I circled the school three times before I found a spot. Time crunched, I schlepped a backpack, props, and equipment in the rain across a busy street and around massive puddles to the site of my school visit. Parking. This may seem like a tiny detail in the scheme of things – but to start [...]
Book festivals offer big challenges to authors and illustrators when it comes to keeping the crowd focused and engaged in your presentation. In school assemblies, you’re confident that the kids have a collective understanding of the school’s rules and are grouped by age. You can use a PowerPoint presentation to great effect. But book festivals [...]
The number one question authors who want to do more school visits ask me is “How can I get more gigs?” The simple answer is this: participate in activities where you are most likely to meet the people who are in a position to hire you. These people usually include librarians, teachers and teaching specialists, [...]
My email inbox sees a steady stream of authors asking for advice on how to handle specific school visit situations. Since these concerns are the concerns of many, I thought I’d do a little “Dear Abby” here and post the question and my response in case this might help you, too. Dear Alexis, I [...]
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 [...]
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