What's In a Name (08-20-07)

William Shakespeare once asked, “Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet?” The answer, of course, is that, yes it would. A flower’s beauty and fine scent are not a function of its name. However, what if you had 230 different flowers, all beautiful, all unique, and all demanding your attention. You’ve got to call them all something!

That, of course, is my main challenge as I begin another glorious school year. Awaiting me each day are roughly two-hundred-and-thirty little beauties, each different, each amazing, and each waiting for me to know their names.

“Micheal?” I ask, a bit sheepishly.

“No!” the young man exclaims.

“Adson? Steven? Gage?” I implore, more lost with each attempt.

“You don’t know my name?” the little guy huffs. “Its Anthony! I told you three times already!”

Now this exchange didn’t happen exactly like this, but I had similar conversations all day Friday. Thursday the students were patient. By Friday, some were a little miffed at my inability to remember something as simple and as commonplace as a name.

Yet, learning names is neither simple nor commonplace. First off, there are 230 names for me to remember, and that just covers the students. Then, there are several children who look remarkable alike, even though they may be in different families and different grades. For example, we have several students who have casts on their forearms. So when I see an arm cast, I always jump to the name of another cast wearer. Then there are the duplicate names. There are several Kinsey’s, Ethans, Nathans, a couple of Sheylynn’s (each spelled differently) and Garen and a Garrett, which I am always switching in my mind, strange enough considering that one boy is in HCGS while the other is in LMS. There was even one little boy I thought was a girl and one little girl who I called by a boy’s name, so not even gender is a guaranteed hint.

I try to find something to connect the name in my mind. One girl was wearing green, and she told me her name was Irish. So for the rest of the day I remembered her name perfectly. However, if she doesn’t wear green again, I will probably be sunk. There was also a few students with similar, yet somewhat distinguishable hair styles. Just when I thought I knew the name, another student with similarly unique hair would pop up and send me reeling.

Last year, I was able to learn all 130 names of the high school (though I never did figure out a way to consistently tell the difference between Justin and Travis Helberg…sorry boys!) How did I do it? What was my secret?

Time. Good, old, reliable time. Day in and day out, I tried and failed, and tried and failed a little less, and tried and succeeded a little more, until finally I could see a face and know a name. Repetition is the key, along with the relationship you form with each child.

That is what is most important. When you take the time to form a positive relationship with each individual student, when you take the time to really get to know that student and to find out as much about them as possible, then they are transformed from just another flower into a beautifully singular rose.

Which, while it may smell as sweet by any other name, would never be a rose unless we learned to call it by the correct name.