Learn their names!!!

First and foremost, my advice to you is to learn your students' names, all of them. This is the first thing you should do when approaching the students in the classroom. While this may seem like a daunting task, there is no way around it. Students have a keen sense about them, and can sniff out any type of insecurity that you have, even before you start speaking in front of them. It is just a fact, there is no way to create a long lastly and meaningful relationship with someone without knowing their name. If you do not put in the time and effort to learn a student's name, they feel unimportant and unvalued, and thus will not value you in return. Do not feel stupid asking them to repeat their names by going up to them individually, this may be the only time that you will have to get to know students who aren't big talkers in the classrooms.

So what are some of the best ways of doing this? My suggestion is to make a seating chart with photos.

The following sites allow you to do so:

Scholastic Seating Chart Maker

Microsoft Word Seating Chart

-TMST