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’m insignificant
Mr. S doesn’t notice me
I’m not important
Mr. S doesn’t like me
I’m invisible
Mr. S knows other student’s 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’t want to be saying, “Hey…you in the brown shirt, what’s the answer to #10?”

Listen to these incredible student voices promote the power of this technique!