The folks over at Snip.it are great.
First, they donated a Kindle to The Classroom Kindle Project. That was extremely nice.
But they weren’t finished. Then, they offered a free subscription to The New Yorker if I invited 10 of my friends to Snip.it.
Usually, I hesitate when companies make offers like these. But I immediately followed through, not just because I wanted the subscription, but also because I think Snip.it is the best way to collect articles on the web and to share them with your friends.
In addition, I believe that Snip.it offers a great way for teachers to encourage students to care about current events and research. Students can collect and curate articles about topics that interest them. Instead of assigning one article to the entire class, teachers can tell students to read and comment on a few articles their classmates have snipped. Learning becomes more democratic that way, and the conversation widens.
Research also becomes more personal. Snip.it makes bibliographies and works cited pages more authentic, more than just an MLA requirement. Rather, they represent a student’s reading and discovery about a topic. Because Snip.it prompts people to leave a comment, students can quickly compile an online annotated bibliography.
Thank you again, Snip.it, for your excellent product and for your dedication to young people and their reading lives (both in fiction and nonfiction).