A few weeks ago, I shared the Praise Poems workshop I did with 4th-8th graders at a week’s worth of Young Authors Conferences. One of the very best things about this set of YAC is that the kids pick their favorite session (out of the 3 they attended) on an evaluation form. There are probably 20–30 sessions being led by writers, cartoonists, poets, artists, rappers, and storytellers–this is just a fabulous, varied event.
Anyway, I got a bit of my feedback from some of the evaluations of students who chose In Praise of…a Pineapple? as their favorite session.
Isn’t that fantastic? It’s one of the best things about YAC, that you get to feel like you really reached some kids. I hope every kid there was in at least one session that knocked their socks off. It’s always cool to read what the kids picked as their favorite and why. Some want craft lessons, others want reinforcement/encouragement, others want to try something totally new…and by the end of the day, I think most of them have found what they were looking for, and more.