My Inspiration
Maybe some of you can relate. Introvert writer types are not used to speaking in a public forum. I was coerced by my eight-year-old granddaughter, after she just happened to take some of the books that have my stories in them to school, about a month ago. She came into the house talking a mile a minute about how she shared them with her teachers, (I have no idea why she did that) and her teachers said I should come and talk to the students. Several days later she Face Timed me. She was determined to fill out the application for me to participate in The Great American Teach-In. I convinced her to let me fill it out. And I did, when her mom brought it by the house.
So, Grandma did it! My topic: Writing for Publication and Pleasure. After carefully preparing a script simplifying publishing down to an eight and nine-year-old level and practicing like mad to fill thirty to forty minutes of class time, I was ready. I used the audio record function on my mobile device to make sure I sounded like I was reaching the intended grade level. I thought a few practice runs would help, but it did not banish the butterflies. This was my first ever presentation talking to any audience about what I love to do. WRITE.
In front of a crowd of forty little people and two teachers at Northwest Elementary School, Thursday, Nov. 17, for the Great American Teach-In, I spoke about using imagination and writing stories. I stressed how everyone is a writer.
I gave a little background of my writing and publishing history. I sprinkled my talk with questions I knew they could answer and also challenged them with questions they had to think about. Smart young people with good answers and good questions. After class, the teachers passed out a printed prototype copy of a story, in mini-book form, that I wrote entirely from the orchard of my imagination, The Deamer’s Garden. I reinforced that writers must also be readers.
The Great American Teach-In is an annual, nationwide event during which guests from various trades and professions visit classrooms to challenge students to begin thinking about future career paths. Our school also invited hobbyist presentations.
Eileen M Hector 
Hi Grandma unit,
Good job!
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