Opening the Classroom Walls

Mauriceville Middle School students in Kaycie Donnaud and Julie Pelt's English Language Arts classes were able to experience a Skype in the Classroom event and I was honored to attend as a guest and for technology support (but none was needed). It was scheduled as a result of the Mackin and World Read Aloud event that was held the first week in March. We were able to Skype with award-winning published author, educator, and speaker Frank N. McMillan who lives and works in Corpus Christi, Texas. Our students were excited to know that Mr. McMillan was familiar with our community in Orange, Texas which made the lesson even more personable. Students heard Mr. McMillan share his experiences as a writer answering questions from the students. You can check out some of his fictional novels such as: The Young Healer, Cezanne is Missing, and Finding Jung. Thanks goes to Mrs. Jennifer Marcantel, our librarian at Mauriceville Middle School for choosing Mr. McMillan from a long list of authors from the Skype in the Classroom project. The match was a perfect choice and ended with his timely advice to our students: "to write about what they are interested in and keep your audience in mind." Teachers who are willing to step out and take the time to create such a learning experience for students need to be applauded! Thank you, teachers!

Posted in author, books, classroom, ELA, ELAR, fiction, Frank N. McMillan III, Skype, world read aloud day, writing