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Over-reaction to mispronounced names

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Over-reaction to mispronounced names

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    I am on my second teaching placement and still getting name prenounciations of pupils wrong. I'm getting pupils calling out corrections of names in an innapropriate way (esp years 7 and 9). In some cases I can apologise to the individual, get them to correct it and explain I'm still learning a lot of names. In others the whole class starts commenting and repeating the mispronounciation as a joke against that pupil. I don't want to make a huge deal of it but I am having to stop the lesson, call for silence, wait, and chastise individuals for calling out. There must be an effective line that would kill this off more effectively.

    Any ideas?

    Does anyone have a quick, clear response for dealing with this?

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     When you're going through the register, if you come across a name you're not sure of, ask the kid to confirm how to pronounce their name.

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    If you have a TA, get him/her to do it. If not, ask a sensible looking pupil to call out the names and you tick them off.
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     Pupils are experts at finding ways to disrupt lessons - this is the method they're using with your lessons, as they've found that they can get away with it without fear of consequence.

    You need to find a way of making it not worth their while to disrupt.  keep offenders behind as a start.  Give them something miserable to do.

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     Totally agree saying something along the lines of "my appolgies if I mispronounce your name but do not over react if I do, raise it at some apporpriate moment"

     

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    In the register, write out the name phonetically in pencil above where you have written it spelt the correct way.  I've had this problem, and it really works!  Obviously it is inappropriate for the students to use this as an excuse to misbehave, but on the other hand I would be annoyed if I was a student and my teacher didn't know how to pronounce my name after a few lessons, as it would feel (unfairly) like they didn't care.  Try to minimise the opportunities for misbehaviour by getting things right at your end, then you can come down hard if they still misbehave.


    [edited by: internationalschools at 13:56 (GMT 0) on 6-5-2012]
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     I agree - you need to learn their names and the problem will be solved. No-one likes it if someone keeps getting their name wrong - however, you could also find out if anyone has their name shortened and that might be easier to remember - most people don't like their Sunday names being used all the time either.  Good luck 

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    Phillyparker

     I agree - you need to learn their names and the problem will be solved.

    I think you're missing the point.

    Consider how the pupils would behave for a "scary" teacher: the first time, they might volunteer the correct pronunciation.  If it happened again, they would not dare to use it as an excuse to engineer disruptions.

    The OP is a trainee.  I would suggest that before she learns anyone's name, she should learn how to make pupils unwilling to cross her.

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     Yes you're right, she shouldn't take the time to  learn their names at all - she should call them by their most prominant physical feature, that should work a treat.  

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    Phillyparker

     Yes you're right, she shouldn't take the time to  learn their names at all - she should call them by their most prominant physical feature, that should work a treat.  

     

    Come come, you know I didn't suggest anything of the sort.

    Please don't resort to straw men.

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