Here is a link to a website that includes a lot of good articles and tips for new teachers.
http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/teachtip.htm#firstday
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Name Games
Here are some ideas for games to help you remember your student's names.
1. Popsicle sticks- Every student's name is written on a popsicle stick. The students draw names at random and have to find the person whose name is on the stick. The student then learns about that student, including their name and favorite song. After the students have five minutes to get to know the other student, they will then, in order of seating, stand up and say their name, introduce the person they drew and tell a fact about that person (favorite song.) This will mean that each person would be introduced twice, once by themselves and once by the person who drew their name.
2. Popsicle sticks Quiz- (This takes place after initial introductions- end of first week ) The teacher holds a cup with all the student's names on popsicle sticks, each student randomly chooses a popsicle stick and must find and identify the chosen student to the class.
3. The Name Game (thanks to Bonnie Kendall)- Start by having seven to ten students introduce themselves and then ask an individual in the group to name other individual: "Luke, which one of these people is Rick?" "Rick, point to Susan." "Susan, what is the name of the person sitting next to Attila?" If Susan doesn't know the name of the person next to Attila, I'll say, "Ask Attila" or "Ask Luke!" In doing it this way, I can keep everyone on his or her tiptoes, because anyone might be made responsible for an answer at any time -- and everyone knows that someone nearby can be counted on for help. No one is made to feel stupid, because the entire group helps out. At the beginning (and sometimes at the end) of each class in the designated period, we play The Name Game: "Susan, is Attila here today?" "Bob, what is the name of that woman coming in the door?" "Kathy, point to two people named Mike."
4. Magic Trick- The teacher has everyone write his or her name and favorite song on a 3x5 card. Collect the cards row by row, lay them out in order on your desk, took just a couple of minutes to "appear" to be connecting the information on the cards to the students' faces or something, then neatly gathered the cards together by row, each row into a small pile. He then placed the piles upside down one on top of another so that the last row was on the bottom of the stack and the first row was on the top. One exception: I don't actually remember him having done this, but I'd guess he looked especially hard at the card of the first person in the first row and made sure that that card ended up out of place on the bottom of the stack. He then proceeded to recall the names supposedly from memory. In doing so he essentially introduced the students one by one. From having looked at the first person's card before he placed it at the bottom of the stack, he was able to correctly introduce the first person. He then turned over the top card of the stack, looked at it, and confirmed that he'd been correct. Remember that he'd previously placed the card of the first person on the bottom of the stack, so he was really looking at the card of the second person. When he went on to the second person, of course he knew the person's name because he'd just looked at that person's card (in pretending to be confirming the first person's name). He went through the entire class like this, always one card ahead of the one he was pretending to be reading to confirm a name. Occasionally he'd pretend to have a little difficulty, but in the end he always came up with the correct name. Just as amazing (so I thought at the time) was his ability to "recall" where a person was from, what a person's major was, etc.
1. Popsicle sticks- Every student's name is written on a popsicle stick. The students draw names at random and have to find the person whose name is on the stick. The student then learns about that student, including their name and favorite song. After the students have five minutes to get to know the other student, they will then, in order of seating, stand up and say their name, introduce the person they drew and tell a fact about that person (favorite song.) This will mean that each person would be introduced twice, once by themselves and once by the person who drew their name.
2. Popsicle sticks Quiz- (This takes place after initial introductions- end of first week ) The teacher holds a cup with all the student's names on popsicle sticks, each student randomly chooses a popsicle stick and must find and identify the chosen student to the class.
3. The Name Game (thanks to Bonnie Kendall)- Start by having seven to ten students introduce themselves and then ask an individual in the group to name other individual: "Luke, which one of these people is Rick?" "Rick, point to Susan." "Susan, what is the name of the person sitting next to Attila?" If Susan doesn't know the name of the person next to Attila, I'll say, "Ask Attila" or "Ask Luke!" In doing it this way, I can keep everyone on his or her tiptoes, because anyone might be made responsible for an answer at any time -- and everyone knows that someone nearby can be counted on for help. No one is made to feel stupid, because the entire group helps out. At the beginning (and sometimes at the end) of each class in the designated period, we play The Name Game: "Susan, is Attila here today?" "Bob, what is the name of that woman coming in the door?" "Kathy, point to two people named Mike."
4. Magic Trick- The teacher has everyone write his or her name and favorite song on a 3x5 card. Collect the cards row by row, lay them out in order on your desk, took just a couple of minutes to "appear" to be connecting the information on the cards to the students' faces or something, then neatly gathered the cards together by row, each row into a small pile. He then placed the piles upside down one on top of another so that the last row was on the bottom of the stack and the first row was on the top. One exception: I don't actually remember him having done this, but I'd guess he looked especially hard at the card of the first person in the first row and made sure that that card ended up out of place on the bottom of the stack. He then proceeded to recall the names supposedly from memory. In doing so he essentially introduced the students one by one. From having looked at the first person's card before he placed it at the bottom of the stack, he was able to correctly introduce the first person. He then turned over the top card of the stack, looked at it, and confirmed that he'd been correct. Remember that he'd previously placed the card of the first person on the bottom of the stack, so he was really looking at the card of the second person. When he went on to the second person, of course he knew the person's name because he'd just looked at that person's card (in pretending to be confirming the first person's name). He went through the entire class like this, always one card ahead of the one he was pretending to be reading to confirm a name. Occasionally he'd pretend to have a little difficulty, but in the end he always came up with the correct name. Just as amazing (so I thought at the time) was his ability to "recall" where a person was from, what a person's major was, etc.
Welcome to Singin' in the Park
Welcome to Singin' in the Park, the blog of Forest Park Middle School's choir and piano teacher Christina Nehrling.
Here, you'll find information on class activities, music research, and other fun musical stuff.
Here, you'll find information on class activities, music research, and other fun musical stuff.
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