A real author in your classroom?

Kara LaReau Skyping a 1st grade classroom

This image shows the power of bringing the outside world into your classroom.

These first graders started by reading a number of books by an author, prepared questions and then Skyping with her. They quickly realized the person talking to them was the actual author and that was mind blowing to them. This fifteen minute conversation taught the class the power of persistence, the importance of a good editor and the value of hard work.

How can you create something like this for your classroom?

Start with why. Why are you having this person talk to your kids? Make sure there is a strong connection to your curriculum.
Author and book study. It is wicked important to read up on what the author has written. Most will ask your students questions about their books. Be ready for that.
Questions. The authors will usually take questions from the class so prepare them! It is a great idea to have them written down on a note card so they can quickly read their questions when called upon.

Finding Authors

Kate Messner - a great blog to start your search with
Skype an Author Network
Skype in the classroom Facebook page
Penguin Skype page
on twitter #kidlit, #yalit, #childrensbooks
on Facebook/Twitter - follow the publishers and authors

Comments

Who is emailing me? The Blue Man Group??? (Add an image to your Google account.)

WHY It is always nice to put a face with a name. Sometimes we need a tiny little reminder of what someone looks like because we don't see them very often. Follow these steps to add/change the image associated with your Google account. HOW Open your email. Click your image. It might just be a blue circle if you have not added something already. Click Change . Find an image you like. Your amazing new image will appear. From now on everyone can put a name to a face!

Annotate PDF? How might I do that?

So I have a PDF and I need to edit it. Here is one method that works pretty well for me. Open Word. Click File . 1. Click Open . 2. Click Browse . 3. Find the PDF you want to annotate. 4. Click Open . Click OK when you see this box. Bam! Your PDF now opens in Word. Note: you maybe have to click Enable Editing at the top of the screen. Finished editing and want to turn it back into a PDF? Click File . 1. Click Save As . 2. Click This PC . 3. Pick a location. I usually save things to my desktop. 4. Click Save as type - and choose PDF. 5. Click Save .

Zoom - How to connect to a Zoom meeting.

This post was created to help anyone who is attempting to connect to a Zoom meeting understand how the process works. Click here for a video tutorial on how to get started with Zoom Continue reading for details on how to connect on an iPad/iOS device, Android phone/tablet, Chromebook and a laptop. While this won't solve every issue, it should take care of getting you quickly connected. The post will be longer than normal, just scroll down to the device you are wanting to connect. Most of these steps only need to be done the first time. Joining the second meeting will be much easier, pretty much just click and join. Please note - I made this post super fast. There are bound to be small errors. iPad/iOS We are using an iPad for this demo. I imagine connecting an iPhone will be nearly the same. Start by downloading the Zoom app from the app store. This is the very first thing you need to do if you don't have the app first the process may be more confusing. You...

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