Todd's Territory

podcast test 2

2006-12-18T09:05:00.000-07:00

Let's see if I can get a podcast up and running for free.
Here is the audio test.

podcast test

2006-12-18T09:04:00.000-07:00

Let's see if I can get a podcast up and running for free.
Here is the audio test.

2006-12-06T17:01:00.000-07:00

Here is my Photo, finally.

2006-12-06T16:59:00.000-07:00

Here is my Photo, finally.

2006-12-06T16:57:00.000-07:00

Hello from Journaler
Did my photo post this time?

2006-12-06T16:56:00.000-07:00

Hello from Journaler

2006-12-06T16:52:00.000-07:00

The iLifeZone

2006-09-22T08:22:00.000-07:00

I have been listening to a great podcast geared toward Mac users called the iLifeZone podcast .
I definitely recommend listening to it to find out about what's going on in the Mac community, to hear about new software, or to just learn more about your Mac. I have been listening for about 3 months, and I never miss an episode now. Check out their blog to see the photo of Steve Wosniak on his Segway. That's cool!!
That's all for today.

More podcast ideas

2006-09-06T06:49:00.000-07:00

I am always dreaming up new ideas and angles for podcasts I want to produce and hope to make these dreams realities in the near future.
Today's ideas are:
1. a show with my wife where we talk about marriage and parenting. Positive reinforcement of the family would be a great thing.
2. the 4 generations podcast. It would be fun to pick a topic and discuss it with my grandfather, my father, and my son, also giving my own opinions.
3. conference coverage. I am amazed at the diversity and abundance of all the various conferences and conventions that exist. I think it would be interesting to talk about them, and perhaps even get into some of them and record live. Maybe they would let me into an event for free.
I was thinking a cool domain name to host some of my podcasts would be toddpod.com. We'll see. I'm off to class.

A Podcasting Teacher

2006-09-05T07:29:00.000-07:00

I recently discovered a new podcast called the Podcast for Teachers. I have found it be interesting and to contain very relevant information for me as I prepare to both teach and be involved with technology. The first podcast of theirs that I listened to was episode 49. The most interesting part of this episode was an audio comment called in by Dr. Joselyn Todd who teaches at the Cary Academy in North Carolina. She has had students do project that involve both podcasting and vodcasting. Here are two links to some of their projects: link1, link2.
She talked about the pros and cons of doing both podcasts and vodcasts. It was cool to listen to the firsthand experience of someone who has done these kind of projects with 7th grade students. I am so interested in doing podcasts with my students, it is really encouraging to see the work others are doing.
As each week goes by, I get closer to getting my new black Macbook and to starting my own podcasts. I can't wait to get started myself so that I'll be ready to get my students up and running with their own podcasts hopefully by the second or third week of school next Fall when I start teaching.

My Apple Store Pilgrimage

2006-08-28T08:17:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-25T07:55:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-16T07:03:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-15T07:01:00.000-07:00

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

2006-08-14T06:58:00.000-07:00

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.

Dreaming of a Macbook

2006-07-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

I told my daughter Miranda that as soon as I get a new computer she can have my old G3 Powerbook to play on. Every couple of days or so she asks me if I have gotten my new computer yet. She cracks me up.
My dream laptop is the new black Macbook with 2 gigs of RAM and a 100 gig harddrive. My plan is to buy one for myself at graduation time next April. I want to be getting myself organized on it before I start teaching next Fall. I can't wait to see the speed improvement over what I am currently using. Sometimes I am surprised at how much and how often I use my laptop. I take it literally everywhere with me. When I first got it I had the mistaken perception that if I didn't have Microsoft Word on it, it would be pretty much worthless. As if word processing is the purpose for which computers were created and are being improved. Apple's text editor takes care of me just fine in that area. Let me list a few of my indispensable applications: Mail, iCal, TextWrangler, Eclipse, MacJournal, iTunes. I love having my whole life on my laptop. Less paper means more organization in my life. My addiction to podcasts is also greatly facilitated by the iTunes application.
When I start teaching it is my goal to get the school that hires me to buy me a 250 gig external hard drive so I can back up all my data frequently and also an external monitor so that at school I have more screen real estate to use. I can't wait!!
Patience Miranda you'll have your G3 Powerbook before you know it.

