Relationship Building in Week 1

By. Craig Perrier

One of the rarely spoken challenges teachers face every year is getting to know the names of their new students each year.  This is an essential part of effective teaching and one that takes time and intentional effort. Think about it, what if the 100 plus people you worked most closely with rotated out each year and were replaced by a new batch of people you needed to know.  It is a professional feature unique to educators.

Over the years I have seen multiple attempts to take this challenge on. Some of the memorable ones include the use of name tags or tents.  These items usually get lost or destroyed in the shuffle of the school day.  Another approach is the use of assigned seats with a corresponding seating chart. 

This approach may help with name memorization but it  limits the instructional practices and environment that is offered by rows of desks. Bye, bye stations and fishbowl discussions.  The last one of note is the practice of roll call and daily attendance practices.  This method usually starts strong but it is time consuming and is often abandoned before the goal – knowing your students –  is reached.

The best solution I have seen is so simple and effective, teachers typically say “why didn’t I think of that.”  All you need is a set of index cards (remember those) and some markers.  I typically go to either  Michael’s or Target for these items, and more.  And from there the magic happens! During the first week, ask students to fill out an index card with information on it that will be useful for building relationships. A typical set of questions include:

1. Your Name and what you like to be called
2. Where you have lived or travelled?
3. What do you like about (your subject)?
4. What do you find challenging about (your subject)?
5. What can I do to make learning fun for you?

This set of five questions can be expanded as you see fit.  But what I do with these cards is important.  For one, I keep them handy and use them as a way to call on students and associate a name and information with a person.  But I also devote time to meet with them 1:1 and discuss questions 3-5.  It works wonderfully and provides a great start to the year!