Today, I was invited to my first ‘Author Talk‘ for the York Region District School Board (YRDSB). It was exciting because this was for a younger class (grade 3/4 split class), so I spent the entire weekend reorganizing my material so that it was age appropriate. What was super special about this ‘Author Talk‘ presentation was that Matthew (aka Kromatix_) joined us for this session.
Unfortunately, we had some issues with the video component of the Google Meet, so Matthew was unable to see the kids when presenting. However, we figured out a way to still proceed with our presentation and I was so glad to have this opportunity to present with Matthew.
This session, we focused on the music and tried to make the presentation more engaging and creative to keep the attention of this younger audience. We went through the songs and compared the writing and music creation process. The teacher, Ms. Vijay, wanted us to highlight the importance of editing and double-checking our work so the students can hear a real-world application of this life skill she has been reinforcing to them since the beginning of the year.
I surprised Matthew and the kids at the end of the session by sharing with them a song outside of the ‘Hold on please, Emily‘ campaign. This song was ‘Fruit-Loops‘ by Kromatix_ and Andy Quan. My son really loves this song so I thought the kids in this class would really enjoy it too. Plus, it was a great opportunity for Matthew to get some feedback about this song from a younger audience.
Today’s session was my favourite out of all the ‘Author Talk‘ events. I hope for more opportunities in the upcoming school year to share my book, our music, and lots of motivational thoughts.