Unwanted Nickname

Dear Dr. Sadie,

I am in the 4th grade. My teacher, Mr. Johnson, is very nice, but also very old. He sometimes forgets things, and we have to remind him of things all the time - things like when it's time to go to lunch or gym or the bus. Mostly it's all right, but he also forgets my name. 

Actually, he forgets all of our names. He just calls everyone "Charlie." I really don't like being called Charlie. My name is Jennifer. How do I get him to stop?

- Not Charlie

You should tell him everyone's name. You need to remind him over and over and over again. You could say, "this one's name is Maggie," and he would say, "I'm sorry, Maggie."

If you keep telling him over and over, he will remember. When I'm in pre-school, I sometimes forget what my job is - like whether I'm the line leader or the caboose. The caboose is the end of the line, and the leader is at the front, but the teacher is in front of the line leader. When I forget my job, I tell the teacher I forgot, and she tells someone to go to the morning meeting spot (where we usually read books in the morning), and they check to see what my job is.

You could write down what the kids' actual names are, then whenever the teacher has trouble figuring out the names, he could go to where he keeps that piece of paper, he would remember the names.