My family loves basketball. So naturally, with the NBA lock out, there is a basketball void in our lives right now. When my daughter got word about a charity game being held at Harvard University, a game complete with a star-studded cast of players, she immediately shot me a text message saying that we just had to go. Without hesitation tickets were purchased and two days later we all hopped in the car to make the trip down to Cambridge. The game was spectacular and my basketball loving kids, now donning player autographs on both hands, were giddy with excitement on the car ride home.
However, it was the reaction of my son upon pulling into the driveway at 12:00 a.m. that got me thinking. As we were unloading the jackets, cameras and garbage from the car, he ran inside, grabbed his basketball and a flashlight and immediately started playing the game on our backyard hoop. It was dark, cold and late, but none of that mattered. He was inspired and fired up to play the game he had just witnessed so many of players that he admires play.
The same phenomenon happens to us as teachers. We go to a conference or a workshop to learn from the best in the field and when it’s over, we can’t wait to get back to our classrooms to put into action what we just learned. Personally, I have been doing a lot of reading and thinking about writing and my son’s reaction to the NBA charity game made me think about how powerful and motivating it is to bring a “pro” into our classrooms, especially when that “pro” is a published and maybe even ‘famous’ writer.
We are lucky here in Vermont to have so many authors and illustrators that live in our state and are willing to come into our schools and share their wisdom and excitement about writing with our students. My daughter’s high school AP English class had a visit from John Irving after reading his book A Prayer for Owen Meany and she couldn’t stop talking about it for the next few weeks. In a time of high stakes testing, bringing in an author or illustrator has the power to put a fresh spark in your writing program and motivate your students to willingly write, to take a chance with their writing and to find the joy, excitement and possibilities with writing. Yes, it takes time and effort and more than likely, money, to make an author visit happen. However, it has the power to fire up your student writers and let them see what’s possible. Who knows, they may even decide to grab a flashlight, a pen and some paper, and write the night away!
Attached is a list of Vermont authors and illustrators of children’s literature from the Vermont Department of Education. It’s a pretty star studded list! I encourage you to work with your school librarian and administration to bring someone to your school. I believe you’ll find it worth the investment.
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Thanks, Kathleen. This is getting me all fired up to make this happen.
nice framing of how important and energizing this kind of “mentoring” can be….i’ve also seen some really wonderful teachers and librarians connect children and young people to author’s via skype…and this has made it easier to connect with very busy authors or elderly authors who might otherwise be unavailable or too costly…and it is just amazing who will say yes!