25-The Celebrity Couple Nickname Game
Staring...Trevor Ambrose, Jack Belcher, Liz Bender, Mikayla Colvin, Alejandrina Hernandez, Christopher Ward
The semester just started and you have 150 names to remember...and you must do it fast! Students feel marginalized when you can't remember their names:
I\u2019m insignificant
Mr. S doesn\u2019t notice me
I\u2019m not important
Mr. S doesn\u2019t like me
I\u2019m invisible
Mr. S knows other student\u2019s names. He must like them better
A number of years ago, for some odd reason, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie came up in class. I referred to them reflexively as Brangelina. I was struck by how every kid knew exactly whom I was referring to. Hmmmm! Perhaps, I thought, I could do the same thing with a student's first and last names. This was the birth of the Celebrity Couple Nickname Game. It has:
Been a fun bonding tool
Allowed me to remember student names
Created powerful allegiance to my class
Ten days into class, you don\u2019t want to be saying, \u201cHey\u2026you in the brown shirt, what\u2019s the answer to #10?\u201d
Listen to these incredible student voices promote the power of this technique!