Podcamp

2006-07-27T06:49:00.000-07:00

I listened to the Teaching for the Future podcast by Dave LaMorte this morning. He spoke about an upcoming event in the Boston area called Podcamp. It is an unconference for podcasters and podcast listeners. It sounds really interesting, and I really wish I could go to it. This idea is one that I think I will use in my classroom and community when I start teaching.
I want to teach students how to get their creativity out there. I think young people could come up with really fun and interesting content to listen to. I can't wait to help my students have a great time while at the same time learning valuable skills.

New Podcast/ Website Ideas

2006-07-25T10:30:00.000-07:00

I am excited to start producing podcasts when I finally get a laptop that is fast enough to do it. This morning I had 2 ideas for podcasts I might do. The first is the BYU Alumni Podcast. I would use it as a way to talk to BYU alumni who are leaders in their respective fields or are just really cool people. There is already a site where BYU students can network with alumni. I think it would be really cool to hear alumni talk about what they are doing, and what they majored in, maybe even the road they took to their current job. A showcase of sorts for alumni. I would listen to it if it existed.
The second idea I had the other day was for a website for my virtual insect collection. I have a fondness for insects. They are cool and fun to catch and observe. I have a collection with dead bugs, but I have recently renounced the killing of bugs for my collection (I kill spiders on command of my wife). So instead of keeping dead bugs in a box, I would like to capture digital photos of cool bugs I catch, along with all the same data of date, place, and habitat that I would keep with my dead bugs. With a good digital camera I think it would be great. While out with my kids yesterday, I caught 2 insect families that I have never caught before (both aquatic). It was a lot of fun, and my son caught one of them repeatedly after letting it go briefly. Capturing those memories would be awesome.
Along with a website, I think an entomology podcast would be a lot of fun. I could talk about the different insect families, where to find them, equipment used to catch them, and other information related to bugs. I could record myself out in the field actually catching bugs. Nothing technical, just fun and interesting. Again, I would listen to a podcast like this if it existed.
Well, there's another one of my ideas out there that may or may not come to fruition someday.

Rotary Cellphone

2006-07-19T06:39:00.000-07:00

Ever since Make Magazine posted a how-to on an analog rotary cell phone, I have been dying to have one. This is a big step for me seeing as how I am not a huge fan or cell phones in general. My wife has one, but I simply don't want people to have access to me anytime, anywhere. But the thought of carrying around a clunky, retro, rotary phone, and having it work like a cell phone is very appealing to me. I want to have it sitting on my desk when I am teaching high school, and have it ring during class. I am highly motivated to learn whatever I need to know to make it happen. I would love to teach my students how to do it, so that they could buy their own rotary phone and be able to build it.
So I have been looking for a rotary phone at yard sales in our area on Saturdays. No luck so far. This morning as I was listening to this week's episode of Twit, it reminded me that I haven't done any searching on eBay for a phone. I looked, and I found tons. Most were going to cost $20 including shipping to get. I went ahead and bid on a white phone whose auction ends in about an hour. It is only going to cost $11. Actually having a phone in my possession will get me on the ball as far as getting the other necessary components. I'm excited to make this happen, and to stretch my geekiness to new bounds.

Sharing Pins

2006-07-17T07:18:00.000-07:00

So I had this idea the other day about how to involve a whole class in a robotics project using just one Basic Stamp (or other microprocessor). First I would come up with a really cool scenario around which we would build our project. Something like "you are going to send a robot to Mars. You will need to collect data to send home, and be mobile to get a look at your surroundings. Design a robot that will best accomplish these goals." Then, based on that initial scenario, determine the different tasks the robot will need to accomplish and divide the class up into groups for each task. These tasks might include, navigation, video transmission, temperature collection, and terrain measurement. Once these groups have been defined, divide up the pins on the basic stamp between the teams so that they know what they have to work with. Those allotments can be adjusted to best fit the class' overall needs. Then working together as a whole class, you fit together all of the groups into a single functioning robot. I think this would be a lot of fun. The whole class would have an invested interest in the success of the robot. I think it is something that I will try out when I begin teaching next year.

