baffling are the ones who are told to put devices away [and] just sit in complete and total silence and do nothing but stare at the desk the entire class. They don't do worksheets, they don't do homework, they don't draw; nothing."—u/Seamilk90210

14. "Been teaching middle school for 12 years. Kids are now testing lower than ever. I’d say I have around 10-15 middle schoolers that are testing at a 1st-3rd grade level. Students also lack the ability to be resourceful and persevere. They give up the moment something gets too difficult." —u/TraditionalSteak687

child, school, give up, frustration, kids, teaching They give up the moment something gets too difficult."Canva Photos.

15. "At the start of my career, on days leading up to and day of an assessment, my mornings would be absolutely devoured by students seeking extra help. Like, a full hour before the first bell I'd be circulating around answering questions and I would have to make a turn order and consolidate kids who had the same questions. Last three or so years? Absolutely silent. One kid might come in and ask me one question they didn't really need to ask and just want some reassurance."—u/enigma7x

And let's end with a sweet one to remember it's not all terrible...

16. "28 years of experience... It's genuine kindness. Kids are so much more kind now than they were when I started in the '90s. They are so accepting of kids of different races, gender identities, [and] intellectual differences like autism. 'Accepting' isn't even a strong enough word. Kids [who] would be in such different social circles due to peer pressure in the '90s are friends now. I'm a straight white guy [who] was in high school in the '80s. I wish I was brave enough then to be as kind as kids are now. I have plenty of complaints about phone addiction or the inability to multiply 5x4 without a calculator, but this is the most kind generation of students I've ever taught." —u/scfoothills

This article originally appeared last year.

Diane Tirado/Facebook

Left: Teacher Diane Tirado. Right: The note she left for students after being fired.

If you're of the mind that kids today are being coddled and not properly prepared for the real world, well, you might want to buckle up for this one. The story out of a public school in Florida has parents and teachers alike up in arms.

A Florida teacher was fired for giving her students zeros for missing assignments. Diane Tirado has been a teacher for years. Most recently, she was an eighth-grade history teacher at Westgate K-8 School in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Diane recently gave her students two weeks to complete an Explorer notebook project, but several students simply didn't hand it in. Since there was zero work done, Diane gave them zeros.

She got fired for it.

schools, teachers, education, grades, students, parents Michael Scott from The Office saying "What?"Giphy

The elementary school has a rule called the “no zero policy."

The lowest possible grade that teachers can give students is a 50, even if they don't turn anything in. That means that an extremely poor completed assignment is worth the same number of points as no assignment at all.

Hardly seems fair, right? Westgate is far from the only school that has such a policy, however.

whiteboard, education, classroom, teacher, middle school, 8th grade A message written on the whiteboard for her students after Diane Tirado was firedDiane Tirado/Facebook

It's a rule that Diane, unsurprisingly, does not agree with. After she was fired for disobeying, she left her students a charming goodbye message on the whiteboard.

"Bye kids. Mrs. Tirado loves you and wishes you the best in life. I have been fired for refusing to give you a 50 percent for not handing anything in. Love, Mrs. Tirado"

The scale, as outlined by the school, reads as follows:

A = 90 to 100
B = 80 to 89
C = 70-79
D = 60-69
F = 50-59

Diane later shared the story on Facebook, hoping to spread awareness about the school's policy.

“A grade in Mrs. Tirado's class is earned," she said.

“I'm so upset because we have a nation of kids that are expecting to get paid and live their life just for showing up and it's not real."

Diane's post has gone viral, and most commenters agree with her position – it's not fair to hand out grades for work that doesn't exist.

No zero policies are common in many schools, and teachers notoriouslyhate them. But it's at least worth considering why they exist. Some educators say it's because when a student earns a zero, it's very difficult for them to ever recover their grade in that class. In other words, it may be too harsh. Others argue that, if you don't want a zero, don't turn in nothing! Getting an earned-zero is a great way to learn to at least try.

A follow up statement from the school stated: "Ms. Tirado was released from her duties as an instructor because her performance was deemed sub-standard and her interactions with students, staff, and parents lacked professionalism and created a toxic culture on the school’s campus. ... During her brief time of employment at West Gate, the school fielded numerous student and parent complaints as well as concerns from colleagues. Based on new information shared with school administrators, an investigation of possible physical abuse is underway."

However, school representatives did not deny the existence of the no zero policy, and Tirado claims the school engaged in a smear campaign after she became a "whistleblower" on their policies. She's currently considering legal action against the district.

Still, the debate over the grading policy rages on.

“The reason I took on this fight was because it was ridiculous. Teaching should not be this hard," Diane said.

This article originally appeared 6 years ago.