Allow me to introduce myself. I am a 7th grade reading and writing teacher, an adjunct instructor of potential teachers, wife, mother of four, and am slave to a miniature boston terrier named Rambo. I love the Hobbit series, Star Wars, the beach, and technology. I'm a bit of a geek.

Right now, I am an excited geek. If I had a light saber I would be swishing it around and making the appropriate noises to accompany said swishing. Why am I so excited, you might ask? Well. I finally get to have one-on-one laptops for my classes. It's been a very long time coming. I used to work in a district that was one-on-one, and loved it! But what KIND of laptop? That is the next question, right? As if the title didn't give it away...

So it's a process. If you will stay with me as I go all Star Wars on you, the evolution of computers in the classroom (in my personal experience) has been something like this:

• A New Hope - very basic word processors. Didn't do much. Better than learning BASIC.
• The Empire Strikes Back - Hello Apple MacIntosh giant behemoth that we used for games and typing.
• Return of the Jedi - Apple sort of just faded and Windows came along, bringing the laptop with it

Over the years, we saw more change.

• The Phantom Menace - CD-ROM came in, replacing the floppy and the 3 inch disk.
• Attack of the Clones - Everyone had a knock-off, a rebuild, something better. Seemed like every day there was something better. Using the Internet was easier and it was more accessible.
• Revenge of the Sith - Apple returned - with a vengeance! Suddenly, everything is Apple! Macbooks, iPads, iPhones. If it didn't have i in front of it, it was the underdog.

Then there was another shift. People started looking for ways to integrate, collaborate, create. It needed to be simple and every device promised to make that integration seamless. However, with millions of educational dollars recently invested in that rosy red fruit product and the product with the lovely view outside, there really could not be much change. Educators were stuck. Apple and Windows were pretty well entrenched. 

Then there was:

• The Force Awakens - enter Google and Chromebooks.

Again, the battle for the classroom began. Google made small inroads with the Apps for Education and all the other tools that seem to be so intuitive. The struggle continues.

Now, enter a school district in south Texas. This district had been pretty well wiped out in a hurricane, and technology was at a minimum for a while. Then they got some laptops, then some iPads. Then more of each of those. Windows and Apple became the reigning powers. 

Apple started losing ground, however, and other ideas began to emerge. Finally, it was decided by all the powers that be in our district, we will get Chromebooks. AND it will be one-to-one for 7th and 8th grade! Guess what I teach? 7th grade.

Well. Now it is time for swishing the light saber and making humming/buzzing noises! 

So this blog will be my chronicle of this unexpected journey into the world of Chromebooks and implementing them in my classroom. You will also find some articles later on in TechEdge magazine from TCEA. I will share what I am doing to prepare for the coming year and the changes it will bring, what kind of training I am doing, things I am learning, and whatever else comes up. I will share what I like, what I don't like, what is new and exciting, and what is disappointing. You can count on me, dear reader, to speak truth and speak it from an educator's point of view.

I would also enjoy seeing your comments about using Chromebooks if you use them/have used them and any cool tricks with Google apps for education, as well. In the meantime, it is also summer, and all work and no play makes me a grouchy mom. 

For now, I am signing off, but look for more soon because