A person's name can carry deep emotional legacy of a family, a place in time, the hope of a new generation. Often students with names that are unfamiliar to us make it all too easy for us to disregard how synonymous their names are to their identities. Students in the face of our authority or the exhaustion of repeated explanation, help us to feel okay with not really "seeing them" by allowing the mispronunciation or even replacement of their names. Students just want to fit in and feel normal, and for students with names that might not be familiar to others, they are willing to lose part of themselves to achieve this. When we as educators demonstrate an assets based approach by caring to take the time to learn a students name, we make great strides in leveraging our relationship with ALL learners. When we ensure that this child's peers also know their name, not as a token museum piece, but as a part of everyone's identity and dignity, we help change a generation.
The #MynameMyIdentity campaign urges educators to take the pledge to say students names the way students pronounce them. Below is a resource book of five easy lessons and templates that could be done K-12th grade to ensure we make coming to school more inclusive for all students, and less socially isolating...even for those with funky Irish names.
#My Name My Identity Week Resource Book of Lessons
No comments:
Post a Comment