I have a very good memory.
I remember names, faces, locations, dates and other details very easily.
I’m excellent at directions (just ask Stephen). Seriously, I’m like a direction savant; I remember how to get almost anywhere after one trip, even in a new city or foreign country.
For the first time in my youth work career I seem to have met my match.
I have about 85 Girl Scouts that I’m working with now and trying to remember all of their names and the variations found therein is driving me crazy. They all want me to remember their names. Which is fair enough and I want to, I really do.
I usually repeat names aloud and that’s it. One time, maybe two and I’m good. But with these young ladies, many have the same name or only a slight variation in spelling or pronunciation. I’m finding myself resorting to “Girl Scout … in the (insert color of shirt, type of shoe or hairstyle here)” or “darlin'” or the ever popular “sweetie”.
The only names I seem to be able to remember are those that belong to girls with poor behavior.
Isn’t that always the way. It’s easy to correct and notice unacceptable youth behavior. But it’s the ones that are doing things right that deserve the recognition and praise, or at the very least to make it into my memory bank.
I think it’s time to bust out the ball name game or another name game with my Girl Scouts over the next few weeks. It’s time to learn everyone’s name, not just the ‘naughty’ ones.
Question: What vague names do you call youth when you can’t remember their names? What tried and tested method do you have for name memorization when working with youth? We’d really love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.
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