option of paid author visits,” she
wrote. “With that in mind, this is
a list of authors who offer free 15-
to 20-minute Q&A sessions with
classes
and book clubs that have finished
reading one of their books.”
The second website is Skype an Au-
thor Network (skypeanauthor.wetpaint.
com), created by author Mona Kerby.
The mission of this site is to provide
K– 12 teachers and librarians with a
way to connect authors, books, and
young readers through virtual visits.
These two websites will make it a
little easier to get started with Skyping
authors into your school and library.
Share the Experience with Others
I hope I’ve convinced you to reach out
to your students’ favorite authors and
illustrators. If you’re willing to give it a
try, I have one more tip.
Skype in the Classroom (education.
skype.com) is inviting educators to
apply for free group video calling,
which can bring up to 10 connections
together at one time. That means you
can invite other schools to join the
conversations with authors.
When we Skyped with Mayer, we
brought in my sister Heather Fox’s
school in Amana, Iowa, so we could
both enjoy the connection. It is easy
to do and so much fun bringing even
more students and teachers together
with authors and illustrators.
My students, colleagues, and I have
Continued from page 27
been fortunate to meet Sharon Creetch,
Seymour Simon, Tom Angleberger,
Mrs. P, Robert Forbes, Laurel
Snyder, Libba Bray, Peter
Reynolds,
Ruth Spiro, Susan Reagan,
We are definitely off to Great Places,
and I can’t wait to see where our jour-
ney takes us next.
—Shannon McClintock Miller is the district
teacher librarian and technology integration
specialist at Van Meter Community School in
Van Meter, Iowa, USA. She is also a consultant,
presenter, and voice for change. Find her on
Twitter @shannonmmiller and read her blog
at vanmeterlibraryvoice.blogspot.com.