Don't focus on "learning"

2006-07-13T07:03:00.000-07:00

As I contemplate what my over-arching objective will be in my classroom as a teacher, many things come to mind. A typical response to a question about this may be, "I want my students to learn." I believe that kind of answer is too generic and too meaningless. I think we should be thinking more abstractly about what will get our students to achieve meaningful learning. I want my students to be able to solve problems. I want my students to be able to make dreams or visions reality. I want my students to serve. I believe that by focusing on these kinds of objectives students will be much better served than if I just think in terms of "learning." I don't believe in rote memorization, I believe in application of principles.
I don't believe in forcing all students to do one assignment one way. In a classroom of 30 students, I believe there will be 30 different ways of doing that assignment.
Learning is a very individual, personal activity. For it to actually occur, I believe the status quo must change and that as teachers we must look in new directions without being chained to the past.

Looking for Hosting

2006-07-12T07:04:00.000-07:00

I have been dying to run a website or two since I learned how to write html back in March, and have since learned the finer points of xhtml, css, and some javascript. I want to write a blog under my own domain and post pictures and other fun stuff. I have also had some fun business ideas along with my wife that we have wanted to explore. However, as I have noted in previous posts, my financial resources are severely limited at this time of my life. I am finishing up my last year of college and we are expecting our 4th child.
I listen to a podcast called Matt's Today in History. In some of his recent episodes, he has had a promo at the end for a hosting service called bobohost.com. It sounded promising, so I started looking in to it this morning. It appears to be very reasonably priced and would be suitable for what I am looking for. I will for sure be talking to my wife about the possibility of doing something very soon.
I also wanted to mention another hosting service I ran into a few weeks ago after visiting the website of Bre Pettis. I really enjoy the video podcasts he has done for Make magazine. The hosting service he was promoting was called dreamhost.com . The main thing I found compelling about their hosting was that for one fee of $8/month you could host unlimited domains. I'll probably just start out with one website and see how it goes from there. Then if I get into multiple domains, I'll go with dreamhost.
I am excited about what's going on with the web right now and want to make a contribution to the conversation. Hopefully it will happen sooner rather than later.

New Podcast to listen to

2006-07-11T06:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was doing a little research on Adam Curry for a speech I have to give this week on podcasting. In the process I discovered a great podcast called Adam Green's Software Stories. He had a great podcast with Adam Curry and Dave Winer about the birth of podcasting which was very interesting. I recommend you listen to it.
I find the whole recent history of the internet very interesting and look forward more and more to taking a more active part in new developments as I teach high school technology. I don't want to be just a passive observer, I want to be a participant. I want my students to be participants! There is just so much going on out there that anything is possible.
I think that knowing the history about subjects you are interested in is very important. You learn why things are the way they are. You learn about who the major contributors were and are. There is so much cool stuff out there, I feel like I'll never be able to catch up on it all.
For now, I'll just keep listening to my podcasts and enjoying what's out there.

FIRST Robotics Competition website

2006-07-10T06:56:00.000-07:00

I forgot to include in my last blog the link to the FIRST Robotics Competition website. To find out more information visit them.

FIRST Robotics Competition

2006-07-10T06:52:00.000-07:00

I listened to a podcast this morning with the founder of the FIRST Robotics Competition. This is a competition for both Jr. high and high school students in which they compete in a variety of robotics events. I have heard a little about this competition before, but there is still a lot I want to learn about it. The mission of FIRST is to get students interested in and excited about science and engineering. As an up-and-coming technology teacher I am very interested in this also. I want to show students how cool robotics can be.
Listening to this podcast got me excited about teaching. I totally want to be able to put a team of students together to participate in this event. I think the founder they were talking to said that they had over 10,000 high school teams involved in the competition this past year. That's an amazing amount of students. As I thought about how to introduce the idea of this competition to my future students, I decided I want to begin talking about it very early in the school year. I will then tailor my curriculum to preparing my students for the events. I think students will get excited about this and work hard to do well in it.
I also think it would be great if I were able to build up an electronics and robotics program at a school that did not previously have one. There are great teachers out there who are already doing amazing things at various schools, I don't want to just get put into one of the many programs they have already set up, I think it would be much more rewarding to allow those students who may never have the chance to learn about robotics to do it. I'm sure it's a lot harder, but at the end of the day, a school will be a better learning environment because of it.

