Screen shot of the set-up in my home office for my Zoom visit to Cerritos School
On November 17, I did a Zoom author visit with kindergarten, first and second grade children at Cerritos Elementary School in Glendale, California. For my first ever virtual Authors and Illustrators Day school visit, I thought it went surprisingly well! The teachers and children were excited and responsive in my presentations. I had a bit of a bumpy start to my first session due to internet problems on my end, but luckily they were quickly solved. The other three sessions went very smoothly.
The teachers were the key to making my visits work, as they are the ones managing the technology. By making me a co-host it was easy for me to use the share-screen mode to do my slide show and to show images from the books so the kids could see them easily as I read the stories. The teachers were also very helpful in calling on the children as they raised their hands to respond to my questions or to ask their own. I am impressed by how well both teachers and students are managing in this virtual world–especially the youngest children in TK and K.
Many, many thanks to the Glendale Assistance League for making this Authors and Illustrators Day possible. And thanks to the teachers and the school principal for working to make it such a success.
