A Paperless Class

Just read an article about how much teachers rely on paper and pencils and how much is spent on paper at the school I work at… staggering to say the least. I started my MA Ed Tech degree two years ago and will now be graduating in two months. The second class that I took in the program (which I probably should have taken last) scared me death. The class was on campus and the first thing the instructor said was that this is a paperless class. My first thought was, “How can that be? It’s not possible to take a graduate class and never use paper.” My second thought was, “I am so in over my head.”  Well, I quickly learned. Needless to say, I survived the class. I began the 2010-2011 school year teaching a math technology lab. The first thing I told my classes was, “Do not bring your pencil to this class because you will not need them.” At first they were excited, but then you could see the wheels turning in their heads as if to say, “What are we going to write with?” I went on to say , “You don’t need pencils because we are not using paper in here.” At first, it was pure joy on their face…. NO PAPER AND NO PENCILS. And then reality set in. They were scared. How on earth were they going to do math when no paper and pencils were to be used? I then explained to them the layout of the class, the tools that would be used, and some of the things we were going to do. Smiles soon returned to their little faces. And it’s been great!! I can’t tell you how much I enjoy NOT going to the copier.