Money Limitations

2006-07-06T06:53:00.000-07:00

Too often I find that I am limited in what I am able to do in technology because I don't have sufficient resources in the form of money. I have ideas for websites that I want to start and run, but I don't have the extra cash to pay for hosting. Although hosting is fairly cheap, when you are really poor, that doesn't matter. I have ideas for electronics projects that I want to build and play around with that also have yet to be built because of funding issues. Some days it really bugs me because I feel my own growth and learning are being limited.
Then yesterday I had a talk with the director of the international student teaching program here. I want to do my student teaching in Juarez, Mexico, but I don't think I will be able to because of my financial situation. It totally sounds like I can get into the program and it would be an awesome experience.
Why does money have to be the limiting factor? Why can't I pursue my dreams? I have even had some great ideas that could possibly make money for my family, but just getting those proposals started takes money, which I don't have.
So if anyone out there reading this has extra money on hand that they would like to donate to a future high school technology teacher who would greatly benefit from it, feel free to contact me. In the meantime, I'll keep writing my ideas down until the funds are available to turn those dreams into reality.

Gaming in the classroom

2006-07-05T06:58:00.000-07:00

This morning I was listening to The World's technology podcast, produced by Clark Boyd. It was very interesting. It's topic was 'persuasive gaming', and the role that video games can play in bringing about social change. He spoke extensively about a new game that was created called "Darfur is Dying". The game allows the player to be a Darfur refugee, and go through what the refugees have to go through just to survive. It is a free online game with the goal of informing people about the conflict in Sudan and hopefully motivate them to participate in the discussion about what the international community should be doing about it.
As I listened to this podcast I began thinking about creating games, and specifically how high school students could create games that deal with issues that are important to them. I hope that in my technology classes, my students aren't solely focused on how to find the resistence at a certain point in a circuit, but rather how they can create something that will solve a problem and benefit others. I could teach students how to write game programs that would address an important issue within our school. Through the medium of a game, they could engage the school in a meaningful conversation. I think that is an exciting prospect.
I want my students to work on projects that will be meaningful to them and will leave them wanting to learn more on their own. I want them to see the value in learning. Maybe I'll even play this podcast for my students when I start teaching next fall.

Problem solving with Java

2006-07-03T06:52:00.000-07:00

One of my first lab assignments in my Intro to Computer Programming class involved writing a program that prompted the user to input a temperature in Fahrenheit. From that temp., the program would them give back the temp that was input in Fahrenheit, in Celsius, and then would tell you how many degrees above or below freezing in Fahrenheit it was. I was able to write this program on my own without any outside help. I am pretty proud of that. The thing that struck me the most about writing this program was the capacity it gave me to do all kinds of different calculations. To do calculations by hand is possible, but it slows me down significantly. Especially if I am needing the answer to a calculation before being able to move on to something else. So I have begun to think about how I could write programs in Java to solve problems for myself, especially dealing with calculations. For example, in my beginning electronics class we learned how to calculate the size of resistors based on the color code. Now I can do those calculations, but it takes me a while, especially if I am just doing it in my head. But what if I could write a program that prompted me to input the colors present on the resistor, and the program would tell me what size resistor it was?? That would be cool!! As I thought about doing this, my mind began reeling with the possibilities of all kinds of electronic calculations I could have a program figure for me which would free up my time to do the funner part of electronics. I don't want to spend my time doing math, I want to build things. Java will help me solve some of my real-world problems.

Creativity is Key

2006-06-30T07:13:00.000-07:00

As I prepare to be a high school technology teacher, I think a lot about what I want to emphasize in my classroom. I'm not going to give tests. I'm not going to give homework. I want the students to be learning hands-on 95% of the time. There are times when I'll need to give a mini-lecture to communicate some valuable information that will help them, but hopefully not too often. I want my students to be doing projects. Videos, podcasts, robotics, computer programs, woods, metals, anything. I want them to learn to work in teams as well as individually. I want my students to become personally invested in those projects. By being invested in their projects, they will come to class and be ready to work, they won't cause discipline problems, they will have fun, and they will push themselves to learn more than I would probably teach them on my own. These projects will come about because of creativity. Creativity is the key. I will start off the school year with exercises to help my students tap into their natural creativity. We all have creativity within us, although sometimes it may be difficult to access because it isn't regularly exercised. By getting the creative ball rolling, they will be able to come up with the most amazing things. I have seen it in my own life and can't wait to see it in my students.

