well, that one's a NO

Reading through this blog, recenty, I have been motivated to reflect a little more on the names of the students I teach. It's great, because, as a teacher, I get to meet many children and see so many different names. And, the fact that I have a job as a TOC means that I have the opportunity to see (if I worked every day in only one different elementary school class with 30 students) 150 new names per week! Wow! That's a lot of coverage if I were researching names for a baby, which... I'm not. But, Amanda is.

So, I've been paying closer attention, lately, to the names I call when I do attendance. There are a lot of great names out there. I recently have met Elliot (a girl), Gillian, Isaiah, Liam, Jacob, Alena (this one's an "A" name, Amanda!!), Sho, Layne, Joshua, ... actually looking at this week so far (one day in high school adds a lot of names)... I've met 180 new students already (that doesn't count the classes that I have already taught before)... I won't list all 180, if I could even remember half.

Then... there are the names that I don't like. And the ones that I will NEVER use. The reason... I have yet to be fortunate enough to meet a child with the name of ______ , or _______, or ______ (not listing them for the reason that it could be very insulting to some readers), that I have enjoyed or that hasn't caused me undue stress and anxiety, for whatever reason.

This week, so far (one day to go, and I have been warned about this next class), I have managed to cross about seven names off of my "potential baby name" list. There are good days, and there are not-so-good ones. I'm lucky to encounter more good than bad!

P.S. Amanda, you could add Alayne, Audrey and Alicia (great friends of mine, and excellent namesakes), Alaynee, Addison, and Alina to your "A" girl list.