SIMON SAYS – Tips for Teachers: Author Visits Part One – Making Plans

Ah, the summer is finally here. Traditionally, July and August are the months when people look forward to relaxing with friends and family, taking vacations and day trips in the warmer weather. For teachers, summer usually means a more lengthy time away from the workplace than most people, but many of those employed in the teaching profession spend at least some of the summer preparing for the next school year. July and August is often a good time to think about the fall, since the start of the school year can sometimes entail a chaotic couple of weeks before everything settles down. When teachers are preparing lesson plans and thinking about the kinds of things they might like to do in the classroom once classes resume, some might consider having an author visit the school.

For the next set of articles here at Simon Says, we’ll take a look at the benefits of hosting an author at your school, how you find an author who conducts presentations and workshops and how you choose a writer who is the most suitable guest for your school and for your students. We’ll also examine how much it might all cost, what kind of work will be involved for you to set everything up as the coordinator and what you can expect to have to do when the author is actually in your school. Over the next few weeks I’ll be answering some of these questions and providing tips and advice for teachers when planning an author visit at your school, in the fall and beyond.