The greats have debated the importance of a name for centuries. Shakespeare in Romeo and Juliet asked about if it really matters: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.” Dale Carnegie countered: “A person’s name is, to him or her, the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” How does this enter the classroom you might ask. I tend to agree with Carnegie about the importance of using a student’s name. I think it makes a connection and tells the students that they are valued and as a teacher I am honoring their family, parents, and often culture.
Now that we have dealt with the philosophical we can talk about the practical. Over the years I have had students with the same name and so we try to find something distinguishing that I can use. Often it is as simple as adding a last initial. One year at Montiview over 25 years ago I had two students named Jose. So far all I have to do is use a last name and then it occurs to me that we have an added twist. we have two Jose Riveras in my class. Luckily I was able to move to the middle initial. So now I had Jose G. and Jose R in the class and we moved along blissfully unaware that there was about to be another wrinkle. After a month we got a new student which was a common place occurrence at Montview. Don’t get ahead of me, because you know where this is going. You are only partially correct! Our third Jose Rivera transferred in and now we had two Jose G. students in the room. I was looking for a physical attribute that I could use that would not offend. I knew if I called one “tall Jose” I was implying that the others were short and might be offended. Luckily I went with: Jose Brown hair, Jose Black hair, and Jose No hair. Nobody was offended and we survived.
You know that it can’t be the end of the story. We moved through the first part of the year and I was blissfully oblivious as a young teacher. Then came the night of parent/teacher conferences that revealed the entire story behind the proliferation of Jose Riveras. All three mothers came in at the same time so I knew that I was going to have to keep the kids sorted out as I went through the group. I did well for the first two meetings and I prepared for the third fully confident that I was in control. The important thing to remember is that all three kids were great students and a dream to teach so I didn’t have to have any difficult conversations. I love simplicity as much as the next person but what happened next may have gone too far. I was meeting with the third mother and as she prepared to leave I made a comment about having three students with the same name. What she said next made my whole night and also showed the importance of family. She said that the boys were all cousins and that they had all been named for their grandfather. I asked why they had all chosen the exact same name and if it caused any problems. She said that they all lived in different towns when the kids were born and never imagined that they would end up in the same city much less the same class. This caused me to lean towards Shakespeare on this critical issue of names. “What’s in a name? That which we call Jose Rivera by any other name will learn just as well!”
- I was reminded of this story as I was attending a Colorado Rockies vs Arizona Diamondbacks game. During the first two times at bat the Diamondbacks designated hitter hit a home run. Obviously he was not one of my three students but it does tell me that every time I write a story or am out in the world I am reminded of more fun things from the last thirty years.