What Was Your Name Again?

How do teachers learn the names of their students? When I was teaching in the classroom, I always managed to get each student's name correct after two or three days. I am not sure how I did it; maybe it was the personal connection that was made with each child. I taught fifth grade and teamed with another teacher, so I usually had close to 50 names to learn. Now I work in a middle school where teachers see about 150 students a day. How can teachers quickly make connections with that many students? How do they possibly learn all the names?
What about other things we have to learn? Like states and capital? How does a person learn these things if they can't make, or don't care to make, a personal connection? What are the tricks to learning new vocabulary? Today's site can help when you are facing such a challenge.

Vocaber

Vocaber is an online vocabulary learning tool. It uses spaced repetitions to help you retain vocabulary you have already learned. The idea is that too much or too little repetition is ineffective. At this site, you can find or create vocabulary lists, practice lists, or share your list with others. I tried out the World Capitals list. The lesson was thorough and lengthy. I spent about 20 minutes and didn't complete it. Even though I have no personal connection to these places, I now know that Valleta is the capital of Malta, and Windhoek is the capital of Namibia.

Four Contests

It has been way too long since my last post. I have no excuse other than that I find it hard to do this part of my post, the writing a witty, insightful narrative, before sharing a cool resource or two. Therefore, I have made the executive decision to not feel guilt about not feeling witty or insightful. I am committing to sharing resources even if my brain is set to dull mode.
Kudos to my favorite bloggers who seem to always have something relevant, if not entertaining to say. Double points to those of you who make me think or laugh. I can only aspire to become a part of your class some day!

Today I am sharing two of four contests that I have learned about recently. Tomorrow, I will share the other two. (Aha! I have already found a way to post twice this week without having to turn my brain on overdrive!) One of the contests is for students, two are for teachers, and one is for anybody. The deadline is quickly approaching for a couple, so speed is of the essence, if you are interested.

Doodle 4 Google
This contest, which is promoted by Google, is for students in grades K-12. Students simply design a Google logo that matches the contest's theme "What I Wish for the World". A teacher must register their school in order for students to compete. Check out all the rules on the site. A few students from my school participated last year. None of them won, but it was fun for them and an easy assignment for the art teacher! Schools must be registered by March 17, so don't delay!

SAT Vocab Contest
The folks over at BrainyFlix have created a contest to teach vocabulary from the SAT test. This fun contest has entrants creating videos that teach SAT vocabulary words. This contest is open to anyone, but would be a great assignment for middle or high school students. The best part - the prize money goes to a middle or high school of the winner's choice! The contest is open for submissions until March 16, 2009....hurry!!!!!

Teaser for tomorrow: two more fabulous contests to enter, and the two contests that this blog author has won!