“Are we going to Skype with some classes today?” Michael often asks when he wakes. “It’s so much fun!”

We’ve been touched, inspired, moved, educated and delighted by our Skype in the Classroom experiences, during which we teach kids about writing and publishing and ask them for ideas for our next books. (Here’s the link to the class outline: Our “Write, Publish, Publicize” Class)

Through this experience, we’ve learned so much about what excites young children about writing and publishing. And we’ve gathered from Skype students many creative ideas for the next books in our “Bash And Lucy” series.

Not only are we delighted by the classes; we appreciate the feedback from students we’ve received via snail mail, email and on school blogs. Keep it coming!

First of all, the surprise letters that arrived in our mailbox from Ms. Wendy’s 4th grade students in Texas really made our day. Heck, it made our week! Here’s what the package looked like when we opened it:

The students said they enjoyed our book, “Bash And Lucy Fetch Confidence,” that Michael is funny and that they were inspired by our class (awww…shucks).

“I’ve really been inspired by your book and your teaching. I really want to be an author when I grow up,” said one student.

We especially enjoyed the letters that were written to Michael, who is the 5-year-old co-author of “Bash And Lucy Fetch Confidence.” He generally helps “teach” our Skype in the Classroom lesson.

“Michael, I like how your are so energetic. And how you are so funny. (P.S. Love your hair)” wrote a student. “Thank you, Michael, for being funny during our Skype,” wrote another student. “Thanks, Michael. I loved your book,” wrote another.

Meanwhile, Ms. Singh included us in her class blog, and the students continue to post their comments about the class. You can see the blog here:

Ms. Singh’s Blog About Our Skype Class

Many of the students like meeting our puppy, Hudson, via Skype. They also say they enjoy brainstorming ideas for the next books in our “Bash And Lucy” series. For example, “Skyping with Lisa Cohn was such a great experience, my favorite part of the day was giving ideas for a new story for Mrs.Cohn,” wrote one student on the blog. “An idea for a new story… Bash has his friends come over everyday so Lucy feels left out. Then Lucy tries to get involved with their games so Bash gets mad because she kept on ruining everything so they were not friends.”

Again, we encourage students to keep the ideas coming!

Here’s a sample “brainstorming session” with 5th graders in Ms. Kilpatrick’s class during which the kids come up with possible conflicts in the next books, and Michael suggests solutions:

We’ve been especially excited to work with students from all over the world, including India, Ireland and Australia! Here’s a clip from a session with a group of 4th grade boys in Ireland. They came up with some very original ideas for our next books:

You can watch more Skype in the Classroom clips here, including one of students in India doing a book review:  Skype in the Classroom video clips

Thank you, Skype in the Classroom, for giving us this opportunity to connect with kids across the globe and experience their enthusiasm for writing and reading! Thank you, teachers, for sharing your students with us! If you’re a teacher interested in working with us, email us at BashAndLucy@gmail.com