More Than Just a Chromebook: A Lesson Beyond the Syllabus
School’s back after winter break, and with it comes a pile of notifications, assignments, and… surprises. One of the first posts on Google Classroom caught my eye: something called “Chromebook Registration.” At first glance, it looked like one of those posts you skim, think “I’ll do it later,” and then promptly forget exists. I didn’t even open it properly. Obviously, because I’m lazy in a very academically strategic way. Ironically, that laziness may have saved my Chromebook. Some students, however, were far more responsible than me. They followed the instructions immediately. A few hours later, the same students were sending screenshots in the group chat—screenshots of restricted settings, blocked access, and a sudden realization that their personal Chromebooks no longer felt very personal. That’s when things started to feel… off. A few days later, teachers started asking who had completed the registration. A handful of us—four or five girls—admitted we hadn’t. Not out of defiance,...