My Apple Store Pilgrimage

This weekend I made my first ever visit to an actual Apple store. Salt Lake City has an Apple store at the Gateway mall. The store was smaller than I had expected, but really cool nonetheless. I really enjoyed playing around with the black Macbook of my dreams. One thing that I was a little confused about was whether or not all the applications that I saw on the new Macbook come standard with it, or if some had been installed for demonstration purposes. Apps like iWork, OmniOutliner, and Apple Remote Desktop are ones that I am very interested in and would be very happy to have when I buy my Macbook.
Another thing I discovered during my visit was that they have some awesome printers available for purchase. Many of them were part of a fall promotional sale during which they end up being free with a rebate. The thought of getting a scanner, copier, printer for free with my purchase of a Macbook was enough to make me want to make a purchase now as opposed to in March.
I need to find out if I can get the educational discount at that store, or if I can only get it if I make my purchase at the bookstore here on campus.
It was a good way to pass my day while my wife and kids were out of town.

Job searching

Yesterday I got on the website for the Montana State Office of Public Service. I was looking to find job listings for technology teachers. They have a great listing of jobs. I ended up finding 2 jobs that seemed very appealing to me. One was in Darby, MT, and the other was in Lima, MT. The one in Lima looks like it would be awesome. I believe that it said the school was very small with like 100 students in grades 7-12. Class size would be like 11 students. How awesome would that be!! The down side to going to a school that small might be that funding might be very minimal. Also, I'm sure that a school like that will have computers, but they won't be Macs. It may take some convincing to get the school to buy some. I'll have to show the powers that be what the students are capable of and how a Mac can facilitate the students projects.
Today I'm going to look for jobs in Idaho and see what I can find. I want to start contacting school during this fall semester so I can line a job up as quickly as possible.

A Classroom Book

I have had this idea of creating a book to document each class I teach. The idea for creating and self-publishing a book has come from a variety of podcasts which have discussed a website called lulu.com. This site is dedicated to helping authors of all ages, styles, and stages of experience to easily self-publish books on demand. I have heard a lot about the site, but am just getting started in exploring the site itself as far as what it contains.
So here's my idea. I want to create a book for each and every class I teach that contains my thoughts and plans, my students thoughts, examples of student work, photos of students and experiences, and other fun and insightful content. I picture having a hardback copy of a book for each class I teach as a technology teacher. I would then display it for my students and enable them to purchase a copy of it if they are interested.
For myself, I would like to have a visual representation of my journey as a teacher over the course of each class. I could write a brief overall plan for the class to feature at the beginning of the book, and then I could write a reflection once or twice a month to get a picture of where I am and where my class is going. I think that would be fascinating to read after the end of class.
Another way of thinking about this kind of a book is a sort of visual portfolio of each class. I know I am going to have students who will produce awesome work, but how do I keep all of that around? Having a bookcase which is dedicated to these books will be a great way to keep tabs on that great work.
I want to create a meaningful method of preserving my memories as a teacher. I'm glad I have thought of this well before I have started teaching. I want by first year of teaching documented. 30 years from now that will be awesome to look back on. I could maybe turn all of this into a project for each class. The possibilities are endless.

More Podcast Ideas

So I am still brainstorming (ideating) various ideas for podcasts that I think would be fun for me to do, and would be interesting for listeners.
First, is "The Child of '79" podcast. I would talk about things that happened in 1979 (the year I was born). I would also talk about what people who are famous today were doing that year. Music could be reviewed.
Second, is the "Music for Geeks" podcast. I would scour the internet and my geek network to find the music that is fit for geeks. I think that music that talks about technology and geeks is interesting also. I could also discuss music that is being made by geeks.
Third, is the "Record Preservation" podcast. As I was reviewing the Audio Hijack Pro software that I mentioned in my last post, I discovered a feature of that software that will allow the user to bring in and record music from records. I think it would be great to digitize the records I own. A lot of the older music which is on records has never been digitized and put onto CD's. It would be interesting to listen to that old music. I would attempt to round up a good number of records, and feature a different record on each episode of the podcast. I would be a way to share and preserve that music.
Lastly, I got an idea from my recent obsession with the music of Death Cab for Cutie. What if I hosted a podcast about Death Cab for Cutie and their music. I could discuss biographies of the band members, the history of the band, tour information and the background behind their songs. It would be an interesting fan podcast.
Anyway, I'm just trying to keep my creative juices flowing. The more ideas I come up with, the closer I will be to hitting on something really popular. I want to be prepared when I get hardware that is up to the task.

Podcast Ideas

So this morning as I was working my thoughts turned entirely to the subject of podcasting and the anxiousness I feel to teach it next fall as I start my teaching career. I listened to a review of the Audio Hijack Pro software on the MacVoices podcast with the CEO of Rogue Ameobae software. I'll play around with Garage Band to see what it can accomplish with making podcasts, but I also plan on buying Audio Hijack because of the added functionality it would give me and my students.
As far as preparing myself to teach this subject, I have a lot to do. I have never made a podcast, so that's a place to start. My current laptop (the mighty Powerbook G3) is not up to the task, in my estimation. I'll have to wait until I purchase my new Macbook in February or March of next year. Then I'll get my website up and running, while at the same time figuring out the whole hosting and FTP things. Then I'll set up podcast hosting with libsyn. I figure I'll probably want to produce at least 10 podcasts utilizing various formats and styles before class starts in the fall so as to have a base from which to guide my students, many of whom will probably never have heard of podcasts before.
I will of course host my own podcast independent of my class' podcast. My ideas today for podcasts were and "Ideation" podcast where I would maybe sit down with some of my students or others and just discuss ideas on all topics. Another was to do a podcast where I would share some of my favorite audio clips from podcasts I listen to on a regular basis. I haven't heard anyone doing this yet. Another one I thought of was a mothering or parenting podcast which would be a discussion between my wife and her mother on all topics relating to parenthood. That's what they talk to each other on the phone about everyday anyway. It could be interesting or valuable to others.
I love podcasts and am excited to get creative with this new medium.