I walked into my interview for a position at the Office of Instructional Technology with a huge blue wheelie bag containing 25 lbs of necessities for my literacy coach position. Inside my bag was the balanced literacy curriculum (in what was known as the big red binder), a bunch of notebooks containing the latest reading and writing workshop units of study, binders with notes on the work I was doing with teachers, and folders containing information that supported my coaching work. I was interviewed by Troy Fischer who looked up, pointed to my wheelie bag and said, "If we are to consider you for this position you'll have to get rid of that thing." I protested explaining I am the type of person who needs to have all resources at my fingertips wherever I am so I wasn't quite sure I could agree. Additionally, I explained that in my position I had no access to a laptop or digital material and though I had access to a desktop it was shared by numerous people making it difficult to reliably access. Mr. Fischer said, "Well, I'm looking to hire someone who’s ready to change all that." A few interviews later I was offered the position and my first responsibility was to digitize all the literacy and math materials that coaches would need as part of an initiative to equip NYC Coaches with 21st Century Toolkits comprised of fully loaded Tablet laptops. I worked with all our partner organizations and was able to get a treasure trove of textbooks, resource materials, and even that big red binder in digital format. At the same time I was committed to going completely digital. It was surprisingly easy and was ultimately an absolute blessing because once I made the decision to do this I never had to worry about printing or locating a file again and I had all my work with me wherever I was.
Here are my ten steps to a successful paperless diet:
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