Wendy Kennar

Wendy Kennar taught kindergarten, fourth, and fifth grades for twelve years until she retired due to chronic illness. She still misses teaching, the magic that happens in a classroom, and still draws on her experience for inspiration for her writing.

The A to Z List of Verbs Teachers and Students Practice Daily

A teacher’s day is filled with countless tasks - taking attendance; distributing school bulletins; collecting papers, grading papers, filing papers; encouraging; prodding; reminding.

Veteran teachers may offer tips and suggestions for those more-noticeable, more-accountable tasks. But the longer you teach, the more you’ll discover the other “to-do’s” that become just as important to you and your class.

A Accept. Accept who I am -- a teacher who recites the Preamble to the Constitution by memory but who has never learned how to spell “vacuum” or “chihuahua.” Likewise, I must accept my students as they are. I hope to make positive differences in the lives of each of my students, but ultimately I must accept that I can only do so much. I must accept that certain factors are out of my control. There will be good days and not-so-good days, announcements over the intercom, and the raucous noise of the lawnmower outside.

B Breathe. It seems obvious, and maybe that’s why we forget to do it. Tense situations, scary situations, challenging situations -- we react. We tense up and hold our breath. Without intending to, we’ve made the situation more difficult, because we are depriving our bodies of air. Slow down. Deep breath in. Exhale.

C Create. Much during the school day doesn’t really invite a whole lot of creativity (tests and standing in line, for example). Yet, every chance I get, I try to provide my students with the opportunity to create. Sometimes that means giving them an open-ended assignment and letting them run with it, seeing what they come up with when the guidelines are looser and they are given more freedom and flexibility. I still remember the charm of a young kindergartener’s painting of a turkey with a pink body.

D Dare. Each day, my students and I need to dare to push ourselves -- to try something new, to do something we didn’t think we could. Some of my students don’t feel successful simply because they don’t try; they don’t believe they’re capable. We won’t know until we try. Additionally, my students and I need to dare to be different. To do things differently. To be the one student who raises her hand with a question when every other member of the class sits quietly. To be the one teacher who raises my hand during a faculty meeting, asking, prodding, and disagreeing with the majority opinion.

E Enjoy. Certain tasks and situations (after-school meetings) are less fun and less desirable than others (the last-day-of-school-party). But as much as possible, I must enjoy what I’m doing. Because when I’m enjoying myself, my students know it, and they begin enjoying themselves as well. This would explain why, at the end of a states-and-capitals review session, my class delighted in an impromptu dance party to the 1960-Freddy Cannon song “Tallahassee Lassie.”

F Feel. Sometimes I am guilty of going through the motions, trying to get to the next item on my to-do-list, and am not presently, actively in-the-moment. My students and I need to feel. Feel the pride that comes with solving fifteen fraction questions correctly. Feel the sense of accomplishment from running laps without having to stop and walk. Feel empathy for our friend when she has lost her favorite pencil.

G Give. Give praise; credit; a second chance; an extra minute; a break; some space; a hand. Give books, pencils, stickers, rulers, notepads, erasers. Give high fives; hugs, thumbs-up; pats on the back.

H Hope. Each day, I hope for a “good day.” A day when all my students are safe and healthy. A day when lessons go as planned, and we all feel productive. It doesn’t always happen. But then there’s tomorrow, and I can hope it will be better because each day is a fresh start.

I Ignore. For teachers, it’s a matter of “picking your battles.” Which means that certain activities, certain behaviors are ignored. I can’t respond and react to all off-task behaviors.

J Jot down ideas. To-do lists. Reminders. Letters home. Page numbers. IOUs for lunch money.

K Keep a positive attitude. I tell my students that their effort is just as important as their outcome. We all need to maintain a positive outlook, a belief that things will work out, that converting a fraction into a percentage is an achievable, not an impossible, task.

