Weekly Task 1
This little cross-body bag is my everything. I have other activity specific bags, but this one always tucks in and holds my life together. There are two common questions in our house that I ask: Where is my phone and where is my bag? It shows where I am in life as I transition to a parent of late teenagers. I no longer worry about what my kids need but there are still reminders of the big ‘mom’ bag I used to carry. The items in this bag are my essentials for everyday life and help me move seamlessly through my various roles in a day; mom, wife, teacher, student.
Outside of my bag:
I have a mini pop-it hanging as a fidget for myself or any kiddo who needs it. This help me with self-regulation especially when I am feeling restless and having to wait. This is not a digital technology but a life saver in its simplicity.
Inside my bag:
My wallet allows me to interact with various types of technology to acquire what I need/want in a day. There is also some cash just in case technology isn’t working.
There is a mix of comfort and necessity in this bag. My emergency chocolate bar is both. My medicine case holds my Benadryl which is needed in case of an allergic reactions, not an everyday occurrence but an emergency when it happens. My sunglasses and air pods are survival items that keep me sane by allowing me to block out light and noise. My job is often at my desk and on the computer so my air pods help me focus.
There is also a reminder of how life can change in my bag. They are bittersweet. One receipt is from my 19-year-old son’s birthday celebration just days before he moved to Calgary to attend university. We went to a golf simulator which was amazing and way too technologically advanced for me to understand! The second one is for a bag that I bought him to hold his gym gear as he starts a new chapter of his life. These remind me that life is always changing and I am learning new roles and literacies as I go.
The keys represent a security technology. They are my work keys which I guard them closely. I can’t afford to replace them. My car keys swap place when I am at work but both are always close to me. These represent to different technologies, but both are machines, one simple and one complex.
The other random items show the randomness of life. The taco sticker is waiting to go on my coffee mug, the hair elastics are for my son because he never has one, the mints for fresh breath because I love garlic and the lip balm that has seen better day.
Insights:
These contents remind me that there is more than just digital literacy in our lives. We switch between digital, analog, physical, emotional and health literacies many times through our day. This is a representative of life but also education. We are at a place in time where we are so focussed on literacies individually that we often forget that they all must work together as well. We are not just separate parts but a jigsaw that has to constantly adapt and change to fit together. Education needs to remember this so that we can ensure our learners are getting their best chance to find themselves.
You can see that my phone is missing from this picture. My phone is never in my bag. I always keep it separate. This is a quirk of mine that makes me feel safer because if I lose one I always have the other.
15 years ago, I would have still been carrying a diaper bag so the difference is significant. I wasn’t employed in the field of education as I was a stay-at-home mom. My proprieties were different but the same. My family comes first. There were no digital technologies in my diaper bag. It was the basics of keeping my children happy, fed and clean.
If someone found my bag years from now I am not sure what they would be able to understand. It nods more to digital technologies with my cards and less towards tradition. This is not really a representation of me as I always have a book, note pad and pencil case with me in another bag. My cross-body bag shows that we are still in a place of transition. Traditional slowly giving way to advancement.