I was very curious about analyzing myself, and literally emptied my bag that I use everyday. I’ve always noticed that I wasn’t like my mom and had a Mary Poppins type bag with everything anyone could ever need tightly stored in perfect pockets of her bag. Mine is much more simple and utilitarian. Mine doesn’t represent my 2 kids, other than the pencil crayon thrown in but I think this is because of their ages (10 and 13) where they don’t need as much from me anymore. I feel that my daily need for most of the things in my bag really represent what I do as a teacher and less as a mom. Having a plethora of pens and highlighters so I can jot down that great idea for a math task is often necessary, even if it ends up as a crumpled piece of paper in the bottom of my bag like the one I found. Having coloured pens and highlighters for giving feedback to kids on their work as I watch my son’s soccer game has also added to the collection. I don’t tend to have a journal or notebook in my bag (too bulky), but a pad of post it notes is often there. If I need more space, I often use random piece of paper (for example the crumpled brainstorm I found was written on the answer key to a math check in I’d given).  It’s just been in the last year that I’ve found need to carry a mask, hand cream and chapstick which are all helpful when dealing with Covid protocols. The stress release essential oil roll on has also come out of the drawer this last year and been very helpful to me when things are getting overwhelming. I found it interesting that I had whiteout in a little pocket of my bag. It’s likely been there for years, and I can guarantee you that it’s never been used! It’s not an item that I use often on the run.

Looking at the items as texts, it’s obvious that I’m a teacher from the words that are scrawled on the papers in my bag as I brainstorm and think of new ways to have my students learn. It says that I value the time and space to jot my ideas down, and that I love the flexibility of a pen and paper for brainstorming over digital forms. The wide range of pens and highlighters also speaks to y use of colour I use as a teacher for feedback and also organizing my own thoughts. 

My phone, which was taking the picture, would likely have a few notifications, reminders, unread texts and emails for both school and home.  So while I enjoy written text, I am fully immersed in digital forms of communication.  My husband and some coworkers would say that I’m too immersed in digital communication and I have been trying to work up the nerve to take my school email off my phone. If you read my texts on my phone you’ll learn that I’m not one to take shortcuts.  Emojis are fine (but not overused), but I text in full sentences with all punctuation, even commas!  No shortcuts with spelling.  Its interesting that there isn’t anything in my bag that would represent my family, my love for crafting or building, or for my love of play volleyball.  But look in my phone, or on my digital platforms and you would certainly see evidence of all of these.  

The text technologies I use most by looking at my bag are pen and paper.  That is often my preference before I digitize anything.  I appreciate the freedom and creativity that I feel when I’ve got some pens and a blank page.  Digital text technologies would be a close second.  You won’t find a computer in my bag because I have 1 in each of my spaces to lighten my load (1 in my classroom, 1 in my office and 1 at home).  My phone which goes everywhere I do is used for so much digital communication from my notes app for to do lists, texting, social media and multiple email addresses.  Looking at all the types of text in my bag, I would say it shows that I appreciate media and digital literacies, but that printed forms of these are still important to me.

Ironically I’ve had this exact bag for over 20 years, and I fill it with much of the same things from when I was in University.  Granted I didn’t have a laptop then, and the texting options were much more limited, but a focus on coloured pens and highlighters, post-its, random brainstorms, to-do lists and notes were certainly still there for small things.  But gone are the big binders and notebooks, now replaced by folders in my Google Drive.

I think an archeologist would look at my bag and see a person who used different forms of text technologies for different purposes. We have so many options, and I use many of them, but each for different purposes. In 2021 many of us are still in transition from traditional print to more digital text, and I think my bag represents this.