Learning and using correct names has been a recommendation for teachers for years, and some of us are better at it than others. Since one of the sweetest sounds in English—or any other language—is the sound of one’s own name pronounced correctly, we all should try to learn students’ names and use them accurately. That challenge means taking the time to learn our students’ names so that we call him Bastian and not Sebastian, or her Janese and not Janice, or him Brett and not Brent. The distinction may seem small, but students appreciate your taking the care to learn their names and use them correctly.

When I have several students with similar names, I often give them numbers such as Annie One, Annie Two, Lauren One and Lauren Two, or Jeremy One, Jeremy Two and Jeremy Three. It is a way of showing I know their names and want to use them without destroying the names; it also gives them an individual identity. When I had three Jeremys in one course, I adopted the number behind the name to acknowledge them as separate persons; it worked so well all semester that other students and some faculty members started to refer to them as Jeremy One, Jeremy Two and Jeremy Three, and they grew proud of their special names.

Publically recognizing students means acknowledging aspects of their situations in class discussions. Many of us spend a lot of time getting to know our students and learn individual facts about them. However, how many of you have thought of using those facts in class discussion in such a way that shows the range of differences among persons in the course? Mentioning individual situations in explaining new ideas, you can use illustrations that connect to students’ experiences; I recently used the distinction between analyzing the costs of aspects of an upcoming wedding and deciding what to do using criteria beyond cost to help students distinguish between analyzing and evaluating. I have also compared students’ experience of the reward programs at Duane Reade or Walgreens versus the treatment they get at a local coffee house to help them understand types of formal and informal loyalty programs. All of these examples draw on what I know about the students as individuals and their level of comfort in hearing about themselves in public settings.

When dividing students into groups, using criteria that distinguish among them—such as distance of home from the classroom, languages spoken, interests in the industry or years of work experience in the field—is another way of recognizing and honoring differences. Making those issues public and dividing into groups using these elements is a way of showing that these dimensions of their lives are valid and important.

Providing Privacy
One of the important aspects of honoring differences requires recognizing when persons do not want special attention. In fact, some persons do not want any focus on them as individuals—they are either shy or reluctant to draw attention to themselves or belong to religious groups that discourage individual recognition. Realizing what they want and honoring it becomes an important dimension of honoring them as individuals. Therefore, we need to realize what they want or do not want and honor it as part of our teaching.

Summary
Thank you for reading this column about honoring and celebrating differences among students; next month, we will shift the focus and talk about starting a semester—what we can do to make it special and relevant to our students. If you have suggestions for other topics or teaching practices you want to share, send them to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., and I will include them in future “Mayo’s Clinics.”

Dr. Fred Mayo, CHE, CHT, was most recently a clinical professor at New York University. He continues to teach around the globe, and is a frequent presenter at CAFÉ events nationwide. Mayo will keynote the American Personal & Private Chef Association’s 2013 Personal Chef Summit in Baltimore in October.