“What’s up, I’m Coach Alex. What’s your name?”
This is a sentence I’ve said hundreds of times during this past school year. From a bird's eye view, this is just a normal greeting between two strangers. But in the line of work we do, this interaction could be the difference in making a real change in a student’s life. It’s not lost on me the number of schools and students we serve monthly, but making a concentrated effort to remember each student's name is equally as important as the other services that we aim to provide in the Give Back Academy (GBA). The disappointment I have witnessed on a student’s face when they were asked “What’s your name again?” is something I will never forget. Their reaction told me that they felt forgotten; that they weren’t memorable enough the first time around. This is something that may mean more to some students than others, but I don’t want to work under the assumption that it is a meaningless tidbit. That is why I have made a shift in how I operate in my role as a support teacher/coach in our GBA meetings.
While the lead teacher welcomes everyone in and prepares to start the class, I try to interact one-on-one with each student while collecting passes and recording on our attendance sheet their preferred names and pronouns. Doing this task once a month at each school I serve helps me remember a few names, but I don’t stop there. While the lead teacher is starting the lesson and during independent work time, I take the opportunity to move around the classroom encouraging the students to engage in the activities, connecting with students who seem disengaged or distracted and actively attempting to relate to them through their interests. I have found that these are all good ways to make my interactions memorable. And if the interaction is memorable, it’s easier to remember their names after not seeing them for a month. “Hey Josh, how did your basketball tryouts go? S’up Cameron, is your mom doing better?” And that’s when I’ve seen it click. I remembered them. And I remembered something they specifically talked to me about at the last club meeting. It may seem like a small thing, but it’s a big step in showing a student that they are valued. Once that is established, and once a student knows they matter, I can start the process of becoming a trusted support to help them navigate through the obstacles that life will inevitably throw their way.
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