the highlighter podcast

Reader to Reader, the KCP Podcast

Episode #2: Tamera, Oakland

Posted on by Mark Isero

favicon After a brief (one-year) respite, I’m back with the second episode of Reader to Reader: The Kindle Classroom Project Podcast!

Reader to Reader is a 10-minute interview with a student participating in the Kindle Classroom Project.

Yesterday I had the privilege to sit down with Tamera, a 12th grader in Oakland. She just received a Kindle Paperwhite from her teacher, Maria.

In this episode, Tamera talks about the book she’s reading, where she’s going to college, and why she’s a reader. But there’s also a special twist — because Tamera was a KCP student back in 2012-13, when she was a ninth grader and when the KCP had only 13 Kindles!

Please let me know what you think about this episode — and include ideas for how to make this podcast a real podcast. For example: Should I be more prepared? Should there be music? What questions should I ask? Should I be less energetic?

My hope is to continue interviewing students and putting out a podcast episode at least every month. If things go well, maybe I’ll send Reader to Reader to iTunes! Thank you very much for your support. favicon

Give a student a reading allowance!

Posted on by Mark Isero

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Update, July 2020: Amazon Allowance is being discontinued at the end of this month. But it is still possible to make a recurring sustaining donation! Just click on the amount you’d like to donate, and PayPal will make it easy. Thank you for your generosity!

Note: PayPal charges a 3% fee for donations, so 97% of your gift goes to buy books that students request.



Did you get an allowance growing up?

I didn’t. Maybe I wasn’t consistent on chores. Or maybe my parents gave me everything I needed. (Probably both were true.)

Some of my friends got allowances, though, which they spent on luxuries, like baseball cards, chocolate malts from the school cafeteria, and books.

Last week, I challenged KCP supporters to become sustaining donors. With the program expanding quickly (now 800 students and 19 teachers!) (update 2019: now 2,000+ students!), and with Kindles streaming in (170 so far in 2016!) (update 2019: hundreds every year!), students are requesting books left and right (777 and counting) (update: thousands!), and I’d like to keep the program’s promise that they can read whatever they like, whenever they like.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could give a student a reading allowance?

The other day, I learned about Amazon Allowance through loyal KCP supporter Brian (Leesburg, VA). The program lets you send an automatic, recurring digital gift card to another Amazon account. It hit me: This could be perfect for KCP donors who want to make regular contributions.

 

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The process is easy. You go to the Amazon Allowance page, then click through to your Amazon account. Then you fill out a quick form, where you get to title the allowance (include your name here!), choose who gets the allowance (kindleclassroomproject AT gmail DOT com), how much to donate (minimum is $5) and how often (every month, every other week, every week, daily, or one-time). Finally, you choose your credit card, and you’re done. (Don’t worry: You can stop your allowance at any time.)

I made a screencast to help you. I think you’ll enjoy it. It lasts 2:19.

The biggest reason I like Amazon Allowance is that 100% of your donation goes to the KCP, whereas PayPal takes a 3% fee.

The other reason is that if you choose to donate, you are saying, “Yes, Mark. I am totally in, and I want to promote reading, and I believe in what the KCP is doing, and I want the program to be sustainable for many years to come.”

(By the way, you’re also saying: “And please don’t bother me as often with requests for one-time donations, because I’m already donating.”)

Please consider giving an Amazon allowance to a lucky student. I’m happy to report that there are already 10 sustaining donors for a total of $160 a month: Peter (San Francisco, CA), Brian (Leesburg, VA), DSW (Saratoga, CA), Barbara (Oakland, CA), Stuart (New York, NY), Lori (Oceanside, CA), Iris (San Diego, CA), Toni (Cary, NC), Nicole (Quincy, MA), and Pat (Santa Rosa, CA). Wouldn’t you like to join this illustrious group? (Update: There are more sustaining donors now in 2019 — will update soon.)

I’ll update this post as new generous people sign up. Please let me know if you have questions! One more thing: If you’d like to get the word out, you can share this post with the URL j.mp/kcpallowancepost and the video with the URL j.mp/kcpallowancehowto. Thank you!