Mae has been teaching for over 25 years, but this past year is the first that she's had a chance to integrate computers deeply into her teaching. Through a Technology in Maryland Schools grant, the inner city elementary school she teaches at was able to put at least one computer in each classroom - Mae's received two.

She hadn't had a lot of experience with computers before working with them this year, but she's now comfortable enough that she recently bought a computer to use at home. "I'm still just a little kid on the block," she says. "I don't feel very knowledgeable, but I still feel great because of where I came from."

This year, she was able to help the 25 children in her reading class become proficient with computers, too - something many of them wouldn't have had a chance to otherwise. Her students researched natural disasters, wrote about their findings, and made a presentation to the rest of the class, using computers and the Internet along every step of the way.

On working with students who have never been exposed to computers:
"I've found that children who don't know how to do something in the classroom... have less interest. I don't get upset, because that's how I felt. I didn't know. But when they catch on, it's hard to get them off the computer."