I absolutely love these links. They are very helpful. I already do the phonetic name spelling next to my students' names. This is actually something that bothers me because sometimes I get into my head about it and second guess. Listing things right next to a kids' names saves me from having to be stressed. Honestly I sometimes just avoid last names until later in the year and tackle those on their own. This source will make this all easier. As part of our identity unit all of the kids look up their first and last names to see what they means and reflect on whether or not they feel their name adds to their personality or not. If they know what culture it comes from; if it was given or changed by the system; or if they would change it why or why not? It is a great opportunity for me to learn with them. Many of them do not know what exactly their names mean. I think I will have the kids listen to their names in their proper dialect this year.
