Names

[Aziz]

What do your students call you and what do you call your students (and what grade are they in)? Do you have a preference for first names or last names and why? Do you think it makes a big difference for class atmosphere or not really? If there were no pressure from colleagues, would you change the way your students address you? (Mary/John instead of Mr./Ms. Johnson or Ms./Mr. Johnson instead of Mary/John?) If you teach in a foreign language that has both formal and familiar direct pronouns, which do your students use with you and which do you use with your students?

I'd be interested to see everyone thinks.

-Aziz

[busbus]

What do your students call you and what do you call your students (and what grade are they in)? Do you have a preference for first names or last names and why? Do you think it makes a big difference for class atmosphere or not really? If there were no pressure from colleagues, would you change the way your students address you? (Mary/John instead of Mr./Ms. Johnson or Ms./Mr. Johnson instead of Mary/John?) If you teach in a foreign language that has both formal and familiar direct pronouns, which do your students use with you and which do you use with your students?

I'd be interested to see everyone thinks.

-Aziz

Although I like to be close to my students, I prefer them to call me by my last name ... Ms. ____________ .

I do know that at one of the area's private schools, the students use the first name of the teachers using the titles, Aunt or Uncle. It's a progressive school and referring to their teachers this way, fits the atmosphere of the school.

[Aziz]

What do you call your students?

[MsCoffeeLover]

My kids have to call me Miss Smith (not my real name). If they ask what my first name is, I tell them it is "Miss" even though they know my first name. I don't know if it is a southern thing, but here the kids must also say, "Yes, ma'am" or "Yes, sir" or "No ma'am" or "No sir" That is just the way it is. In fact, if the kids say just "yes" or "no," we say, "Yes, what?" and they finish it with ma'am or sir.

What else would you call your students except by their first name?

[busbus]

QUOTE=Aziz;13740]What do you call your students?[/QUOTE]

I call students by their first names. Sometimes students will ask me to use their nicknames. If they are "safe" names, :), I'll use them. When I always refer to them by their nicknames, they know that I mean business when I call them by their christian name.

When my nephews were in elementary school, they went to my school. They called me by my nickname. Hearing my nephews refer to me by my nickname, some of my students tried to do the same. I didn't get "bent out of shape," but had to explain to them that I had not given them permission to call me any name other than Ms. __________ . No big thing, they used Ms. ____________ . [

[Aziz]

I've studied in several countries and taught in several languages, so I've heard everything from reciprocal formal address to reciprocal familiar address. I'm more inclined to use familiar address. If students were required to address me formally, I would reciprocate. At my current school, we have a first-name policy for all. It is the most appropriate for our laid back atmosphere.

-Aziz

[MsCoffeeLover]

Well, I do have a few kids with the same names in some of my classes. We have two Josephs. One of them is called "Jo Jo" by his friends. Typically, I wouldn't use a nickname, but they both participate quite a bit, and "Jo Jo" really fits him.

We have two Donnys (not real name) also. When I call on them, I use their first and last names. Both of them participate quite a bit. One of them is a twin, and I have the twin in two or three classes. His name starts with a "D" as well.

A few kids called me "mommy" by accident. They turned so red, and it was difficult not to laugh.

Now, the names we would really like to call students are altogether different and can't be stated out loud.:D

[sweetsass]

http://www.theteacherscorner.net/forums/showthread.php?t=4851

[Chef Dave]

I expect students to either address me using the term "Chef" or the more formal, "Mr. ----." Part of the reason for this is because the school I work in is traditional, conservative, and formal. Most teachers addressing each other in the privacy of the faculty lounge will address each as "Mr. ---" or "Ms. ----."

A secondary reason is that I am ethnic Chinese. In my culture, the younger generation always addresses the older generation as "Mr. ---" or Mrs. ---" or "Miss ---." Use of familiar names by younger people speaking to their elders is frowned upon unless the people in question are related. For example, my nieces and nephews refer to me as "Uncle Dave." They may not address me as Dave or David. This is a privilege reserved for age level peers or elders.

Despite the fact that my family is strongly Americanized and culturally assimilated, I have always been a bit shocked at the lack of formality exhibited by other Americans. The children of family acquaintances and friends who are not of Asian descent, think nothing of calling me by my first name.

Non-Asian friends who understand my culture, have actually gotten some of their (much younger) kids to address me as "Uncle Dave" even though we are not related. The honorific "Uncle" is used to denote and underscore the friendship that exists between us. By the same token, I have an "Uncle Howard," an "Aunt Mully," and an "Uncle Pete" who are old family friends of my parents. Given the relationship between our respective families, I would never address them by their family names as that would be too formal ... but propriety requires that I respect the difference between our ages, hence the "adoption" of these people as members of the family via honorifics like "Aunt" and "Uncle."

[Aziz]

Chef Dave,

I thought you might find this interesting.

The Chinese have six words for "uncle," including one just for non-related older men. The Mandarin Chinese 叔叔 (shushu) is what your friends' children would probably call you. If you want to be more specific, you can use the terms for "uncle" that mean "father's older brother" (for a man slightly older than your father) or "father's younger brother" (for a man slightly younger than your father.) The Chinese word for "Mister" is 先生 (xiansheng) which literally means "born before." It is used as "teacher" in Japanese, pronounced sensei. The term 老師 (laoshi) is reserved for teachers in Chinese, which literally means "old master."

