The bag I carry most frequently is my work bag, an absolute essential at a school where teachers are always on the move. Since teachers do not have their own classroom, they have to carry all their supplies from classroom to classroom. This is my bag after work with my laptop and course folders left at school.

Pictured on the right is me on Festive Sweater Day at school back in 2017. I am wearing a crewneck with a Christmas tree that is composed using the periodic table of elements — a Chemis-tree if you will — that satisfyingly includes the four most recent additions, Nh, Mc, Ts, and Og which were discovered in 2016.

Without my photo in this post, it would be very difficult to guess my profession, which is a significant part of my identify, from my bag. Nothing in here at first glance suggests that I am a chemistry teacher. It is feasible to conclude that I am a teacher, what with the planner and the whiteboard markers and the multitude of oral hygiene items, but nothing here says chemistry. The calculator suggests a profession in STEM perhaps, but that is about it. The only other object in this bag that is used in chemistry is the inconspicuous Sharpie, a tool that is used by pretty much anyone. It takes a chemist to know that the Sharpie is the tool of choice in the lab, better than the masking tape and the dreadful wax pencil when it comes to labelling our glassware.

Untold by my photo, I am a very organized and meticulous person with perfectionist tendencies. Things out of place and out of alignment irk me. My bag mirrors this as its contents say that I am someone who is always prepared and carry redundancies in case of any “worst case scenarios”. Any files I need from a computer can be retrieved from my phone. I have multiple writing instruments. I carry disinfecting wipes, mouth wash, and floss. I carry a planner that is detailed, colour coded, and filled in with only the neatest handwriting.

15 years ago, my student bag was very similar. I have always been an organized person and carried with me everything that I need. The only thing I did not carry 15 years ago is the kazoo. My personal bag on outing was very different. As an adult, my career is very integral to my identity, but as a teenager, my social group was everything. I remember carrying a mini notebook filled with sticker photos of my friends and I. I would carry this to the mall with my friends and add to it each time we visited the sticker photo booths.

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[The calculator] I had initially thought of text as any collection of symbols that carry meaning. In addition to words, I would have included in my definition pictures. After all, some languages have evolved from pictures. In this sense, I would consider a string of emojis as text, a meme as text, and math as text as well. The difference between a picture, symbol, and a word is unclear to me as all three serve the same purpose, to represent and communicate ideas. Words are made of letters, which are symbols, which are drawn like pictures. What is the difference between writing and drawing? What is the difference between reading a sentence that describes the dimensions of a square, its perimeter, and area, and reading a line of numbers that calculate the three parameters? The calculator is an instrument that allows users to input text and generates text in return. It is a tool that aids in creation, in the sense that to text is to create. If text is a linguistic construction, then surely mathematics qualifies as text. Software, transportation, machinery, are all encoded by numbers, which are the instructions. Numbers are the constructs to programs as strings are the constructs to tapestries. The calculator is also authoritative if the meaning of text in the Latin period is considered. A calculator simply cannot be wrong (oh but it can)!

[Lip balm, throat lozenges, mints, floss, mouth wash, vitamin mix, travel mug, mirror] It is shocking how many items I carry in my bag that are for the mouth and throat, but wonderfully delicious now that I have learned that to text is to create and that the word has an oral history! All these items provide self-care, to soothe and to freshen breath. I use the mirror to check if my teeth are clean after lunch. Teaching is such an oral profession, not just in the way that we profess, but also in the way that we socialize and build rapport with our students. I spend at least half a class speaking, and so if these items sustain prolonged speech, which is created or constructed, somethings given with authority, and taken as authoritative by students, then each of these items can be considered as text technologies.

[Kazoo] A hit with my students, I play the kazoo on my students’ birthdays. An instrument for the mouth, it is an oral representation of heartfelt feelings and celebration. If to text is to create, I can think of no stronger activity to embody creation than music. There is something oddly authoritative about music as well, in the way that it commands attention and respect. Students may not listen quietly to a lesson, but they listen to the kazoo in utter silence. This is perhaps my favourite text technology in my bag. It represents my playful nature, my sense of humour, and my overall demeanor in my classroom. An archeologist who finds my kazoo might at least think that the owner of this bag was quirky.

[Whiteboard markers, pencil, pen, Surface Pro stylus, Sharpie, pencil case full of more of these things] So much of teaching and learning are reading and writing. Tools to do this with are the staple text technologies in a classroom. If I had to choose just one tool to bring into a classroom to learn or teach with, I would probably choose a computer, but a writing instrument would be a very close second! We think about learning not just as hearing ideas, but as constructing ideas. Since our mental capacity is limited such that we can only hold so many ideas in our imagination at once before things start slipping away, and we would like to free up some of our “mental RAM” to do complex mental processes, we have to write things down to lessen our cognitive load. The whiteboard markers and pencil suggest that I engage in collaborative, constructivist activities and the Surface Pro stylus suggests that I am proficient with computers.

[Sanitary pads] I thought these items would no way have anything to do with text technologies, but the Greek roots of text surround childbirth, which is where the idea that to text is to create comes from. Sanitary pads might be the antithesis then, in that they mark a failure to bring forth a child. What do we call an anti text technology?

[Eyeglass cloth] I imagine that in the far future, no one will be wearing glasses anymore as corrective eye surgery become more mainstream and affordable. This item would be telling of the period that I live in to any archeologist that finds it. Though not a text technology itself, eyeglasses are essential to reading text.

[Facial oil absorbing sheets, hand cream, wallet]  These items, other than containing text on their packaging or contents, have little to do with text technologies.

[iPhone] And here we arrive at the very modern definition of to text. I must send countless text messages each month! Even in the modern definition, texting is still a very creative process as we now not only send words, but gifs, memes, and cryptic emojis. Smartphones are used for photography and videography too, making it an artistic tool as well. Anyone with an iPhone can be assumed to be literate as all the menus and navigation are text based. A cruise through the browser history might also reveal a person’s level of media literacy. Does the person browse credible websites or do they frequent websites pushing conspiracies and anti-scientific views? What privacy settings have they chosen to use on their device? I currently have both Whatsapp and Signal installed. What does this say about me?