I had my first “virtual” author visit today and it was totally awesome (yes, I am a product of the 80’s)! The kids were absolutely amazing and so engaged in our conversation. They had a slew of terrific questions ready to go and I could tell they really put a lot of thought behind their questions. Some included:
“How did you decide Ramone was going to be a hummingbird?”
“How do you write stories for kids to relate to?”
“When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?”
The list goes on. Since this was my first “virtual” visit I took a lot of time to prepare and create a presentation I thought the 5th graders could relate to. What a smart class and so kind! And, to top it off, the students wrote some journal entries after I left about their experience. Their words are so touching and really just fill me up so much. A few samples are below.
“Today, while Mrs. Daecher was talking to us, I learned how you become an author. She has inspired me to keep working on my books. I really love writing and reading too. I have always wanted to be a writer or teacher….or both! I hope someday I can get a book published. I am glad we got a chance to ask her questions about her book and writing career.”
“Being an author is hard.”
“She told us that it took a very long time to publish it so I will do whatever it takes to have a book published I thought it was so inspirational and so fun to see that she took her time and had a zoom with us. I like how she was talking about how kids can get books published.”
“Something I learned about being an author is that you might need to make a few tweaks when it comes to writing.”
At the end of the day I can see this class is going places and I can’t wait to see where their journey takes them! What a terrific author experience! Thank you 5th graders for allowing me to share my writing journey!