How effective are you at working with kids?
I was named Arizona's Teacher of the Year and to the All USA-Teacher Team. I coached high school students to the state championship in speech, and I taught public speaking. I know how to capture kids' attention, create an interactive program, and imbed reading/writing standards into my presentations. I'm used to working with hundreds of students, so my energy level and enthusiasm remain high throughout the a day-long author visit.
How should we schedule your time?
I strongly prefer smaller interactive sessions to large assemblies. In general, 45 minutes to an hour works well, and no more than three classes at a time gives students a chance to ask more questions, but I am flexible, and I will try to meet whatever your needs are.
What age groups do you prefer?
My books span grades K-12, and I am comfortable working with all age groups.
How should we prepare our students?
Make sure that they are familiar with my books. I will send some autographed copies ahead of my visit as gifts for your library. It will be much more exciting to have an author visit if students have read the books.
Will you answer letters from students?
Although I love to correspond with students, it is impossible to answer each one when they write in large class projects. When the mailing is from many students in the class, it will be answered with a nice letter to the whole class that can be posted on the bulletin board.
Do you know of grants that we could use to buy your books in bulk?
Teachers have told me that even some of their most reluctant readers are ready to finish their book after having an author visit and their very own autographed copy of the book. To fund such bulk purchases, here are three suggestions · Talk with your PTA about donating Tax Credit monies. As few as 10 donations may be enough to obtain a book for every single student to whom I present. · Contact Wells Fargo about their teacher grant money. There is a very short form (a paragraph) to complete in which you can ask for up to $500. · Talk to your Title I director and see if the books qualify for Title I money.
Do you autograph your books?
Yes, I’ll be happy to personally autograph each book. If you leave me a little time at the end of school, I can sign up to 100 books. If you are providing books for every student, we’ll set up a way for me to autograph them in advance.
Can you tell us about specific kinds of things you cover?
Sure, each workshop includes ways for students to overcome "blank-page" syndrome, inspiration for starting a story, the importance of persistence in creating successful writing, character development, reading fluency techniques, and importance effective revision in creating effective writing.
Will you do presentations other than school visits?
Absolutely! I really enjoy being an artist-in-residence, giving speeches to PTO groups and libraries. Also, I use my background as a teacher and author to provide one-hour to day-long language-arts teacher in-services on "Ways to Put the Love Back Into Teaching Language Arts and Still Meet State Standards." I also present and keynote at conferences.
I still have a question about…
Please email any questions to authorterrifields@yahoo.com. I want it to be a wonderful, memorable visit for your students that will help to excite them about reading and writing.
Please email a request for a rate/author fee sheet.
