Inaugural Post

    My first thought after watching Thomas's video was, "Wow, what was I doing when I was twelve?" Sadly, it was nothing nearly as productive as that. However, his statement about students knowing more about technology than their teachers rings painfully true to many teachers, and I am looking forward to drawing within striking distance of my students' current knowledge and understanding.
    Perhaps what excites me most about integrating more technology into my instruction is more related to waste than "getting up to speed" with my students. Every time I run off several hundred copies, a small part of me (and a small forest) dies. I really want to move, as much as possible, toward a paperless classroom. While it might not be possible to go completely paperless due to some classes--AP exam preparation and such--I want to come as close as possible. This also will bring me more in line with the knowledge I will need to use newer technologies and easily adapt to the even newer ones constantly being created.
    All of these considerations come back to one ultimate goal: helping students to be successful. I find it difficult to imagine how one can teach a student valuable information--and ways to acquire new information--when the student knows more about the subject than the teacher. By increasing my understanding and use of technology in my classroom, I hope to become a much more effective educator.