With the new school year approaching (and, for some, already here), I thought it might be useful to hear people’s techniques for learning student names, especially in middle and high school where we have so many to learn so quickly.

My room is set-up so it’s wide — I have four desks in each row, and have eight rows across. My technique is to tell all students on the first day of school, which is always a Tuesday, to make a name tag to leave on their desk (putting it in their class folder at the end of each period) until Friday, and that by Friday I’ll have memorized their names. I create a seating chart for each class, and focus on memorizing one row across in each class every night. That way, by the end of Friday, I usually have it down. Of course, my seating chart can serve as a “cheat sheet” the following week if needed.

What’s your technique?