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 Friday after I took my sister to the airport, I started sorting through all the library books I'd checked out for my Saturday Loft workshop on Writing Children's Nonfiction Books for the Educational Market. I put together series, chose books to show various topics covered for different age ranges, marked passages I'd read aloud to prepare for a writing exercise, made sure I had all my overhead transparencies, etc.

The high Saturday was 7 degrees, but road conditions were good. Only a few of the registered 23 students didn't show up.

It was a great class with smart, well-qualified writers. The class was full of lots of teachers, journalists, PR people, etc. They asked lots of questions and seemed very happy with the workshop, and many stopped me on their way in or out of class, in the bathroom, after lunch, etc., to say how much they were learning. 

I love that feeling. When you teach kids, it's rewarding, but the kids themselves rarely tell you, "Thank you for putting together all this information for  us." (Ha--I only remember one suckup student, Allen, actually saying that. Others showed it by coming to class early, spending time in my room before school, asking for extra credit projects even if they already had an A, etc.) But teaching adults, especially on a topic that's not covered much, like writing for the education market, really gives you a lot of kind and excited feedback. Only two women in the back looked bored and/or hung over and spent much of the day whispering behind paper. What can I say? There's at least one in every class. But they weren't disruptive, so I ignored them.

Anyway.

Here are a few pictures from the workshop.



Students listen to my special lunchtime guest speaker.



Nick Healy, Editorial Director of Picture Window Books and Compass Point Books, volunteered to come explain those companies' editorial process to my workshop. He drove up from Mankato, 1-1/2 hours south of Minneapolis, which was great of him. He was a huge hit!



Students choose their door prize books at the end of the day.

I've invited students to email me any questions they have in the coming week, and if I receive any, I'll post and answer them here on the blog.

I always breathe a sigh of relief once an all-day workshop goes well. I imagine all sorts of disasters that could happen. I know lots of you teach writing to adults and/or do school visits. Any memorable moments (good or bad) you can share with me?