The importance of a name
By Valerie Strauss
September 19, 2014
Here is a post by a Colorado teacher about what seems to be a simple observation about some students — that they don’t correct adults who mispronounce their names — but is really a nuanced look into the psyche of some students of color who live in poverty. This public school teacher blogs anonymously under the name Shakespeare’s Sister at Daily Kos, where this appeared. She teaches 11th grade AP Language and Composition in the Denver area.
By Shakespeare’s Sister
At the beginning of every school year, I try to learn all of my 11th graders’ names by the end of our first week together. A thing happens every year, though, when I am verifying pronunciations of student names.
This year, it happened with two male students whose names have two possible pronunciations. When I asked them for the correct pronunciation, they both responded, “Whatever is fine.”
When it happens, as it does every year, I look up from my roster,