If you conduct workshops with students, here’s a bit of research that can help you take your questioning techniques to a higher level. Research by Mary Budd Rowe at Columbia University found that the average amount of time a teacher waits between asking a question and calling on a student to answer is one second. [...]
So, you’re facing 250 kids in an assembly. You’ve asked a question. Or you’ve invited volunteers to join you on-stage. What’s the best way to choose respondents or participants? Kids are all about fairness. They want you to be equitable in your choices. So I try to make sure that I choose kids from [...]
Mistake #1. Opening weakly Solution: Get attention! Invite the audience in immediately with a startling statement or image, a communal action (singing, chanting, clapping in rhythm) – anything that commands attention and shows the kids that the program is in your capable hands. Mistake #2. Being unaware of audience reaction Solution: Learn to “read” [...]
There’s no doubt that getting both snail mail and email mail is a thrill (to quote Sally Fields, “You like me! You really, really like me!”), but the time it takes to respond can take a huge chunk of time out of a writing schedule. Some of the letters are clearly class assignments and have [...]
Whether you have a formal school visit contract, a letter of agreement or terms worked out through email, when booking an appearance, here are some main items you should address, in writing, with your host: Date(s) of event Honorarium: Specify how much you will be paid and when the payment is due. Expenses: When traveling [...]
Really – is there anyone out there who loves packing? I have suitcase envy. I keep searching for the perfect carry-on that can contain my clothes, school visit props, handouts, hostess gift, and computer (and, sometimes, data projector) and still be light enough to lift into the overhead compartment. I haven’t been successful yet. As [...]
Author and teacher Darcy Pattison has an interesting post on her “Fiction Notes” blog: “What Do New Education Standards Mean for Writers?” The new buzz phrase and acronym for curriculum or educational standards is Common Core Standards (CCSS). While Darcy’s post focuses on how to use CCSS to inspire story ideas, you can use them [...]
This summer, suggest to your writers’ group that you devote one session to critiquing each others’ school visit brochures. If you’re like me, you keep cranking them out (or, if you’ve had them done at a printer, using them up) without giving them a second glance. But is your brochure really doing the trick? Is [...]
If you’ve been using the same props and PowerPoint show for over a year, it may be time for an overhaul. Are your props large enough to be seen at the far end of the multipurpose room? If not, you’re leaving out a significant portion of your audience. Consider taking time this summer to exaggerate [...]
Piggyback on your existing contacts in your school visit database to help generate invitations for the coming year. If you followed my advice in a previous post, you’ve entered the names and addresses of your past school visit hosts into a database. The next step is to print labels for all the schools you visited [...]
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