What I learned from a 5th Grade Class
How do you decide what illustrations should go with your story?
Are you writing any other books?
Where did you get the idea for Old Bess?
Where do you sell it?
How long did it take you to write Old Bess?
The questions continued from these fifth graders… hands raised, poised, engaged, and curious for almost a whole hour. It was my first school reading of Old Bess to a room full of children and I did not know what to expect. You Tube videos can only give you so much information about what a reading will be like. I sat in a soft, high-backed pink arm chair the entire time and the children welcomed me with open arms.
I plan on getting many of my creative ideas and book recommendations from these classrooms. “Have you ever considered writing a series or a chapter book?” Well, no, but they gave me lots of inspiration and now my creative wheels are turning.
Make sure you humbly ask the teacher to stay in the room with you. When the questions kept coming, I was so involved and actually forgot I was the adult in the room. I was thankful the teacher was there to keep things on track. She also knew the kids and their quirks so could put a lid on things I would not have noticed.
Have some succinct answers to questions. For example, I didn’t need to explain my whole process for getting Old Bess out of my head and into a book. This would have sufficed: I had an idea, I wrote, edited, talked with my critique group, edited, sent it to friends, edited, found an illustrator, edited, sent it to a publishing company, and it took about 5 years. The end.
Props and hoopla is not always necessary. (shew) I brought only myself and a good book as my “props” and it was enough. I did bring some Old Bess stickers for the teacher to hand out at the end of the school day, but that was it.
Expect the best and just have fun “playing” with the kids. I had to start somewhere and this was a perfect venue. I could not have planned this kind of welcome. I am thankful to the teacher for inviting me as a “local author.” She knew it would be okay…I did not!
I was a fourth grade teacher and I do not think I could ever teach again. The amount of smarts, energy, and presence of mind, soul, and body this teacher had was heroic. She caught everything, explained difficult concepts, reminded them of things they had learned at the beginning of the year, and kept the chaos to a minimum. She was kind with all of us. She was brilliant in her craft and watching her in action was like being at a well-choreographed ballet.
Thank you, Amy, for inviting me. Your grace exudes effortlessly from your soul.