My Computer Code Book

2006-06-29T07:02:00.000-07:00

I do custodial work at a law school, and today as I was taking out the garbage, I noticed in their recycling bins they were throwing out a lot of big, old legal books. One bunch was titled "United States Code Service". I thought that was an interesting title (not that I would ever read one of these books. But I got to thinking about an alternative use for them. I came across this link in my RSS feed reader a few weeks ago about altering books to use them in a more creative way. I thought it sounded like fun, but had yet to come up with my own unique idea about what to do myself. I have gotten into coding Java, xhtml, some javascript, and a little AppleScript. I'm thinking what if I buy a cool bright marker, and write helpful bits of code or other things that might help me out with my coding directly on the pages of this book? That could be cool. Also, I think I'll carve out little nooks and crannys in the back pages of this thick book in which to store the markers I use to write in it with. It will be a great reference book to lug around with me. Storing helpful things on my Powerbook is great, but not too unique or personal.

Learning Java Programming

2006-06-28T07:01:00.000-07:00

I am taking my first computer programming class this year. I want to understand programming better to teach it at the high school level. I also want to be able to program microcontrollers better. I will do cool things with robotics someday!! I am using the Mac app TextWrangler to write my code, which is a great app. I thought I was going to get trapped into sitting in the computer science labs typing my code on windows machines, but yesterday I figured out how to use TextWrangler to write my code and how to compile and run that code in the Mac terminal. That is really going to be helpful during this Summer term. TextWrangler is the poorman's version of BBEdit, and if you haven't checked it out yet, do. See what my C S 142 class is up to on the class website. Happy coding.

Using links with Macjournal

2006-06-27T06:55:00.000-07:00

This is a test to see how links work with macjournal. I want to try to link to my RSS feeds on Google Reader.Google Reader

Testing, testing with Blogger

2006-06-27T06:52:00.000-07:00

This is to test how this app integrates with my blogger account. I hope it works well.
Todd

Fathering Foundations

2006-05-01T07:56:00.000-07:00

I am just getting ready to launch a new blog with my brother-in-law on fathering. We feel the parenting market is taking care of the mothers out there pretty well, but the fathers are typically neglected. We will cater to topics of interest to fathers, in particular new fathers. I have 3 kids of my own, and my brother has one on the way, so we hope to add something of relevance to many out there in the blogosphere.

I've Enlisted

2006-03-28T12:58:00.000-07:00

This morning as I was cleaning carpets at my early morning custodial job it dawned on me that I have enlisted in the Army...the TWIT Army. In case you aren't familiar with TWIT, it is a round-table podcast by Leo Laporte on issues in technology. Those who listen and participate are members of the TWIT Army. I listen to podcasts on technology, I use my Mac laptop daily, and I am constantly learning and improving my technological prowess. The computer project that I am about to embark on is the cleaning up of our HP desktop PC at home. It has so much garbage on it, and is slow. I'm sure it is infested with viruses and spyware. I want to get that all cleaned up. The second part of that project is to copy all of the family photos that are on that PC on both a CD and on my Mac. We only have one copy of those photos, and they are in the worst place. Kara would die if all those baby photos and glimpses of the kids growing up were lost. I want to be able to something more with them than we have done up to this point. I think the family website I am building will be an awesome place to post our favorite photos of our wacky kids. Also, someday we'd like to have physical copies of those pictures and I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen with them sitting on that PC.
As a member of the TWIT Army I dream of the day when I have a new Mac laptop and we have an iMac at home. Then I will set up a wireless network. Kara says she doesn't really have a desire to be really computer literate, but I'm not sure I believe that. I think she just needs to feel more confident with what she's doing on the computer. It will also help when the computer she is working on is fast, and has software on it that she would actually use. I want her to be able to do all the fun stuff that I am able to do on my laptop on a daily basis.
It feels good to be that resident computer geek in the family. I don't turn to people to solve my computer problems anymore, I now know where to find the answers I need. Geek to live!

FreeMind

2006-03-27T12:43:00.000-07:00

I want to offer some thoughts on some freeware I just downloaded and started using this past week called FreeMind. I would have to describe it as a kind of brain-storming/intuitive note-taking application. When I downloaded it, something said that it was awesome, but took a bit of getting used to. This was true. I started playing with it on Saturday, and quickly began to like it a lot. The first project I undertook with it was to map out the family website I am currently designing (Anderson-web). The way it works, is that you start with a central "node", and then branch further and further away from it using either sibling (on the same level), or child (one level below) "nodes." You can add icons, colors, fonts, font-sizes, etc. to your "mind-map". I feel that the way this works really is along the lines of the way I think. I have found that in regular note-taking I find myself leaving extra lines or writing in the margins next to an item because I always have something to add. I also have a hard time personally with re-reading notes that I take in order to study, or just find the most important things that I wrote down to begin with. FreeMind eliminates both of these problems. I started using it for note-taking, scripture study, and more stuff for my website. I think it will be one of my most-used apps from here on out. The fact that it is freeware is so awesome also. I have a budget of $0 for software, so I appreciate the work freeware developers do to make my life better. I would recommend this application to anyone who needs a more efficient way to keep track of their scatter-brained life. I'll try to keep mine under control with it.

