Hello everyone! Today we are discussing Sparks in the Dark: Lessons, Ideas and Strategies to Illuminate the Reading and Writing Lives in All of Us, a wonderful book and resource for teachers who want to ignite the fire that keeps their students' reading and writing lives rich and rewarding. In part one of this episode, Travis Crowder and Todd Nesloney discuss the beliefs that formed the book Sparks in the Dark, why they wrote it, and the road they took to get where they are today. I love episodes like this one It's pure and raw. It's honest about struggles, and fierce about overcoming them for our students. Sparks in the Dark is a beautiful book that needs to be read by everyone. Don't forget to stick around to the end of the episode to discover how to win a copy of Sparks in the Dark for yourself! Or you can buy it below or in the link above. Enjoy! Don’t forget to subscribe and review the show on iTunes!  Travis Crowder, M.Ed., is a middle school English/Language Arts teacher at East Alexander Middle School in Hiddenite, NC. He has taught for ten years and has experience in both middle and high school levels. He currently teaches 7th grade ELA and social studies, and works with the gifted and talented students in his school.    Todd Nesloney is the Principal/Lead Learner at a PreK-5 school in Texas. He is an award winning author for his work in co-authoring Kids Deserve It!, Flipping 2.0: Practical Strategies for Flipping Your Class and his brand new release Sparks in the Dark. He has also written the 2018 book Stories from Webb and published a children’s book, Spruce & Lucy. Todd has been recognized by the National School Board Association as one of the “20 to Watch” in Education, by the Center for Digital Education as one of their “Top 40 Innovators in Education”, by the BAMMYs as the “National Elementary Principal of the Year” and the “National Elementary Teacher of the Year”, by the Texas Computer Education Association as their “Texas Elementary Teacher of the Year”, and by the White House as a Connected Educator “Champion of Change”.