What's In Your Bag?

After seeing many of the TOSA community as well as my friends Roland Aichele and John Eick share what's in their bag, I thought I would give it a go as well as we kick off 2017.  The backpack is a bit heavy at times but everytime I take something out, it seems like just a short time later I am kicking myself with the "argh... I left THAT THING back in the office" feeling.

And here is more about featured bags including what is in Mr. Robot's bag (from my new favorite show) 

Now, many have shared their bags before but I'd love to see what all of you are rocking in your bags!

1) Stormtrooper Backpack: not sure how much longer it can last the day to day grind with all this stuff. 
2) iPad mini: still the "go to" tool for making videos & other digital media projects.  I would love to see a new AFFORDABLE tablet from Google in 2017 though! 
3) Books to Demo: I use Pioneer Trails from TCM and Golden Book's Empire Strikes back to demo Digital Storytelling lesson ideas.  Books like these (particularly "readers" like these from TCM) are great for showing teachers how to use resources like these with digital projects like student created podcasts, documentaries, etc. Here is a video created using the Empire Strikes Back book. 
4) In ear heaphones. Have never really found a pair I liked that aren't crazy expensive. Just bought a new pair on Amazon, hope they don't fall out of my ears like most of them. . 
5) Ice Breakers: the mint of choice!
6) Badges & Cards: Either working in Rocklin USD or when presenting for TCM, these are my badges and Jedi inspired business cards.  
​7) My Best Badge Ever! Designed and 3D printed by my friend Brian Briggs this is what I wear as most conferences and ALWAYS gets a comment or two like "where did you get that?" My answer of course is: " Briggs!"
8) Divided Image: One of my most favorite lessons  of all time. It is a strategy of haivng students analyze images one pieice at a time and focus on their skiills of analysis. The picture I use is my favorite from the Industrial Revolution called "The Strke" I will write about this strategy in a future post. 

9) Laptop: My trusty district issued HP laptop. Its far from a speed demon and even lacks an HDMI port... what's up with that? But the good news is that I've "stickered" the crap out of the thing. 
10) iPad Stand: From Max Cases, this is a great stand for any tablet. It folds up easy and is needed when demonstrating stop motion ideas. 
11) Whiteboard and pens. Always needed when doing any game show or review activity. 
12) Selfie Stick: not used much... but hate it when you need one and it's left back at the office. Also can be used different angled shots as well
13) Ricoh Theta 360: This 360 camera is super fun and easy. It lets me quickly take 360 shots either by clicking the shutter button or remotely with my phone. Plus they easily upload to Google Maps as well. For example, check out this one I took a few weeks ago at a SF 49'er game. We kicked to the worst seats and took this pic. BTW, check out the guy reading a book at the game!
​14)  My Harmonica: Never know when you need to bust out a little "Piano Man"
15) Portable Cell Phone Power Bank: And its a big boy too! Plus with two ports, you can charge two devices if needed. Plus I stickered the crap out of this too!
16) Twitter Sticky Notes: I had these made on Vista Print and you can see the file I made here if you want to do this yourself. It is a great way to get people used to what Twitter is by having them "tweet"using these on a way. Helps to undertand both the brevity of Twitter and how to use hashtags and replies. 

17) Rode Lapel Mic: this is a small microphone that you can use with your phone or tablet to improve the quality. I use this when recording for podcasts on the go. 
18) Check This Out Stickers: Only the coolest and most awesome podcast listeners get to rock one of these limited edition stickers. And if you want one too, check out either Brian Briggs or myself and we'll get you hooked up!
19) Gear Organizer: Dongle and cords and chargers oh my! Our lives are dependent on having the right connections and having a good organizer is key. I may look into getting a larger one as my number of cords & connections keeps increasing
20 & 21) Sharpie Fine Point & Steno Book. My favorite quick way to take notes. For me, a legal pad is a little too big and sticky notes a little too small, so a Steno book is just right. Plus, even though I am quite techie I still crave writting down notes. Plus using colored Sharpie fine points allow creativity and color. 
22) Rocketbook Wave & Pens: This is my Christmas "wow" gift. It is the low tech / high tech notetaking book which allows you scan your notes and send them to the cloud immediately. Plus you can MICROWAVE it to erase it all once done. Check out their video - Mind blowing! 
23) Wired Magazine: My numer one go to for reading still. I do like reading actual print still but find it hard since I read at night in bed with my phone. Wired does though have incredible and thought provoking articles.
24) Google DayDream VR: VR is just about to become something incredible in education. This new device from Google is the most comfortable out there and its wireless controller is revolutionary.