State TSA Competition

2006-03-25T11:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I spent my morning and early afternoon at the State TSA competition at UVSC. I volunteered to run the systems control technology competition. It is basically a lego robotics competition. I came up with a challenge that required the participants to detect white pieces of tape inside of a tube. Upon detection their robot was to make a noise, and keep a running total of how many pieces it found inside the tube. Ryan and I built one to work earlier in the week. Suprisingly, not one of the 4 middle school and 3 high school teams was able to complete the challenge. Two teams didn't even have working transmitters to program their lego bricks. There were some really bright kids there though. It was interesting to watch them work. My observation was that they lacked skill in trouble-shooting and problem solving. Also, design was an issue they struggled with. It makes me wonder how I would have prepared a team to compete in such a competition. What would I do to help my students overcome the same struggles that I saw those students having yesterday? I think that the subject matter I will teach as a teacher isn't so important as learning those skills of critical thinking that I saw lacking in those students. I still don't know what I want to teach, but I want to teach kids to solve problems.

From Consumer to Creator

2006-03-21T13:49:00.000-07:00

I love to consume all the wonderful and interesting media that is out there on the web. However, there are frequently times at which I am unable to find exactly what I am looking for out there. That drives me crazy. This along with the fact that I have recently discovered how to build webpages has brought me to the conclusion that in order to find the content on the web that I want, I must join in the fun by becoming a creator of content. My first project is a family website for my extended family. I want us to be able to share important calendar dates, email, photos, and stories easily in one location. I am going to build an awesome website for this to happen in. My second project will be a website for my younger brother and the band he is forming. I want to be able to post free, downloadable music on his site. I am just beginning to discover the power at my fingertips with my laptop. I used to think that without the Microsoft Office Suite on my laptop, it was useless. This is why it sat collecting dust in my closet for about a year. How pathetic is that. There is so much more that can be done on a laptop than Office.
I have just recently learned to write in html using css. I have tried a little javascript, but don't really know how and why it works. I can't wait to learn more so as to be able to incorporate it into my content. As an aspiring high school teacher, I can't wait to teach my students to create content to share on the web. That's what makes this whole thing so interesting: everybody just shares what they are doing in a collective space. I am a creative person, but I don't feel that I have the right medium for displaying that creativity. Hopefully in this way I will be able to share something substancial and meaninful with others. There is so much to learn, and so much content to create, but so little time.

Teaching Skill but Lacking the Content

2006-03-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

I have one year left in the Technology Teacher Education undergraduate program at Brigham Young University. After taste-testing from several majors, this is where I have ended up. My wife and I felt so good about this program and about becoming a high school teacher, that I quit my full-time job, we sold our home, and I went back to school full-time. It has been quite the transition. I have really enjoyed teaching (both youth and adults) through my various church callings. I am currently the teacher development coordinator at church. I love to learn about the techniques involved with teaching and how to engage the students. I have come to the recent revelation that as far as being a high school technology teacher, I do not have a lot of content knowledge. I have one more year to gain some approximation of content knowledge, but I don't know how much more I will really pick up. I thought I was going to teach woodshop exclusively, but now I'm leaning more toward teaching general technology classes. Woods, electronics, Basic Stamp, Illustrator, html, digital video, are all of interest to me. I don't have much depth in any area though. I'm going to be learning right beside my students. I think my problem is this: I learn a new topic in a class where I am given a series of assignments, those assignments have to be completed relatively quickly, I just try to get them done, and then we move on to a new topic. Ideally I would be able to take time outside of class to delve deeper into the topics of most interest to me. I don't have much time outside of class to do that though. As I develop interest in a given topic, I formulate grand ideas of what I plan to do outside of class to push beyond the class assignments, but after I get off work and eat dinner, the will power and desire just aren't there anymore. I have kind of resigned myself to the fact that I won't be the "best" teaching candidate out there, but I will be A candidate. I guess I'm just going to have to get a job first, and then spend my time gaining the depth of content knowledge that I want. I think teaching is going to be great, but it will be nice when I actually know something.