L Listen attentively. Make eye contact with the speaker. Ask questions for more information and for clarification. Make connections and offer valuable comments to further the conversation.

M Model desired behaviors. I can’t make my students be courteous or polite. But, I can lead by example. So I model what it looks like to be respectful (not laughing at others’ mistakes) and what it looks like to be concerned about our environment (recycling water bottles). I model good nutrition choices (eating a banana at recess) and good manners (consistently using “please” and “thank you”).

N Nurture. Each summer, I return to school early to open the closets, unpack my materials, and create a safe, welcoming, nurturing room environment. I strive to create a space which my students are proud to call their classroom. A space where my students feel taken care of, where they can thrive and be the best version of themselves.

O Observe others. For some reason, children will mimic bad behavior. I wish my students would observe all their classmates who are focused, who are following the rules, and emulate that behavior. My students can learn so much from each other.

P Produce something to be proud of. I tell my students that everything with their name on it, is something they should be taking pride in. All completed work is a reflection of the student who completed it. Make it something of which to be proud.

Q Question. Each year, I am a bit surprised by my students’ candidness. They are not shy about voicing their opinions and asking, “Why?” “Why do you assign homework each night?” “Why do we have to learn all 50 states and capitals when we live in California?” Of course, there are respectful ways to ask these questions, and I am always somewhat heartened to hear my students respectfully questioning; that is, after all, the responsibility of all citizens in a democratic society.

R Read daily. Reading in any format is valid reading - a comic strip or graphic novel, a chapter book or a Dr. Seuss early reader, a fan website or a sports magazine. Reading silently, reading aloud, and being read to involve different skills. Each is valuable. Read for information. Read for fun. Read for knowledge. Read for pleasure.

S Study. Not mega-intensive study-fests; but small, manageable bits of time of regular studying. I tell my students that a solid five minutes a day of studying multiplication facts is valuable. I remind my students that I was an elementary school student once too. I wasn’t born knowing all this information. For quite a while, I was thoroughly confused by equivalent fractions. I needed to study and practice, until I learned it.

T Trust. Our instincts. Ourselves. Each other. My closets remained unlocked. My classroom keys on the front table. My reward stickers and marble jars up by the white board. I trust that my students will respect my personal space just as they expect me to respect theirs, knowing that when I’m working in the classroom during recess, their possessions are safe.

U Unlock. Our potential. Our strengths. Our areas of interest. We all have things we’re good at, sometimes we just need to be given a chance to demonstrate them and have someone take notice. And, sometimes we don’t know what we like until we know about it and try it. It’s a glorious feeling to have a self-described non-reader tell me he now likes to read because of a book I introduced him to.

V Vanquish. Many of my students come to school with a fear of failing so they don’t try. They come to school with preconceived ideas that they aren’t a good speller. Or aren’t good at math. Those are merely excuses not to try. I therefore strive to provide my students with a safe place for them to venture a guess, to make a prediction or an inference that may or may not be correct. I want my students to vanquish these fears, to strive without worrying about failing, to make the effort.

W Wonder. I hope my students never stop asking “Why,” or “How?” Our civilization is dependent on inquisitive minds to keep wondering, to keep searching for explanations.

X Exercise. The brain needs to be exercised just as we exercise our biceps or quadriceps. Each day, I expect my students to work, to think, to analyze, to write, and to infer. To strengthen their brains, they need to exercise them.

Y Yell. Not yell because you’re angry but because you’re excited and enthusiastic. At our weekly school assemblies, my class is known as the “loud class.” When one of our friends is recognized for performing a random act of kindness or earning a student of the week distinction, we yell. We clap, we cheer, we yell our support. Applause doesn’t always have to be demonstrated in quiet, calm ways.

Z Zap negativity. I tell my students that their job is to be a student. They are to do it to the best of their ability. Bad attitudes, rudeness, and defeatist thinking that might hamper their progress need to be zapped and forgotten. They are here to succeed.