A busy day in Gladstone today, with Sam Wheeler doing 2 sessions with 130 year 3&4s at Gladstone Central State School, and Lance Balchin doing 3 sessions with 240 year 7&8s at Gladstone State High School. It’s incredible to see these two wonderful authors in action, tailoring each presentation to match the needs and interests of different student groups, and answering all sorts of questions.
After one particularly rowdy year 8 session, a grateful teacher pulled me aside. Keeping one watchful eye on her students as they filed out, she said “I have so many boys in my class, and they were hanging on every word from Lance today. They’ve told me they can’t wait to go online and build robots to join in the world Mechanica.”
After her scheduled presentations, Sam did a pop up session with a group of enthusiastic students who were not able to attend the formal session, so came in their lunch break to meet the author. We also met the Teacher-Librarian and learned that, while she was scheduled to come in 2 days a week, she actually came in every day to ensure the library could be opened for students wishing to change their reading books more often.
How wonderful to see the impact of this author tour in supporting the teachers and librarians who are fostering an appreciation for reading and writing, and the worlds that open up to students as a result.
Blog content courtesy Meg Vann, our Producer on the ground in Gladstone
Discover more from Day Three