Wanna-be-Geek!

2006-03-14T13:12:00.000-07:00

This semester of school has brought me to the realization that I want to be a geek! This may be an astonishing confession, but it's the truth. Geeks control the world, and I want to be part of that. It takes a lot of work to become a geek however. The specific way in which I came to discover my aspiration to be a geek was through the concept of writing code. I have never written computer code before this semester, but it is really cool. My first exposure to it was through the Basic Stamp microcontroller. We learned to write code that would make the stamp turn on and off things plugged into 120VAC, drive around the Boe-bot, make noises, operate solid state relays, and pneumatics. The abiltiy to control the world was on the desk in front of me throughout these labs. And the key was the code. You can know everything in the world about electronics that you want, but without knowing how to write the code, you can't conquer the world. The second code I recently learned about is Applescript for the Mac OS. I have been learning it on my own, and have only written a few basic programs, but I think it's really cool. I want to learn more, but it's hard to find a lot of info at the basic level. The current program I am about to attempt to write will open textedit, create a new document, and will save it as plain text. That leads me to the last area of my current knowledge of computer code: html. I just learned how to write some basic html last week. I think it is so cool to create a webpage by writing the actual code, and not just using an html editor like Dreamweaver to do it. This week I learned some basic CSS to implement into my html code. The key to the internet is html, and I now am starting to feel like I want to make a real webpage, get a domain name, and have it hosted on the internet. That's exciting.
I know I have a lot to learn, but I want to make it happen. I want to know the codes that can make cool things happen. As an aspiring high school technology teacher, I look forward with much anticipation to being able to teach codes to my students. I will turn them into geeks.
If you are reading this and have any useful information about Basic Stamp code, Applescript, or html and css, please let me know. I need all the help I can get.
That's all for now, I have to go to work, and then I have some coding to do.

The Family Leaves Me

2006-03-11T15:11:00.000-07:00

My wife and 3 wonderful kids left on a road trip today. Their destination...first, Boise, and then Spokane. They will be gone for 2 weeks. That means I have to fend for myself. It's a lonely thing to have the 4 closest people in my life drive down the road without me. I depend on them for everything...food, love, entertainment, waking me up at night, making sure I have band-aids on my "owees", finding anything I have lost, and more. Here is what I'll miss most about each of them. Alice is my little side-kick. She loves me so much. I can't remember if Randi and Benji were like that or not, but she can go from grumpy to ecstatic the moment I enter the room. She loves to sleep by me, and I welcome it. Benji is the little man in my life. We band together as the boys of the house. He loves to help me fix anything. Most recently it was a broken belt on the vacuum cleaner. I miss laying by him on his matress on the floor as he falls asleep. I used to do that all the time, but now I don't make it past putting Alice to sleep. And Miranda, a.k.a Randi-pants. She is our ever-so-capable big girl. I'll miss her wanting to assist in anything from setting the table for dinner, to vacuuming the living room, to brushing her teeth. She is so smart. I'll miss her being excited to go to her little pre-school. She was wearing my jacket this morning, and said she was going to take it with her so she wouldn't forget about me. I'll miss my wife Kara most of all. She is my only real friend. I'll miss her telling me stories about her adventures with three rowdy kids each day. I'll miss her being appreciative of anything and everything I do around the house, from washing the dishes, to taking out the trash. I'll miss our middle-of-the-night chats after getting a bottle for Alice. Pretty much I'll be lonely for two weeks.
I try to set goals for things I'd like to accomplish while I have all this free-time on my hands, but I lose motivation quickly. Here are a few of my goals for this time. I want to go to the Central Utah Electronics Supply store on State St. in Provo. I want to rake out the area by our house that has tulips and daffodills coming up in it. I want to start building a family website by just coding in html. Along with that I want to find out how much it costs to host a website, and who I contact about that. And lastly, I want to maybe take a trip up to the Gateway mall in Salt Lake City and visit the new Apple store. Maybe I can convince Dad and the boys to go with me. That would be fun.
That's all 'til Monday.

My first posting

2006-03-10T10:12:00.000-07:00

I have rediscovered my G3 Powerbook after more than a year of leaving it collecting dust in a closet. Now I want to really do something with it. I'm a thinker, and my hope with this blog is to get my thinking down in print for my own analysis and for the information and entertainment of those who may read it.