The donor remains anonymous. But here’s where it gets exciting. My detective work has confirmed that the donor lives in Cambodia. The Kindle Classroom Project has gone international again! This is the second overseas Kindle in Project history! (The first came last December from Jo in Surrey, England.)
You just never know what’s going to happen. You go to work, minding your own business, and by the end of the day, there’s $200 donated and a Kindle from Cambodia.
Let’s keep this hubbub going! Who wants to guess where the next Kindle will come from? I say Nepal. Or maybe Ghana.
Want to make your donation to the Kindle Classroom Project go farther?
Here’s your chance: This week, to celebrate teachers, DonorsChoose is matching all donations until this Friday, May 10.
Yes: This means that $10 will buy two books instead of one! Not a bad deal.
If you’re interested in making a donation to the Kindle Classroom Project (to buy books!), you can go to my DonorsChoose page.
Very important: When you click through to the Payment page, the site will prompt you for a “Match or gift code.” Be sure to type in TREAT in the box.
I hope you’ll consider making a small contribution. This is also a great opportunity to get the word out and to encourage your friends and family. Promote reading! Thank you.
Update: Wow, things are going well. Already, six people have donated (for a total of $1,200). Thank you to Laura (San Francisco, CA), Stuart (San Francisco, CA), LeAnne (Fremont, CA), Michele (San Francisco, CA), DSW (Saratoga, CA), and Iris (San Diego, CA). Keep the contributions coming!
I have good news (and charts and graphs) to share with you, so let’s get started!
1. The number of Kindles continues to grow.
Last month, we stood at 42 Kindles. Now we are at 46 Kindles. Not bad, considering that there were two Kindle casualties in April. At this pace, it’s possible to reach my goal of 60 Kindles, or three classrooms, by September 1. But it will be a push.
That’s why I’m thankful for Christine (Louisville, KY), Lynna (Mtn. View, CA), Lesley (Menlo Park, CA), Preeti (San Jose, CA), Brian (San Diego, CA), and Walter (San Francisco, CA), all of whom donated Kindles in April. (It was a California-heavy month.)
(Pretty fancy chart, don’t you think? 🙂 Don’t worry, there’s another one.)
2. The number of ebooks continues to grow.
I’ve said many times that books drive this project. Sure, I need Kindles, but without good books, the students are left with a pretty boring device.
The Kindle e-book library grew by 15 titles in April, from 232 to 247. As usual, all new books were student requests. The Pretty Little Liars series has staged a comeback after declining in popularity last year. Other popular titles include Wonder, by R.J. Palacio, and Feed, by M.T. Anderson, which predicts a future world where we have Google search implanted in our brains (um, yes, sort of like Google Glass).
I’d like to thank LeAnne (Fremont, CA), Michele (San Francisco, CA), Angela (Concord, CA), Denise (Alpharetta, GA), Tony (San Francisco, CA), and Nicole (Quincy, MA) for donating books. My appreciation also goes to Sarah from Logan, UT, who donated money to purchase books.
3. More people are following Iserotope.
There are nearly 80 people following Iserotope on Facebook, 120+ on Twitter, and nearly 150 on Google+. Even the Iserotope Instagram account (pictures of books and reading!) is getting some love. The bigger the network grows, the deeper and more widespread the impact!
4. There are more sustaining donors.
I’m still trying to find a term for people who donate more than once. Do you have ideas? Right now, I’m calling them “Sustaining Donors,” but there must be something more catchy.
I define these donors as people who have made more than one donation and/or have encouraged their friends (who might be strangers to me) to contribute.
So far I count 13 sustaining donors: Margie (Peachtree City, GA), Lesley (Menlo Park), Brian (San Diego, CA), Donna (Las Vegas), LeAnne (Fremont, CA), Angela (Concord, CA), Denise (Alpharetta, GA), Nicole (Quincy, MA), Iris (San Diego, CA), Laura (San Francisco, CA), and Michele (San Francisco, CA), Jenni (Berkeley, CA), and DSW (Saratoga, CA).
I have to say, this “sustaining donor” classification might need some work. After all, there are also people who donated more than one Kindle all at once. Shouldn’t they be considered sustaining, too? If so, then add Preeti (San Jose, CA) and Toni (Cary, NC) to the list!
5. It’s easy to find the Project on Google.
Want to get the word out about the Kindle Classroom Project? Sure, you can direct them to iserotope.com, or to the Project page (or the Contribute page). But if you’d like to impress your friends, tell them to search for “donate Kindle.” On the first page they’ll find two (or maybe three, depending) links to the Project. See how famous we are?
(On a side note, it’s interesting that potential Kindle donors essentially have three choices if they search in this way. They can donate their Kindle to American troops overseas, to schoolchildren in Africa, or to ninth graders in Oakland and San Francisco. I like being one of the choices!)
6. You can now donate new Kindles.
Thanks to my friend Preeti, who came up with the idea, and Lesley, who affirmed it, you can now donate new Kindles. Check out this post or the Contribute page for more details. It’s pretty easy, and for $69, you give one student access to 247 high-interest books.
OK, loyal Iserotope readers, I hope you have a great May, and I’m hopeful that this is a month of strong growth for the Kindle Classroom Project. As always, let me know your thoughts and ideas to make this project a stronger one.
I am very pleased to announce the arrival of three new Kindles. Don’t they look great?
I think they’re the best.
This is a big deal. This means that the total Kindle count has gone up to 45, an all-time record.
This means that three more students get to borrow a Kindle, take it home, and have access to 241 good books.
To students, this means that there are “people out there who actually care about us.” (The quote isn’t imaginary. This is what the students actually say.)
Just two days ago, my friends Lesley and Preeti suggested that I should make it easier for people to donate new Kindles. So I did.
And today there were already three new Kindles waiting for me when I got home from work. That’s what I call an impressive turnaround.
I am humbled to announce that Lesley was the donor of one of the Kindles, and Preeti was the donor of the other two. Lesley and Preeti, thank you very much!
My friends are kind, smart — and very generous. They don’t fool around.
Today I spent a sunny and splendid afternoon with two good friends. They’re big proponents of the Kindle Classroom Project.
One friend, Lesley from Menlo Park, has been a generous donor in the past, plus she’s encouraged her friends and coworkers to donate Kindles as well. Go Lesley!
The other friend, Preeti from San Jose, came to the cafe prepared. She was not fooling around. Why do people have to donate old Kindles? she asked. What if she wanted to buy a new one instead?
Um, er…um. Right! You’re right, Preeti! This is pretty spectacular idea.
Up until today, if you wanted to purchase a new Kindle for a student, it wasn’t too easy. You had to contact me and find out my mailing address and ask which model my students wanted. Why not make the process easier?
Go ahead, try it out, click on the box, see what happens! You’ll go directly to the Amazon Kindle page, and if you order one for $69 (no need for a charger), it’ll get shipped directly to me. (Note: Click “This will be a gift” and select “Gift Registry Address” for easy shipping.)
Pretty snazzy. I wish I could take credit for the idea, but that goes to Preeti (and to Lesley, for affirming Preeti’s brilliance).
Will Preeti’s idea send oodles of Kindles hurtling in my general direction? I think so. I will keep you posted.
Update, April 22: This — from the Wishlist — is pretty good evidence, don’t you think? 🙂
Update #2, April 22: Um, three already? Is this for real? Can’t believe how great this is!
In case you can’t find this post later or want to refer your friends to this startling development, I’ve also updated the Contribute and Donate Your Kindle pages to reflect Preeti’s idea.
It’s been a big day at the Kindle Classroom Project!
