Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Some Young Writers Have a Chance...

My first speaking engagement as a “real author” was in the Monroe School District. How fitting that I was visiting classrooms that I used to frequent when I was a young girl 30 years ago. The rooms looked a lot smaller and the walls were better decorated than when I was there…but that’s probably just my grown-up perception. One thing that changed: my classroom never had a cool mascot. Ms. Jordan’s room had a dragon named Bob. He didn’t really care that I was there. In fact, the only time he even perked up was when Ms. Jordan released a few live grasshoppers into his tank. Thankfully, the kids were more interested in what I had to say than Bob. I taught them how to take an otherwise dull story and fill it with interesting facts that would grab the reader. Attentively, they listened and then shared their own books with me that they had been creating in their writing class. They are so lucky! I loved my elementary teachers, don’t get me wrong, but where was Ms. Jordan when I was eight years old? She was actually teaching them how to publish a book. And they were thrilled to have the opportunity! What a great skill, and from what I could see, there was a lot of potential for future authors. Way to go, Ms. Jordan!!!

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