A Technology - Free Classroom

In this day and age, is it possible to have a technology free classroom? Well, yes, I would say, however it does depend on how you choose to define technology. If you define technology as basic advancements in science that make life easier, such as telephones, air conditioning and clocks, then obviously a classroom without those common appliances would be challenged. However, if you, like me, choose to define technology in the classroom as 21st century advances in teaching that can aid classroom instruction (or detract from it). Then you could easily have a challenge here.
I have unintentionally met this challenge this year, well this summer to be exact. I am teaching Summer School for sophomores who failed during the year. My school is located in Orange County, in a very low S.E.S district. Here's the catch, Summer School is not funded by the district, it is funded by the local community college. This means that while we are located on this beautiful modern school site with computer labs and technology galore- we don't have access to them simply because the community college doesn't pay for them. So, I am a brand new teacher teaching without the benefit of computers, printers, copy machines, projectors or internet. This is hysterical. At first I was confused and thought I and my students would be lost without these much-relied-upon classroom staples (oh yes, I forgot, I don't have a stapler either). But I am finding, the more the days go by, that our discussions are richer and more open than they would be if my students and myself had technology to rely upon. I know that this revelation is counter productive to what this Tech. class is supposed to be about, but I will say that it is nice to know that if you take away all the fancy devices, students are still perfectly capable of learning. My students are writing essays by hand and revising them by hand as well, this gives them valuable insight into the value of the written word and they are, in turn, learning to be concise and meaningful in their phrasing. This is a lesson that would be difficult to teach in front of a computer screen.
The moral of the story? While I cannot wait to get back to a normal classroom and school with standard technology for students and teachers, I value the time we have been forced to spend without these modern conveniences; it has helped all of us realize the value of basic words.