About Me:

Aloha! I'm Wendy Kennar. I'm the mother of a seven-year-old son and a wife living in Los Angeles. I was a public school teacher for twelve years until a chronic medical condition made it necessary to leave my teaching career.

I've always been described as "quiet" - really, I'm just biting my tongue. I've got lots to say, and lots of thoughts to share, I just prefer to write them. That's the purpose of this blog. Each Wednesday, I post a personal essay offering my observations and thoughts.

A few fun facts about me: I've wanted to be a writer since second grade, when my teacher, Mrs. Jones, made me a "book" with a yellow construction paper cover. I have never learned to whistle, have always preferred sunflowers to roses, and have spent my life living within the same zip code.

Through the years, my writing has been published in the Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, United Teacher, GreenPrints, L.A. Parent, DivineCaroline.com, RoleReboot.org, XOJane, and Brain, Child Magazine. Additionally, my personal essays have been included in several anthologies, including: The Barefoot Review, Beyond the Diaper Bag, Lessons From My Parents, Write for Light, Being a Grown-Up: A User's Manual for the Real World, Ka-Pow!, How Writing Can Get You Through Tough Times, Breath and Shadow, The Grey Wolfe Storybook, and Sisters Born, Sisters Found.
I am a regular contributor at MomsLA.com, and you can also find me at Goodreads.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Feel free to comment and share my blog with others!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

June Gloom

“What’s your favorite thing about the month of June?”
That was the journal question I posed to my students at the beginning of the month.  Now, as I read their journals, their answers are almost unanimous:

No more school.
No more homework.
No more early mornings.
I can go out with my friends.
I can travel with my family.
The funny thing is, I’m fairly certain the answers would be the same if I asked my co-workers.  June is the light at the end of the tunnel.  June is the promised land.  June is the finish line.  
June gives us all a respite, a chance to catch our breath, do all the things we haven’t done while in school.  I may be on the other side of the desk, but the rules are the same for me as they are for my students.  During the school year, I’m restricted by an earlier bedtime (ideally) and an earlier wake up time.  I’m bound to certain deadlines and assignments (many of which I don’t want to do).  
10 years.  That’s how long I’m teaching.  I’ve been teaching the same amount of time my fourth-grade students have been alive.  When discussing careers, they ask me if I wanted to be a teacher when I was a kid.  The answer is an emphatic “no.”  I couldn’t imagine why I would want to be involved with school any more than was absolutely necessary.  School was exhausting and stressful for someone like me - someone who always had to earn the "A", someone who always had to get a perfect paper, someone who had to excel academically.  That was what I had.  I wasn’t the athletic girl.  I wasn’t the pretty girl.  I would try to be the smart girl.
School is still exhausting and stressful for someone like me, someone who strives to teach beyond the textbook.  
I love my students.  But after 175 days together, I’m ready for a break.  Ready not to hear “Mrs. Kennar, I need.../ I want.../ I have to.../ Will you.../ Why didn’t you.../ Why did you...”
I’ll be Mrs. Kennar until June 24th.  After that, I can just be Wendy.

3 comments:

  1. Honey,

    I cannot wait for you to be free from your work demands this summer!

    Your time off this summer is well deserved!

    Hang in there!

    I Love You!

    Paul

    ReplyDelete
  2. You are an EXCEPTIONAL teacher and you go way above the call of duty.You truly care about each child you have contact with,and the children who get you for their teacher are so very lucky.You are BEAUTIFUL both inside and out.This is a summer vacation you truly deserve.I love you and I am very proud of you.
    love,mommy

    ReplyDelete
  3. I enjoy your BLOG. You are always just Wendy to me.

    Love, Dad

    ReplyDelete