Thank you, Snip.it, for the Kindle!

 This kind of thing — this kind of generosity — isn’t supposed to happen, right?

For the last few months, I’ve been using Snip.it, a great service to “collect the best of the web.” It’s the host of Iserotope Extras, plus I clip other articles into collections for safekeeping and sharing with my friends.

So just a few days ago, I decided to write a little post (see below) about how social studies teachers could use Snip.it to promote independent reading.

Then came the surprises: A few hours later, Ramy Adeeb, the founder of Snip.it, retweeted my post. Then Snip.it did the same. And that wasn’t all.

The next day, I got an email from a representative at Snip.it to let me know that the company wanted to donate a Kindle to the Kindle Classroom Project.

And it came today. Here it is — along with a Snip.it T-shirt and a handwritten thank-you card and signatures from everybody at the company!

 Over the past two years, I’ve received generous donations from friends, family, and total strangers. But never has a company contributed until now.

I am very appreciative of Snip.it for caring about reading and about the academic lives of urban public high school students of color who will be the first in their families to attend college.

I am hopeful to begin a project next semester that encourages students to explore their interests in nonfiction and current events and to share their best content with their peers using Snip.it.