Being a substitute teacher I usually go to a different class in a different school every day. Sometimes I’ll engage in long-term assignments which will afford me the opportunity to learn students’ names. Whenever I take attendance I always say this disclaimer, “If I mispronounce your name it’s not meant to be funny or insulting, so please correct me when I do.” I then go on to mispronounce a handful of their names but do try my best to state them correctly. The Boy Who Tried to Shrink His Name is a book about one of those kids. In this case, the boy’s name is Zimdalamashkermishkada and he’s a little self-conscious about his long name.