-Aziz

[Parker]

I am still completing my degree in education and as such, I do not yet have a classroom of my own but I am an adult female in my 40's living in the south. This is one of the areas that I have no middle ground....The students will address me as Ms. Last Name and I expect I will address them by their first name. I'm with MsCoffeeLover when she spoke of the "Yes Ma'm and No Ma'm" reference. In the south, it is considered manners and not something many adults will excuse. When I say I will refer to the students by their first names, I do not mean to say I would be so formal as to use Gregory instead of Greg or not call a student by their middle name instead of first name (if that is the name they choose to use) just not use nicknames such as "slippery".

I will say thank you for the education. It had not occurred to me when doing my research on a potential school to teach at to pay attention to formal versus informal atmosphere. That is something I will definitely keep on my 'question to be answered' list.

[Chef Dave]

The Chinese have six words for uncle ..."



Thank you for sharing that. Unfortunately I don't know anyone who would use Mandarin terms when addressing me.

My nieces and nephews are all 2nd generation ABCs (American born Chinese) ... so they're even more Americanized than I am.

Secondly, my family is ethnic Cantonese. Mandarin wasn't adopted as the national language of China until after the revolution of 1949, several years after my grandfather left the country. Nobody in my family speaks Mandarin.

Prior to the Communist revolution, Mandarin was the language of the northern provinces. It was also the language of the government and of the educated.

[Aziz]

Chef Dave,

I didn't mean to make any assumptions. I'm only familiar with Mandarin pronunciation.

It's fascinating how much language reflects culture. When I studied in Russia, I was totally shocked to hear my teachers address me formally. When I asked my Russian friends about it, they were equally shocked to hear that in the U.S. it's common for teachers to call their students by first name. In Spain and Italy, when I addressed my teachers formally, they immediately asked me to use their first names and the familiar pronoun.

The students will address me as Ms. Last Name and I expect I will address them by their first name.

I think that because of my international experience, what may seem straightforward to most teachers isn't obvious to me. I hope I didn't offend anyone.

-Aziz

[Bananas]

I am Mrs. Bananas or Mrs. B. Or should I say that I am Miss Bananas. Our resource kiddos have a penchant for using Mrs. with the single teachers, and Miss with the married teachers. Most of the time I just go on with my interactions with the students, but on occasion I will raise my eyebrows and ask when I got divorced!:)

[Camelle2173]

I'm Ms. Smith... or Mrs. Smith... I'm married, but kids say MS. about as much as Mrs.

the students are called by their first names, or nick names, if they've requested (ie: Jonathan, being called Jon)

[War_Eagle]

What do your students call you and what do you call your students (and what grade are they in)? Do you have a preference for first names or last names and why? Do you think it makes a big difference for class atmosphere or not really? If there were no pressure from colleagues, would you change the way your students address you? (Mary/John instead of Mr./Ms. Johnson or Ms./Mr. Johnson instead of Mary/John?) If you teach in a foreign language that has both formal and familiar direct pronouns, which do your students use with you and which do you use with your students?

I'd be interested to see everyone thinks.

-Aziz

I'm from the old school so I don't believe teachers or adults should ever be called by their first names by children and students.

I always addressed my students as Mr. _____ or Miss_____ and instructed them to call me Mr. McK______.

I find that addressing students as Mr._____ or Miss_____ communicates to them that something just a little bit more is expected of them.

When I coached, it was always Coach McK______, although I did have a couple of guys who addressed me (very respectfully) as GnySgt, as in "Yes, GnySgt", "No, GnySgt", etc.

And, just for the record, I agree with those who said that they expect their students to say "Sir" and "Ma'am".

[MissTeach]

This week one of my students asked me while I always say "Thank you" when they do something I asked them to do. I said I appreciate them doing what they are asked. Then we had a short class discussion on etiquette. I love those moments!

[mercygate]

I teach 6th grade.

I am Mrs. Mercygate. This is not negotiable. I am not "teacher" nor am I addressed without an address -- i.e., just blurting out a question or statement. There is always an interchange:

Mrs. Mercygate?
Yes, Mr. Smith.
Then the student speaks.

My children are Mr. Smith, Miss Jones, Mr. Brown . . .

It kind of shocks them because they are used to being known as Billy, Nicole, and Jimbo. They like it.

[DarrenB]

I like calling students "sir" or "ma'am", or even Mr. or Ms. soandso. They call me Mr. Barkett or Mr. B. When a student says, "Hey" to me, I always reply, "My name isn't Hey."

The more respect you show your students, the more that respect is returned.

Darren

[Ms.Champion]

My students either call me Ms. Champion, Ms. Champ or Ms. C. I allow all three. When they ask me a question, I always say, "yes, sir or ma'am." I usually call my 6th graders by their first name, since I don't know all of their last names except for my special kids. lol They are usually address w/ a Mr. Last Name and they know it is not good! lol

[Aziz]

I couldn't agree more with you, DarrenB, in that the more respect you show the more you receive.

Form of address is one of many ways to show respect and I admire that War_Eagle, mercygate, DarrenB, and Ms.Champion extend the courtesy title both ways--offering the respect they expect from their students.

Since my school has a first-name-basis policy, my students and I use other ways to show our mutual respect for each other.

-Aziz