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February 27, 2005
taking attendance
Standing in front of the class on the first day, reading the roll outloud, and matching names to faces is a common opening day activity. But if there is a transgendered student (a person who does not identify with his or her birth gender) or a student whose gender expression is not conventional or a student who is transitioning from one gender to another, this can be a very difficult moment. The student is outed, and has to explain the inconsistency or say that he or she would prefer to go by a different name or choose to shut up and perhaps drop the class. The situation can worsen if the professor expresses confusion.
So think about how to expect a range of students in the class -- and let them know they are all welcomed.
Recommendations:
[1] Pass an attendance sheet around on the first day.
[2] Invite all the students to provide a little background about themselves, including how they would like to be addressed.
Margaret
Posted by mrhimley at February 27, 2005 12:59 PM
Comments
On the first day in all my classes, I invite students to introduce themselves by telling me their name (as they want to be called), and why they chose Syracuse. (In other schools or courses, I asked them what brought them to the class). I always ask for volunteers, and so far, I've never had to actually call on anyone. This takes a little leap of faith that you can match the spoken name to the printed name on the page without having to default to the formal enrollment name, but I find it works pretty well if I try to match last names, and then write it the student's name as spoken.
I also make a real effort to learn my student's names by the third class session, and sometimes that means asking them for help, and usually they seem to like that.
Posted by: Chris Geyer at February 27, 2005 06:26 PM
I am grateful for this. It never occurred to me that something as simple as calling roll on the first day of class could be so complex and rife with assumptions.
Posted by: madeline at March 1, 2005 05:13 PM