Names

For anyone, it takes some getting used to hearing yourself called by a new name, even if it is your real name. I've been called "Mr. Eyerman" before, most often by phone solicitors who don't know that the only "Mr. Eyerman" I've heard of is my father, but it is has never been commonplace for me.

So when introducing myself to students, it has taken some time to get accustomed to saying, "Hi, I'm Mr. Eyerman," and not anything more informal. Even this week, four and a half months into school, I still used my first name when I introduced myself, only to soon thereafter back-track and say, "Ooh! So I'm not who I said I was. I'm Mr. Eyerman."

One piece of advice a former teacher of mine gave me right before this school year started was to learn my students' names as fast as possible. As that was something which I no one else had suggested to me, it stuck out in my head. I quickly found that the students' whose names I remembered the fastest were the ones who were either discipline issues or teacher's pets. The respectful, quiet ones who just came in and did their work - their names took a lot longer to learn. There was nothing in their personalities (not in the part they showed me) that distinguished one from another. Fortunately, I had them down by the time parent-teacher conferences rolled around.

In addition to my 110 or so students' names, I had to learn faculty members' full names as well. When students asked, "Can you tell me where Mr. Clark's room is?" it was frustrating (and a little embarrassing) to have to shrug and reply, "You got me, kid." And then even more so when the realization comes (of course, well after the kid walked away) that "Mr. Clark" is really the guy I know as Smiley, and his room is 5 feet away.

There's also the joy of the "What the hell do I call this person?" internal debate when referring to fellow teachers. Do I use the first name or the last? Quick, are there kids around? Is it bad to call a fellow teacher by their first name when there are kids within earshot? Will it lower (for better and for worse) the level of "adulthood" we possess in the kids of the eyes? Does it matter in the least?

Of course, there is also the confusion on the kids' faces when I mistakenly say, "Go and ask Maria about it." (pause to let that sink in. Think, Wait, this is longer than the usual "sink in" time. Hmmm... something's amiss...) "Err... I mean, 'Go ask Mrs. Greeks about it.'"

There are a lot of kids who like to drop the "Mr." when they call me. Just about every time someone does, there's the thought battle of: Do I need to correct the kid and tell him to call me Mr.? Was he being disrespectful by just calling me "Eyerman?" Again, does this matter in the least?

Although I've grown accustomed to the moniker, I still occasionally find it very odd to be called by my teacher name. As I grow more comfortable in this role, the more I relax (naturally) and the more sincere I am with the students. And when those heart-to-heart moments happen, it is odd to be called "Mr. Eyerman," because at those times, I don't feel like a teacher instructing a student, more like one person helping another.