I need help on how to effectively use a Wacom tablet

I have a wacom graphire3 tablet. I can draw pretty well on paper but with the tablet I am having major problems (not as intuitive and feedback isnt there, etc).

What’s the best way to draw on the computer? Do you draw by hand on paper and then scan results in? Do you just put pictures in straight up? Do you draw in Flash, Illustrator, etc?

Any good sites/exercises to get me good at the tablet?

I really want to start looking into creating Flash animations and I think the tablet could make it all the more easier.