Kindle Classroom Project receives $2,000 donation!

Posted on by Mark Isero

joyfavicon I am very happy and honored (and joyful! see picture) to report that the Kindle Classroom Project has received a $2,000 donation, its largest gift ever.

The gift is from DSW of Saratoga, Calif.

DSW, who wishes to remain anonymous, has generously given several large donations in the past, including a $1,000 gift last year and another $1,000 gift earlier this year. Previous contributions have gone to funding Kindle cases, Kindle batteries, and Kindle e-books.

This gift will enable the purchase of 20 new $69 Kindles, along with 20 new cases.

All right, in case you missed it, let’s re-read that last sentence together, very slowly (this time in bold). This gift will enable the purchase of 20 new $69 Kindles, along with 20 new cases. But that’s not all. The balance will go to buying books, Kindle cases, and replacement batteries for future Kindle donations.

You know what that means, right? Yep, you got it: My dream of reaching 100 Kindles by the end of 2013 will now be a reality. In fact, I’ve already bought the 20 Kindles, and they should arrive on or before Dec. 18.

It’s all pretty amazing!

I sincerely and deeply thank DSW, not only for this latest major gift, but also for their ongoing support of the Kindle Classroom Project. DSW’s generosity inspires me to think bigger. What was once just a little side project is now something much larger. And it’s growing every day! favicon

everything else

Want a crazy easy way to donate money?

Posted on by Mark Isero

cash-button-blue

favicon Want to give a little donation to the Kindle Classroom Project but don’t want to be bothered by annoying multi-step processes that take forever? I think I have a solution for you.

Cash lets you send money via email. It’s from Square, whose founder founded Twitter.

The money you send comes from your debit card. It goes right to my inbox, then directly to my Kindle Classroom project debit card.

See how easy? Are you interested? Maybe you want to try it out by donating $10 for a book? Here’s how:

1. Click on the beautiful green SEND CASH button above.
Magically, an email will pop up that’s addressed to me from you.

2. If you like, change the amount you want to send me in the subject heading.
Go ahead, make it $100 instead of $10. 🙂

3. Press send.
You’ll then receive a reply from Square asking you to link your debit card. After that, that’s that!

All right, why don’t you try it now? If you tried it, thank you! You’ll get an email back from me very shortly!

I would like to give credit to Michael Schultz, who wrote this post on Medium that introduced me to Cash — and who designed the button above. Also thanks to my friend Iris, who made the button work on Iserotope! favicon

reading

The Goodreads community knows its books

Posted on by Mark Isero

favicon Many serious readers like Goodreads, a social networking site geared toward people who love to read. I like it, too. You can keep track of books you’ve read, write reviews, recommend books to others, and follow your friends.

One of my favorite things about Goodreads is that its members know books. I often choose books after looking at their reviews on Goodreads. My students like the site, too. If a book gets four or more stars (out of five), it’s pretty much going to be a good one.

Just today, Goodreads announced the results of its Choice Awards for 2013. I like its description: “the only major book awards decided by readers.” Here are a few of the winners:

Screenshot 2013-12-03 20.39.19

In these four categories, I don’t dispute the winners at all. The Goodreads community chose excellent titles.

I am also happy to report that all four books are on my students’ Kindles, and several students are reading them right now! favicon

everything else

Worldreader: The Kindle Classroom Project’s competition

Posted on by Mark Isero

favicon The past month has been slow at the Kindle Classroom Project. Kindles are still coming in, but the pace has been a bit slower than usual.

The other day, I was wondering why, and then I saw this on PBS NewsHour:

Hey, no fair! Why isn’t reporter Jeffrey Brown calling me up to ask for an interview?

I’m kidding, Mr. Brown. You chose an impressive organization to spotlight. Yes, Worldreader is about as old as the Kindle Classroom Project, and I give co-founder David Risher credit. In the time I’ve collected and distributed 87 Kindles, he’s up to more than 12,000.

Sure, Mr. Risher used to be a vice president at Amazon, and he’s got funding through Amazon and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Plus, his website is much fancier than iserotope.com.

With those resources, Worldreader has done an excellent job. The organization understands the importance of reading to fight illiteracy, and it partners well with villages in Sub-Suharan Africa to bring high-quality ebooks to kids. I particularly like Worldreader’s focus on filling up the e-readers with books by African authors.

Mr. Risher began his project in Ghana, close to my favorite West African country, Mali, which I was lucky to visit twice with buildOn, a non-profit organization that builds schools. The students I worked with in Donkelena and Kongolikoro would have loved (like, gone crazy) for a Kindle.

So, because Worldreader is doing important work, and an excellent job at it, I will no longer be secretly jealous of Mr. Risher and all of his success. 🙂 After all, there are plenty of used Kindles out there. If the Kindle Classroom Project gets 100 Kindles for every 1,000 that Worldreader gets, I’ll be happy with that. I will say this: If you’re currently donating to Worldreader, keep doing so, but every once in a while, please check out the KCP Contribute page! favicon