Author Visits 2.0

As I was reading some of my favorite blogs this week, I came across one that made a lightbulb shine bright in my mind.  The blogger behind  "YA Love" wrote the following  blog about Skyping with an author: http://yaloveblog.com/2013/03/04/skyping-with-geoff-herbach/.  While this may seem amazingly obvious to many other people out there, the idea of Skyping with an author blew my mind!

I keep thinking of it as  Author Visits Version 2.0. Instead of paying for the author to travel to your schooland finding a time that works in both the author's and your school's schedules, why not use technology to bring the author into your classroom through the internet.  What's even better is that the meeting is so much more personal for the author and the students.  With a smaller group of students, more questions can be asked and answered, and the conversation can tie directly into what you're teaching.  For example, Mrs. Anderson focused the conversations in her author visits around the idea of revising your writing, something she had been working on with her students.  Since many students don't believe teachers when they say that revising is something all really good authors do, Mrs Anderson decided to bring the real deal into her classroom.  As Geoff Herbach (a real life author!) was looking her students in the face and sharing examples of his own revising, the students couldn't help but start to believe in it's power. 

Now, I realize that authors can't Skype with classes all the time, but there are plenty of other options out there for educators looking for unique ways to bring authors to their class or library.  Creating a twitter account and following a favorite author is one way technology can bring you closer to your favorite writer.  Tons of authors have blogs also.  One of my favorite blogs to follow is Veronica Roth's, http://veronicarothbooks.blogspot.com/.  She not only blogs about her writing, but also adds tidbits about her personal life, which helps readers relate to her a little bit better. 

As budgets get tighter, teachers and librarians are going to need to be creative when bringing reading and writing to life for our students.  Skyping, tweeting, and following blogs are just a few ways that authors can be at the tip of our student's fingers.