September 2, 2013

Here I am, the night before the first day of school. My tenth year at Guilderland High School and in some respects I still feel like a new teacher. People come to me and ask me for advice, tell me they’ve heard such wonderful things about me, and it’s very surreal. I am still young, still new, not experienced. I am constantly changing and reworking things. My plans are always in a state of flux and in that sense, I am no veteran. I am ever changing.

And I am using Google Docs for the very first time to write something of substance. I figure I should learn since I will be expecting my students to do the same thing. I will be expecting my students to create and share. My classroom is a Chrome Class this year, and hopefully forever more.

In the middle of the year, I was sent a message about a meeting for the Tech Advisory Committee because I am a teacher who is known for loving technology. A group of us, teachers and administrators, started talking about how to use the wifi that was being installed. The discussions ranged from whether we wanted to the building to go to a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) or a 1:1, wherein the district provides devices for students. During the discussions, my only thought was: let my students get on the network in my classroom. That was my simple wish. I wanted my students to be able to bring their laptops to school so we could view maps or videos from other countries. I wanted to bring the Spanish world into the room a little better.

When it was announced that the district had grant money to purchase a set of Chrome Books for a few teachers, I wanted in. I might have offered up my soul, if the announcement hadn’t been immediately followed by the words: application process. As an interested party, I bowed out of the application creation and reviewing so I could submit my own application. It was a series of questions that required written responses. Mine went in the form of four essays, submitted over a weekend before the state final for three of my classes. Two days later, I received an email telling me I had been selected as one of the lucky teachers to take part in the Pilot Program, with the caveat that I would leave my classroom doors open to observers and that I would attend several professional development sessions during school and potentially over the summer. I couldn’t have been happier.

I saw the cart of Chrome Books wheeled into my room last week and stared at them with awe and wonder. How am I so lucky? I’m simply grateful and would like to document my struggles and successes with these in my room this year.

I think the main struggle and concern is that there are so many possibilities, I have no idea where to start and it stunted any curriculum work I may have done over the summer. So it is less than four days since I meet my new group of students and I’ve prepared nothing. Today I sat and looked at my course outlines and began to think: am I collecting journals? Do I want them digital? Will I collect classwork? Will it all be digital? Will students be able to access the web at home? Will the wifi work? Will they respect this wonderful opportunity we have? Will they remember their passwords?

These are just a few things that are running through my mind tonight at twenty of ten. And one more: will the potential of the Chrome keep me up tonight?