Anyone else ever get this instruction from a teacher? For English class, or journalism, or whatever? I got it all the time. I used it all the time. Is it still allowed? If anyone knows, please leave a comment.

Anyway, I now sit down to write yet another editorial, coming straight from yet another teacher meeting, so I have two reasons to invoke this ghost. Some days, you have a great idea, and writing is easy. Most days you don't, and if given the chance to borrow rather than create, you'd do it in a heartbeat. But not always.

Most educational tools assume that one of these - build or borrow - is the way things should always be, and give no thought to the other. Software either focuses on content or tools, almost never both. Reality is messy, though. Sometimes someone else's stuff is exactly what you need - you're uninspired or busy or behind schedule. Other times, you have the perfect lesson and want to build it from scratch yourself. Most often, you fall somewhere in between - you want to use someone Else's work as a starting point and then add your own personal touch.

That's why we built Thumbprint the way we did, making it easy to create, share and modify stuff. Whether your feeling creative or overwhelmed, the tools are there to get you where you need to go. If only there was an equivalent tool for blog writers...