Do you feel annoyed when someone can't seem to remember your name and must ask you?
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I only see the parents once a year and really hope they don't think I know all of their names. Good lord. They do tend to introduce themselves with "I'm Bobby's mom" (THANK YOU)
Although... sometimes it's obvious that it's Bobby's mom.
I don't know why people worry their kid won't grow up to be just like them.
@futurebird tbf they named us and should know
@futurebird I’m more surprised when someone remembers it.
@futurebird I will probably feel annoyed if I ever forget my own name. 😉
I've always *thought* I had a problem remembering names, but really everyone seems to say this and I think my natural retention is about average. And my profession means I need to remember an unnatural number of names.
After much emotional agony I just started making flash cards. The only thing that kept me from doing this for so long was the feeling that it was "business bro" behavior. But, it was the best decision ever. Mostly because it makes me less flustered and stressed.
@futurebird Stop naming each ant individually 😉
...I'll get my coat
This is one thing I love about some support groups. It's customary to say your name not only at the introduction part of the meeting but also at the start of each time you share. This is super, super helpful.
I'd like to know where the expectation comes from that you're supposed to remember everyone's names after only one introduction. I don't know anybody who can do that.
I think I might ask students to do this during our first two classes as they also need to get to know each other.
Not a bad idea.
I dunno how widespread it is, but the past two places I worked, in phone or zoom meetings it was also customary there to say your name when you start to speak. I was especially grateful for this in phone meetings, because it's hard for me to recognize voices of even people I know.
@futurebird my biggest problem with names is actually learning someone's name, most especially the names of people I instantly get along with. There are more than a few people who I "catch up with" whenever I see them(update them on raccoons, show them cat pictures, stuff like that) whose name I might not know for years.
Cat though, I never have a problem with. No cat that comes near me leaves without a name or a nickname within an hour of meeting them.
When I'm coaching/mentoring students I make a big effort to learn their names because it feels like a safety issue. It's quite hard when there are more than a dozen of them and I only see them a couple hours a week.
The other big challenge for me is professional contacts I see once or twice annually at conferences.
What do you have on the other side of the flashcards? I feel hesitant to ask people for their photo.
I can get photos from the yearbook.
If I didn't have that I'd insist on taking group photo on the first day of class I think. I need to know all of their names somehow.
@futurebird An administrator where I worked had the information technology people merge photos from student ID cards with class rosters to create printable rosters with face photographs of the students enrolled. He was so pleased with the results that he did presentations at conferences where he used a sound clip from the theme song ‘Where Everybody Knows Your Name’ from the popular TV series Cheers.
@futurebird how do you use flashcards? Write names and reminder info when you go home after meeting? Or?
I use digital flash cards and the school's yearbooks for photos. Then I can just flip through each class on the train a few times and after about 4 or 5 sessions I have them all.
When I started using flashcards for names I felt bad about it (since it seemed like someone who really cared about the people around them would just naturally remember names)
But, when I started doing it I realized it was a chance to think about each student a little without the classroom distractions, so, it stoped seeming cynical to me.
One fall I had over 200 new names to learn. That's what drove me to the cards. No normal person could learn that many names "naturally"
Every year I have one student with a name that's pronounced in a different way than I expect. I've had this happen with the name "Ann" (the student went by "on" not "ahn")
I still haven't perfected the solution to that one and feel terrible when I get the stress or vowels wrong for the second or third time.
The more subtile a name the faster the student tends to say it... probably because they are tired of correcting their teachers, but that makes it harder.
@futurebird I know it’s a telemarketer immediately when they ask for Ap-ril and not A-pril.
Do you get a handover from other teachers?@futurebird
With my own name?
I never liked it when adults would remember my name as a child/teen... it often meant they were paying too much attention to me and that meant I could get away with less.
My students have a funny sing-song way of saying my name that I find very funny and endearing now "Missus --- ---- ---!"
Mostly because they are asking for help and they think the problems are too difficult. (They are not 'too difficult' apply your mind like a laser, it will fall apart as soon as you do.)
@futurebird Just a quick thought: I think it's super polite to actually use people's names in conversation. E.g., "good morning, Bob" instead of just "good morning".
Oh, we want a tale of your childhood shenanigans !
(maybe I should say "tales" as there should be a lot of them ?)
@futurebird I work with Deaf people, so on top of the regular English names, I need to recall sign names. Despite I’m a really visual person, I have to work harder to connect the sign name than the English one. In some ways, I’ll *always* be a hearing-brained person, despite my time in this career and community.
@futurebird Given how terrible I am at remembering names I can’t get annoyed at others forgetting my name!
I typically have the opposite problem. People who obviously think they know me start chatting and I have no idea who they are!
@futurebird no, because the shoe is very often on the other foot.
@futurebird It wouldn't be fair: I can never remember anyone else's name. 😆
@futurebird if it’s a parent