Our Proposal Got Accepted!

I'm so beyond excited.  Here's a little snippet of the email I received, called "Cause for Celebration" earlier today in the middle of a hectic day of teaching:

Hi Diana and Jen,

We will indeed have much to celebrate when we meet in Boston on Nov. 21. The editorial team just approved your proposal, and everyone is very excited about bringing you and your book on board!

I knew the editors were meeting today, but WOW, I didn't expect to hear back so soon, and with such great news!! Of course, I immediately called Jen, and we had a little jumping-up-and-down-screaming moment 500 miles apart.  This feels good.  I can't wait to get down to the hard work of writing the book, and sharing our experiences with all of our colleagues out there who are just moving to teaching with 1:1.  We have another chapter to polish up before we meet up in Boston for NCTE, so I'd better get back to it...

Book Proposal Sent

Book Proposal: Power Up

I hit the send button several dozen times a day, but this one was different. This was an email to an editor at an educational publisher. Now the fate of our book is in his hands.

It was actually ready to go yesterday, but Diana thought it was bad luck to send it on the 13th, even though it was a Tuesday. I humored her and we waited, but hitting send still feels like one of those tiny moments that can have huge consequences.

We sent an outline, several sample chapters, our cover letter, our CV's, lists of similar (but not identical) publications and a link to The Horizon Report. All of it was meticulously read and reviewed by both of us and several friends

We really like this publisher and we hope they like our book, but I know there are others who will want it if we get rejected this first time. So, we will keep writing while we wait for an answer. We know this is a book teachers need and we have to be sure they get it.

Where Do We Even Start?

Jen and I decided to move forward with writing a couple of sample chapters to send in with our outline for a formal book proposal.  We want to send in the first chapter and a typical "middle chapter."  So, we're each sitting down to draft one, then we'll swap, add, and edit.  Even a mere six thousand words into the project, I've already learned so much.  

I've learned that I write better in the morning.  I write better on the couch in my office than at my desk.  I have to have a mug of tea -- and there's a whole ritual to that.  I think I do all these weird little obsessive things just to get myself psyched up to sit down for about four hours straight and write.  I have to talk out loud when I write, and I almost always gesture with my hands.  I want the book to feel like we're having a conversation. So I have a conversation with an imaginary colleague while writing.  

I have also learned that Google Drive is a godsend.  Jen and I have organized the entire book in a shared folder, with a subfolder for chapters, research, saved chats, and vignettes that we want to use but we're not sure where.  I have now completed a draft of Chapter 5 on extending audience.  My favorite part about Google Drive so far is that Jen and I have these exhaustive side conversations debating everything from word choice to pedagogy.  I'm being stretched as a teacher, and am loving every second of it.  We have had three Google Hangouts so far this week to check in on the writing process. The video chat feature is particularly awesome since we live in different parts of California.  Although, I think Jen's youngest son is more enamored with the Google Effects in the hangout video than I am.  Whenever he pops in to say hi, I click to put on the pirate hat and patch (are you proud, Dave Burgess?).   Anyway, who said writing couldn't be fun and collaborative? 

We might be writing a book

I always love going to NCTE, but NCTE in Las Vegas was a particular thrill.

Sir Ken Robinson did a wonderful opening keynote. I heard him back in June at ISTE 2012 and he was even better at NCTE. Yes, I knew some of the jokes already and but his is still funny and inspiring. I love meeting and hearing from authors. Sherman Alexie holds on tight when you take a picture with him. This was also the first time I got to stay for ALAN, a book lovers paradise.

Getting to hang out with my friends Heather Lattimer and Diana Neebe is another of my favorite parts. The three of us presented together. Heather provided the larger context and Diana and I shared about the ways we use technology in our classrooms. Afterward we got that question I'm now so used to. "What's your advice for teachers who are about to start teaching with a computer for every student?" We made some suggestions, but the question lingered for me.

I think the question stayed with Heather and Diana too because we kept talking about it over dinner. Diana is a real foodie and she took us to a celebrity chef restaurant at Caesars palace. I think she made the reservations in June. The food was fabulous, but then she tricked me into trying the spicy ice cream.

Sometime that evening Heather said something like, "You guys should write a book." By then we were about to see a Cirque Du Soleil show. In the few minutes before the house lights went out we casually brainstormed some chapter ideas. The show was stunning, but I know Diana and I kept thinking book.

We've got an outline now. I think we might be doing this. We could call it Power Up: Teaching in a 1:1 Classroom. At least it makes for a good blog title.