Carol- Reading your note brings a note of recognition to me. I too have great difficulty remembering names (well, truth be told I have a slight neurological deficit and have difficulty with proper nouns in general). I didn't know that was the problem till well into my teaching career. I actually found out when one of our students was doing a study and needed someone to participate in her research as a pilot subject. (I found out a few other things as well but that's a long story). :) The first thing I'd suggest is finding a way to get a neurological test battery done. I know that can be extremely difficult to arrange into a busy schedule. But it can lead to great improvement in your acceptance of this or other small difficulties you might encounter.
In my case I can trace the problem back to a specific bicycle accident. Of course, neurologically after a short crisis I was told I was fine- but they mean medically. Being lucky enough to have a few extra gray cell connections (thank goodness for those genes!) I was compensating in a variety of ways for some small permanent damage. It wasn't concentrated enough in a single spot to show medically (i.e., very little difference showed up on x-rays at the time- big surprize). But I did notice that I couldn't run as fast as I could as a youngster, sometimes became accident prone in quite odd ways and just had a just plain embarrassing inability to remember names. I thought I was "just geting old". The important thing (to keept this from getting too long) is that the result you mention can come from several distinct problems. The way you deal with it is partly dependent on what the deficit is. The reason you need the professional advice is that you may well be trying mnemnoic devices that could actually exacerbate the problem or be ineffective and just a waste of time. In my case, none of these methods works. My brain will compensate. But I have a tendency to have a slight "panic" when I can't remember a student or colleagues name. This leads to trying harder and harder to get it to come out. That leads to less and less chance the work-arounds my brain is capable of are going to work. The only technique that works for me (and I empathize with your "tried everything statement!) is to relax and think about something else for a moment and the name just comes. It isn't easy, mind you, as I'm a bit of a perfectionist in my expectations of my teaching. I still feel bad when it happens but I know now that only gets in the way. In the long run, I'm remembering my student's names far more often though I'm by no means perfect. And both our college and our department, in particular, have had fairly large increases in students recently. (In 1994 we had 30+ majors, in 1999 we had 45, but by last year we are at nearly 100! My classes have gone from averaging 12 to averaging 23+ with the occasional one of 40+.) BTW- one resource you have is being honest with your students that you have that problem. In my case, this difficulty has gone from being an embarrasing lack of concern (their perceptions according to the feedback) to the point now that it serves as an endearing quality (maybe I just don't have that many others!). Seriously, I emphathize with your problem- I think you've taken the first step in recognizing that it isn't lack of effort- but find out what's really going on. It may be that you just need to accept this as a personal quirk and spend that time with your students regardless of what they want to be called. :) Tim -----Original Message----- From: DeVolder Carol L [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wed 9/7/2005 9:57 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences Subject: remembering students' names Dear Tipsters, I know that some of you are very good at learning students' names in a very short time frame. I could sure use some advice in that regard. My memory for names is embarassingly poor. I'm lucky if I remember students' names by the end of the semester, and that's only if it's a very small class or if a particular student does something outrageous or distinctive. I have tried everything I can think of--I take attendance every day, often I pass a camera around in class and get "mug shots," and I try linking a feature with a name (e.g., Carly has curly hair). I really try, I honestly do, and I know it's important to the students (and so it's important to me). I tell them this true story so that they won't be hurt if I forget their names: About 15 years ago as I was drifting off to sleep, my husband, whose name is Larry, said, "Good night Carol." In my twilight zone between sleep and wakefulness, I mumbled, "Good night Lester." I don't even know a Lester, but I knew my husband's name started with an L. Lucky for me, my husband understood because he's known me a very long time (and we've now been married for 32 years). At the time, I was awakened by my own embarassment and I've not made that mistake again (yet), but I'd really like to get better at students' names. Can you all tell me what you do and what seems to work best for you? I've been teaching for about 16 years or so, and so far my own efforts haven't been very successful. Am I just doomed to having a poor memory or is there something that I can do? Thanks, Carol Carol DeVolder, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology Chair, Department of Psychology St. Ambrose University Davenport, Iowa 52803 phone: 563-333-6482 e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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