By Schenell Agee

This is the final post of the series.

Part 4 – Confirmation

Before they arrive

To track your progress consider preparing a checklist of jobs for individuals or groups to complete with timestamps. Use a checklist to avoid forgetting important details:

• Ensure your venue is free (i.e. testing and other school related events have not been scheduled)
• Confirm travel arrangements/ Lodging
• Dinner/ Lunch meals
• Order Books to pre-sale and same day sales
• Contact local paper/division and school publicity
  

  Author/Illustrator Floyd Cooper

• Guest equipment needed, i.e butcher block paper, markers, etc.
• Work with bookkeeper to ensure your guest is paid on the day they conduct the presentation
• Request posters, and any other book related items to display from publisher
• Display author/illustrator books
• Get permission to take photographs
• Invite a student from a journalism or school photography class/ club to take photos of the author and the audience.

Day of the visit:

• Test equipment
• Author/illustrator and teachers have copies of schedule to ensure punctuality
• Be sure your administration makes time in their schedule to see a presentation and say hello and thank them for coming.
• Provide snacks, hard candy and water, especially if hosting an all-day event.
• Have their honorarium ready
• As a parting gift always provided a school memento; ours was a school coffee mug.

When asked is this event worth it? There is no doubt, when framed right, this can be a very memorable experience for everyone, but especially your students.  If you need more convening, checkout Jarrett J. Krosoczka: How a boy became an artist | TED Talk.

Good Luck and feel free to share your author/illustrator adventures with me at ageesx@pwcs.edu !

Author: AASL SPVS

Categories: Blog Topics, Community, Community/Teacher Collaboration, Student Engagement/ Teaching Models, Uncategorized

Tags: collaboration