Modern technology never ceases to amaze me. It brings together family, friends, and people who otherwise might never have the opportunity to meet, and their gathering happens in cyberspace. My sixth grade teacher once told my parents that I spent too much time daydreaming out the window. What she didn’t know was that I was thinking about my best friend, MaryAnn, who had moved far away. That was many moons ago, long before the Internet, Skype, and a webcam. In fact, it was so long ago that the very thought of coming together in cyberspace would have been subject matter for The Twilight Zone or Outer Limits, two really scary television shows in the 1960’s. My brother, Larry, and I watched them every week. He would fall asleep and I was left sitting there eyes glued to the TV, scared stiff and nails bitten to the skin. Just about the time my nails would start growing back it was time for the next episode.
That is why the possibility of meeting my young readers in cyberspace is such an adventure for me. Oh, how exciting it was when Mrs. Carolyn Bible, a Fifth Grade teacher in Kansas City, Kansas contacted me, requesting an author chat in cyberspace. There we were last Friday, she with her class of 17 great students gathered around a computer at their school in Kansas where they could see me, and I sat in my solarium here in Connecticut where I could see them on the screen of my laptop. WOW! Let me say kudos to you, Mrs. Bible, for bringing us all together–students and an author. Thank you, Mrs. Bible, and to your well-prepared students for a most enjoyable cyberspace visit. A creative teacher, one who goes to the “outer limits” so that his/her students can experience an author chat is a fine teacher indeed.
I still daydream, in fact more so than ever before! I watch scary shows only when Mr. De Young is nearby and promises he won’t fall asleep. However, I have yet to find MaryAnn. So wherever you are, my “best friend forever,” can we set up a cyberspace visit soon? I’ve missed you for a long, long time.
Comments
-
February 18, 2010 9:04 PM ESTI’m so glad you were able to chat with the students in Carolyn Bible’s class! I am pen pals with one her students through the in2books program, where we read and corresponded about A Letter to Mrs. Roosevelt. I can’t wait to hear what my pen pal has to say about your chat – I bet it was a phenomenal experience for her! Thanks for taking the time to talk to the kids!