Should we use name tags in small groups?


Current practice
Ask students to make ‘name tags’ (A4 sheet folded into a sign with your name) at the start of every session. I ask them to write on the paper "what you would like me to call you"

Reasons to do this include:
A Nice easy start to lesson
B Some students don’t have A4 paper with them, and I ask them to “make a friend! Ask someone else to borrow some!”. This helps build community slightly
C I'm guaranteed to get their names right. I can then call on them more easily to take part, and also don’t embarrass them by not calling their names
D Easier for students to learn each other’s names
E Easier for students and me to refer to each other using the correct name (note that this is true even if their name is not that which is on the register)
F Helps with the register
 

The order of importance from highest to lowest is:
C, E, F, D, A, B.

Things I want to avoid
I: Calling students the wrong name
II: Students calling each other the wrong name

Reasons not to employ current practice:
·      The students think I don’t know their names

Future Practice
Upon reflection A – F are important and not in conflict with one another. So future practice is to keep using name tags for as long as I feel its helpful. Thoughts on how long it is “helpful” (and what exactly that means) another time perhaps.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Intro Logic Examples

Image
At Leeds this year one of the things I’m teaching is first year intro logic. I’ve taught most of the material before and my experience is always the same. The students fall into roughly two types. Type A Some students love it straight away, and ask interesting questions right off the bat. Some students (typically those with mathematics backgrounds) breeze through the early material, although they do find it dull. Let’s generalise and call these Type A Students. Type B And many students find it terrifying, at least at first. They typically have not enjoyed mathematics at school, and find symbols off putting. They are used to writing essays. They struggle to see how logic is relevant to the kind of philosophy (often ethics) they came to university to do. They often say they would drop the course if they possibly could (for undergraduate joint or single honours philosophy programmes in the UK these modules are typically required modules). Let’s generalise and call these Type B Stude...
Read more

Teaching New Years Resolutions

Its the hush before the storm as term has yet to start at either Leeds or Cambridge. As its the new year, Ive been thinking about my teaching resolutions this year. How can I make my teaching more effective? More friendly to disadvantaged groups? How can I set a good example for women students? Heres somethings I want to focus on this term: 1. Students use of email.  Last term I found I was drowning in emails from students, often expecting very quick responses. I initially responded within a few hours, often during weekends and late at night. I think this created a culture of student dependence on email, where they would email me without first looking for answers themselves. And it created bad expectations about what my job entails, and what the students could expect from me *and my colleagues*. I might be able to choose to spend a few hours of personal time at the weekend, but Im not comfortable making that choice for my colleagues. This term I am going to take the depar...
Read more