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Thought this was interesting for those still deciding.[URL="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1211719/Why-teachers-single-pupils-called-Callum-Chelsea-Connor-Jack-troublemakers.html"]Why teachers single out pupils called Callum, Chelsea, Connor and Jack as troublemakers | Mail Online[/URL]
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as a teacher, i totally understand. lol. my "bad" name is matthew. it was my absolute most favorite boys name in the whole world before i was a teacher. every freaking year i either had a matthew or there was one next door. either way, there was at least ONE VERY BAD matthew in my life every year i taught. like - worst student in my class- bad. i have never met a well behaved smart matthew. it ruined a perfectly good name for me. however, there must be some really awesome matthew's out there i've never met for it to be on the "brightest boy" list. i'm laughing right now that i am on the "naughtiest girl" list. lol.
Interesting article. As a teacher I do try to not make assumptions about a student based on the name they were given. Sometimes it is hard. Especially when you remember the last student you had named "x" was a holy terror.
I found it very difficult to name my children after I had been teaching several years. Every name my husband liked had a "bad- for lack of a better word" student attached to it. We finally did come up with names. My son is 13 and I had never had a student with his name until last year. OH BOY- if I had met this kid before I had my son I never would have picked that name.
I hate pronouncing unusal names the 1st day of class. So I don't call roll. I have every student stand and introduce themselves to the class. This gives me a chance to hear the name pronounced as it should be without me messing it up and embarrassing the child in front of everyone. Also, this activity helps everyone in the class learn the names of their classmates.
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Interesting - although, those many of those names are also on the "most popular names" list -some though - are not. -
Only one of my kids made the list - and that was under the brightest - I definately agree (and actually so does his teacher) he is however, also one of the trouble makers. sigh. And we toyed with the idea of calling him Jack or Jake (his middle name starts with a K) but as son as he was able to talk if you called him Jimmy, Jim, Jack or Jake, he would correct you "No, I am James." At 7 1/2 he still does.
Names are important - and part of who we are. We have an easy to spell (I think) last name that people constantly misspell and after 20 years, I just automatically say it, then spell it s-l-o-w-l-y so part of our name decision was to give them traditional names with traditional spellings so they would only have to spell one name letter by letter :)
My oldest is named Brandon and I can say he definitely has never made any of his teachers upset...actually he is the opposite. He's passive, sweet, extremely well-behaved and is so mild that his teachers actually applaud him when he got in trouble ONCE and I'm not joking, for tipping himself over on his chair in 2nd grade...which ironically my youngest did the same thing in 2nd as well with the same teacher...LOL
My youngest Justin is pretty much living up to what we "thought" his name sounded like..."the boy next door"..he too is sweet, extremely well behaved and with dark red hair..one would think he would be spicier personality wise and he is...but still at home, he is always well-behaved and while in school he is the rule follower..almost too much..LOL...
It was interesting to see the list....though my two would be on the list of never gets in trouble and me thinking they should once in awhile...I mean I am grateful my kids are so easy and sweet..but geez..I mean their kids....
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First off the article was written in the UK, names that are common in one country are not as common in others. Actually even different parts of one country will have different common names. When I first saw the title I thought someone was seriously asking what name they could use that would ensure teachers would like a kid. It's so subjective. Most of us don't like whatever name our school bully had, or have bad connotations to the name that belonged to the kid you went to school with who was always in trouble or who never wiped his nose. For teachers it is all those names from childhood that have good or bad connotations (you love the name of your favorite character in your favorite book or movie, hate the name of the kid next door that annoyed you) plus all the kids who have been in their class who were extra challenging or extra delightful.
I made the "Naughty" and "Popular" lists. Cool. But I agree that names mean a lot. My mom is a teacher and it is really hard to find a name that a teacher likes!! She had never had a student by my son's name (Zander) so it made it easy. Now every Zander will probably have a place in my mom's heart!! :)
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