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That
pretty much sums it up! As a student I was always the class clown.
But I didn't just like to talk and act out, I loved to tell stories.
It's been the impulse to tell stories--and to act in a silly manner--that has
marked my life from an early age. So, it's no wonder that I turned out to be a
writer and a storyteller.
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I
write books for young readers mainly because I was a teacher. What
better profession for someone who likes to tell stories. But it took a
while to choose that path. After college, I traveled around the
country with my guitar. I had long dreamed of being a musician. But it's a hard life, and it wasn't working out the way I had imagined. Then, while visiting a school as an artist-in-residence, my
life changed.
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| As I worked with different classes, invariably the classroom teacher would say, "You know, you're really good with kids. You should be a
teacher." I guess I heard that often enough for it to stick, because the next thing I knew I was back in school getting my teaching certificate. After graduation I found a job teaching in an arts-oriented alternative school. After two years, I moved to a nearby public school, where I taught second grade for the next five years.
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I threw myself into my new-found profession. What I liked most was reading to my kids and seeing how they responded to books. Their responses taught me to look closely at what authors did. As I started to analyze each author's work, I started to dream of being an author myself. So, I started writing my ideas down, and after a few false starts, I sold my first book to Dutton in 1988. It was the start of a new, but equally satisfying career.
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The World Is My Classroom
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Although I quit teaching elementary school after seven years, I didn't stop teaching. I went back to school and earned a doctorate in elementary school curriculum, with an emphasis on reading and language arts. After graduation, I accepted a faculty position at National-Louis University in Chicago. I continue to teach at National, working with teachers in a graduate program. But I haven't given up working with young students either. As a published author and storyteller, I travel the country talking about my writing and publishing experiences. I guess you could say, the world is my classroom now.
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