Throughout the school year students mistakenly call me by the wrong name. Here are my top ten wrong names
- The names of the PE teachers: I hear students call me the PE teachers’ names more frequently than even my own name at times.
- Mrs. Winsch: This a just a honest mistake because students hear Mrs. more often than Mr.
- Dr. Winfield: I believe it started as a joke by two of my students at one of my schools but it caught on and now I hear it a couple of time a month.
- Mr. Winchester: This name came about when a student tried to find a way to remember my name but like Dr. Winfield it became one of the names many student mistakenly call me.
- Mr. Flinch: This is a combination of my name and a student teacher’s. I heard it from a sweet Kindergartner.
- Ms. Winsch: Very common for Kindergartners to say.
- Mr. Lynch: I have very creative students.
- Mr. Vinsch: Actually this is how my grandfather spelled his/my last name. I first heard it from a student from Russia during my student teaching.
- Mr. Winchey: It also started has a joke and it quickly caught on as well.
- Called by Mom, Dad, Grandma or Grandpa: Even though I rarely hear students call me by these names, I can guarantee a student will call me mom, dad, grandma, or grandpa sometime during the year.
It always amazes me how students can find ways to mix my name around but every year they come up with new versions. I will add them to the list as they happen in the future.
Don’t you think the more comfortable students become around you, the more apt they are to use the name of someone more familiar to them, such as their homeroom teacher, or mom or dad? I see this as a compliment, but I don’t make a big deal about it to the students.
I must agree with breathingartsy. And a personal note for you. When I married and changed my last name from O’Rourke to Hancock, my high school students affectionately named me Ms. O’Hancock or Ms. Ohh for short. Every now an then I’m called by the music teachers’ names. I usually respond with, “I don’t mind, she is a lovely woman.” I absolutely despise when students pull, “Hey Teacher Lady.”