Tuesday, May 15, 2012

A book's not a book if it's

on a Nook. Seriously. That's what I found out when I told my students we were getting Nooks for the classroom. They were eager (yes, eager) to get their hands on these handy, little electronic devices. And these were some of the same students, mind you, that would equate reading a book with eating a full plate of broccoli.

But they were excited, and I was so glad that I could interest them in reading.


The Nooks didn't arrive completely by magic. But almost. Two angels, so to speak, sprinkled fairy dust in my room and made the Nooks appear. One angel was a community business that awarded a grant that I had applied for. The other angel, Peggy, lives right here in blogland. It was through her foundation that eight more Nooks, with books and covers, made their way into my classroom.


And they couldn't have come at a better time. You see last fall, the books we were reading were literally falling apart at the seams. (Imagine a picture here of a book falling apart at the seams...) My students complained when pages were missing and were always trying to claim the better copies for their own. Yet more than half of the students were still left holding what claimed to be books.... pieces of them anyway.


As you can see, I needed to have my camera set on action shots the way these kids' hands were flying across the touch screens. They had the Nooks figured out in no time.




And this is one quick shout out to one of the angels who made it possible. Thank you, Peggy! Your kindness and generosity mean so much to my students and to me.


Peggy, second from right, has been making the world a brighter place for children for quite a while.
Here she is in Rwanda teaching children how to use digital cameras.
You can read about her journey to Rwanda by clicking this link.
Photo from Middle Age Ramblings.
 

5 comments:

miruspeg said...

Roban the Nooks look fabulous, how incredibly exciting to see your students enjoy reading through this "new" medium.

It makes me wonderfully happy to help other people, just as others have helped me through life.
None of us can walk the road of life without help from our fellow humans.
It does my heart good to know that my foundation can make a small difference in the world.
Namaste
Peggy xxxxxxx

beth said...

i just read my first book on our iPad and totally missed the feeling of a real book in my hands !!

Candace said...

Wow, what a cool story. Anything that makes kids excited about reading is a-okay in my book. I'm off to read more about Peggy. She sounds amazing, an angel for sure!

McMGrad89 said...

Congrats on the grants. You and the kids deserve it.

Relyn Lawson said...

YAY for you and your kids. This is SO exciting!!!