Rufus ThompsonRufus Thompson is a retired educator. He wrote part of the Heath (now Houghton Mifflin) Middle Level Literature series and High School Anthology. Starting in 1988, he trained teachers throughout California on how to implement technol-ogy into the curiculum using best practices and sound classroom principles and taught middle school for 17 years before becoming the technology coordi-nator of the Mountain View School District in Ontario, California. He also served as a representative on the San Bernardino County BestNet Advisory Board to Superintendents, and his Middle School Journalism program was recognized by the National Middle School Association as one of 80 innovative programs in the United States. Mr. Thompson, who has a mas-ter's degree, has taught courses at the University of Redlands, Chapman University (under contract with Webmedia Solutions), Claremont Graduate University, and California Polytechnic University, Pomona as an adjunct. He has also provided extensive professional development workshops for teachers and school administrators, organized conferences, and given presentations at several conferences, including the National School Board Association, the National Middle School Association, Computer Using Education (CUE), and California Educational Technology Professional Association (CETPA). Mr. Thompson recently retired and is the owner of Tech Guy in a Box, a technology and best-practices consulting company.