The best laid plans (or The good, the bad, & the ugly)...

The good:  I'm ready for the new pilot rollout on Monday!  The bad:  Devices and cases arrived Friday, but not attached to each other.  It wasn't so bad.  My principal helped me put them all on Friday afternoon.  The ugly:  Only the HPs arrived!  The Lenovos haven't left China!  We've been told they will be here by October 24th.  I probably would have preferred to wait until they were here, but I'm been told I have to roll out the forty devices we do have next week, because our district needs our old Chromebooks to fulfill inventory needs at our sister schools.  So, my data collection plans are not going to turn out as well as I'd hoped but it's fine.  Here's a transcript of the robocall that went out to parents of our 7th-graders this weekend:

Parents,

I wanted to let you in on a little secret!  The 7th grade at LMS has been selected to pilot the new Chromebooks that all of District 1 will be getting soon!!  Along with this opportunity, the students will be a major part of deciding which device we will use for the District.

On Monday, 35 students, names drawn at random, will turn in their old Chromebooks and bags and be given a new HP Chromebook.  This computer has a snap-on case and a stand-alone charger. This computer is also small enough to fit inside of the student’s bookbag.  

The other 35 seventh grade students will receive their new devices, hopefully, within the next week.  (They haven’t shipped from the company yet.) Again, they will turn in their old computers and bags and be given a Lenovo Chromebook with a snap-on case and stand-alone charger.  

After approximately two weeks, the students will take a quick survey to tell about their likes and dislikes concerning their current computer.  After this, we will switch devices. After another short period, the students will again take the survey and tell their likes and dislikes about this device.  

Once the data has been examined, the decision will be made by District 1 Technology department on which device to buy for the entire district.  

All procedures will remain the same with these new computers as we have done in the past.  Your current $35 Technology Fee that was paid at the beginning of the year will still cover these devices.       

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call us at 457-2629!

Sincerely,

Tucker Hamrick
Principal
LMS

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And, here's a peek at the spreadsheet I'm using to track the roll-in, the roll-out, and the swap of devices: