What is your daily need for the items in your bag?
Laptop and charger: Being both a teacher and student, my laptop and charger are my most prized and protected possessions. As I’ve transitioned from a core French teacher to an ELL support teacher, I found that I am spending a considerable amount of time on AIPs, emails, excel sheets, video calls, and constantly refreshing my work email during my working hours. When I get home, I open my laptop again as my day is still not over as I am completing assignments, replying to discussions, and, of course, constantly refreshing my school email. That being said, my battery is always being drained so the charger is a must everywhere I go.
Headphones: I am a huge music fan and will try to listen to it at any free moment. I wouldn’t say I have a favourite music genre or language, but I listen to anything that sounds good. I also use my headphones to listen to my required readings for my courses. I actually found Speechify during my first semester of MET and have been using and recommending it ever since!
Keys and wallet: I am someone who loses everything, so I’ve kept my keys attached to my wallet for years!
Lanyard: At my work, our uniform is just our lanyard which has our photo ID. I’ve added some pins and keychains given to me by colleagues and students.
Glasses: I wear glasses though most of the time I find myself putting them on the top of my head (Don’t tell my optometrist!).
Sunglasses: My eyes are super sensitive to light so if I’m outside, I probably have sunglasses on.
Eyedrops: My eyes are chronically dry so I go through a lot of Systane.
Aquaphor: I swear by aquaphor lip balm. I might be their biggest fan!
Pen: I always have one as back up, just in case!
Polaroid: I always keep a photo of my nephews (Ben 5, Max 2) and niece (Amelia 4) in my bag. I live next door to them and they are a huge part of my life. I love being an aunt!
Gum: I am either always chewing gum or sucking on a mint.
How might these items be considered “texts” and what do they say about you, the places you inhabit, the cultures with which you engage, and/or the activities you take up?
I think these items are texts because they tell the story of who I am and my day to day. Although a big part of my story is work and school, you can see glimpses of my personality and interests.
Thinking about the title of the course, what are the “text technologies” in your bag, if any? What do these items say about how you engage with language and communication?
My laptop and charger are definitely my main text technologies since I use them for everything, emails, assignments, and video calls. The charger is always with me because my laptop is never really off.
My headphones let me listen to music or my readings on Speechify whenever I have a spare moment. They make it easy for me to keep learning even when I’m on the go. I’ve always struggled with processing while I read, so using text to speech has significantly helped my comprehension.
My pen is an old-school text-technology, but I like having one in case I need to help a student or sign something. It’s a simple backup when I don’t want to pull out my laptop.
These things show that I use language in a variety of ways and that I’m almost always connected. I like being able to switch between working, studying, and relaxing without missing anything important. They also show that I like a mix of tech and non-tech ways to communicate. Even though I rely on my laptop a lot, I still see the value of having simple tools.
What do the items in your bag say about the literacies you have?
For digital literacy, my laptop and charger are essential for reading and writing emails, working on documents, and joining video calls, which means most of my communication is online.
For auditory literacy, my headphones let me listen to my readings through Speechify, which helps me understand material better since I usually need to reread things to fully grasp them.
For visual literacy my Polaroid photo reminds me that images can carry meaning and connect me to the people who matter most.
How does the narrative of the (private) contents of your bag compare with the narrative produced by the image you have of yourself or the image you outwardly project?
I think my bag is a lot more organized than I am. I think a part of me tries to minimize the clutter around me to compensate for the chaos that is my schedule and mind. I think a good glimpse of who I am is my keys and wallet. As I’ve gotten older, instead of trying to fix my chaos, I now try to work around it. For example, my students know they must take a photo of any assignments/projects due as I never take their physical papers because I know there is a chance I could lose them.
What would this same bag have looked like, say, 15 or 25 years ago?
Being 26 years old, my bag 25 years ago would have been a diaper bag. But 15 years ago, my bag would have been shoved full of loose leaf papers, broken pencils, and smushed granola bars. Organization was never my strong suit, but it’s something that I’ve been working on.
How do you imagine an archeologist aiming to understand this temporal period might view the contents of your bag many years in the future?
I think they could see my bag and have an understanding of both sides of education: student and teacher. I think they also could have seen my stickers, pins, and keychains as symbols of the relationships I built with my colleagues and students. They might say these small items show how important community, connection, and advocacy were to me, not just the work itself. They could also notice my laptop and charger and understand how much of life during this time happened online, with constant access to information and communication being necessary.
