Huge thank yous to LaGina Gross for her fantastic presentation about Skyping with Authors. LaGina gave us so many good ideas about ways educators can connect with authors and bring authors into their classrooms.
We are very sorry to report that we did not record the session. We would like to blame this on our worries about getting everyone in the session with recent Java updates but it was just a huge mistake on our part. We are so disappointed we don’t have the recording to capture the enthusiasm that LaGina brought to her presentation or all the great questions that were asked by participants or the wonderful student that came and shared his perspective on skyping with authors (the BEST part!).
What we do have is this. First, a link to LaGina’s presentation in Google Drive. This will give you access to her slides and all the great links she supplied. Here is the link: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1iX4GMXUFxtgTYL1Coykjg_3Qpvead_nA0j_21qcH7w8/edit?usp=sharing
We also have embedded the presentation as a slide show, so if you are just interested in getting a feeling for what LaGina presented on, use this slideshow below to check out all the great tips and ideas she shared.
One of the best things LaGina shared were links to resources for connecting with authors. She highly recommended Kate Messner’s Authors Who Skype with Classes and Book Clubs for Free!, Skype in Educations Book Clubs site, and a LiveBinder hosted by Kate Messner and Marjorie Light called Author Skype Tour.
In addition, if you are a teacher in Northern Virginia, LaGina highly recommended connecting with local resources including Hooray for Books Children’s bookstore, the Alexandria City Public Library and the children’s literacy organization Wright to Read. LaGina also suggested that you contact authors and publishers directly either by emailing them or using social media to contact them. Having students write letters is also an excellent strategy.
You will definitely also want to check out her tips for preparing for a Skype session and ideas for how to make sure it goes smoothly. Just like any good lesson, skyping with authors takes time to prepare students by helping them become familiar with the author and craft questions that will be meaningful for all.
This was a really inspiring session that gave everyone a ton of ideas about how to bring authors and other experts into our classes. We hope that if you didn’t make the live session that you’ll check out the links and LaGina’s slides.
Our next TLP-C Live session will be on Thursday, January 23rd with a presentation by Sandra Rojas about Digital Storytelling with English Language Learners.
I love the practicality of skyping with authors- it connects students with their literature and adds a human touch to the act of reading. Just as our adolescent students connect with utube to see musicians, this technology motivator adds a “cool factor” to reading and getting to “know the person behind the writing.” I would like to see skyping in every class, not just for the purposes of connecting with authors- but also in science, math, history; during a unit- lets add a geologist, ecologist, archeologist, mathematician, etc…to again connect students with real humans that can contribute to the authenticity of the subject matter.
I agree with Savanna that skyping can be done in a variety of classes. Last year one of the 8th grade classes I worked with skyped with the founder of a non-profit organization who grew up in Washington D.C. The students were working on a unit about community change and they had the opportunity to talk with someone who had identified a problem in her community and worked toward a solution. The ‘real human’ Savanna referred to made the subject matter and the transfer task authentic.
Skyping with authors is such a great way to expose students to writing and reading in a personal and engaging way. It’s also an easy (and cheaper) avenue to author visits. I actually had a skype with author Ellen Potter during grad school four years ago. My professor had met the author during a conference and invited her to work with us and a fourth grade class in Williamsburg, VA. We become digital penpals with the students using a blog the teacher had set up. We read a book together, Spilling Ink, which was a collaborative effort by Ms. Potter and another author. It is a great book for students to read that motivates them to write and inspires creativity. We skyped after reading the book and students asked questions after a brief presentation by the author about her book. I would love to one day do this again with my class.
I absolutely love this idea. I think it exposes students to the process of writing from real authors who can share their experiences from beginning to end. Thank you so much for sharing all these resources.