Relationship Building and Student Names
I have had many students over my years of teaching and I have had some with similar names. Some of my students have had unique or less common first or last names, regardless they are those students' names and my first job is to pronounce it correctly. If I am going to foster a relationship with a student, my goal from my first encounter with the student is I must get their name right. Being a culturally responsive educator is one who values all aspects of that student and there is a lot in a name. Over the years I have witnessed educators casually make mistakes with student names, the intention was not to hurt the child, but it can. I am by no means an expert orator or a master of various languages to better pronounce words. My students hear my mistakes but they also see my desire to ensure I say their name correctly because what I ask for is their feedback. I don't want to take a mispronunciation and run with it for the year because a student wasn't asked for