What's in a Name?

When looking over your class roster for the first time, you might be a little nervous about stumbling through the pronunciation of names. It can be nerve-wracking for a teacher. You don't want to offend, you don't want to embarrass. But at the end of the day you have to say the child's name out loud for all to hear. So get ready!

A name is often much more than just that. It can represent family, culture and identity. It should be respected and all effort to pronounce and use correctly should be made. That being said, some names can be tricky. So be ready to correct yourself.

What to do:
-Think through a name. Do you know the culture or language of the name? How letters are pronounced in that language? Jorge should sound like George!
-Practice the several different ways a name could sound. (Is it Joel, or Jo 'el ?)
-Practice out loud
-Ask for opinions from a fellow teacher
-If you are unsure the gender of the name, look it up! This can be especially important for elementary classrooms that often color code their name walls.
- Take a moment before class starts as the student enters to ask for clarification
-Write their name phonetically next to their roster name to remember

What not to do-
-Not say it. Don't avoid using a the child's name, learn how to say it quickly and practice saying it!
-Mispronounce it purposefully (to either make it sound more neutral or Americanized)
-Respect a child's preference for nicknames (some people hate nicknames and by cutting the name in half it can change meaning immensely)
-Tell the child how unusual the name is (eek!)
-Make a confused face (be neutral and open!)
-Give them a different name

Obviously these rules are not hard and fast. My friend Jean Francois preferred to be addressed as 'Jeff', my friend co-teacher Megumi was not amused by being called Meg. Learn what your student's want and stick with it.

Practice makes perfect!

The art of asking a question

Have you even had that feeling, either during the middle of teaching or immediately after saying goodbye to a group of kids wearing befuddled looks on their faces, that maybe you are not getting through? This has happened to me more times than I care to admit. But similar to other shortfalls, I feel it is better to know you're missing the mark than to not.

So where to start? How to adjust?

I have found that a little self-reflection can go a long way. We as ELL teachers know we are constantly differentiating instruction. But are we differentiating our questions? Anyone familiar with the Socratic method of teaching and learning will tell you that the great bulk of learning is done through questioning.

The trick to asking questions to a group of multi-level learners is to understand the complexity of the question we are posing. Take a glance at Bloom's pyramid. Think of your questions as a ladder, you should start at the bottom if you don't want to tip over.

Want some more support with creating intentional questions? Take a look at this winner of a diagram!

Any questions? :)