Here's Your Laptop

WES third graders with their Chromebooks

Weiner Elementary first placed one-to-one computer devices in the hands of our students in 2014.  I'm not sure who was more excited, the kids or our principal and I.  We gave them out class by class in the library, peeling away styrofoam and cellophane.  We both gave speeches about how special it would be for the students to have their own laptop and how we couldn't wait to see what all they accomplished with them.  I took bunches of photos of grinning kids and shiny laptops.  Now, beginning a fourth year of having one-to-one technology, I just finished assigning and distributing laptops to students for the 2017-18 school year.  I cleaned them up, wrote names on slots in charging carts, created name tags for carrying bags, prepared student laptop responsibility contracts, checked barcodes out through the library circulation program, and heaved a big sigh of relief when I was done.  I passed them out to students who are comfortable with laptops now and glad to get them so they can get busy with them right away.  But as I assigned Chromebooks to the third graders, I saw again the eagerness and excitement a kid feels when he or she is first presented with their "very own" laptop to use.  This year's third grade class is our biggest class, and it got pretty loud, but how can an eight-year-old be quiet when all of a sudden it's Christmas in August, and they're being handed a Chromebook with all its mysteries and possibilities?  I realized it was a totally new experience for many of them as I watched them trying to move the cursor with their trackpad. These third graders have much to learn, but they're up for it.  I only wish I had made a bigger production of presenting them.  If you see a WES third grader, ask them about their Chromebook, and if you see a community member who helps fundraise for the Weiner Children's Endowment, thank them for their work.   It's due to the extra funding provided by the Endowment, combined with the networking system and support set up by our district that all our students have the power of a computer at their fingertips.