The picture is of my school bag that I take with me to school each day. It has a variety of items that I typically use on a daily basis at work. The bag is not overly large in nature, as I don’t like to have to transport lots of items to and from school. The items are:
- A water bottle- as a PE teacher, and teacher in general, it’s important to stay hydrated throughout the day. It is also spill proof which means I can chuck it in my bag and not worry about spills. In the morning I am rushing to get my 3 and 5 year old out the door for drop offs. I cannot afford to spill anything.
- Coffee mug- this spill proof mug contains my much needed second cup of coffee for the morning. It is essential that it is spill proof as in the gym you never know when a ball will come flying and hit your mug across the gym floor (yes this has happened). A morning without coffee would be tragic.
- Change of clothes- I typically workout in the morning and engage in physical activity in my PE class. I don’t want to be the smelly teacher, so I shower and change before I head to my science classes.
- Pens- always helpful to make quick notes or mark assignments at home. The highlighter specifically has become more important while taking my masters as when I read I like to pull out important pieces of information. This is an item that I need from school to bring home.
- Advil- You just ever know when a headache will arise. I can get bad headaches from being dehydrated, over tired and or being in a loud gym. This Advil can help me through the day. This is also the cold and sinus plus version that can help with any allergens that may be bothering my sinuses. A smokey fall day in the Okanagan is not uncommon.
- Utensils- I typically pack a lunch, it is missing from the photo as I consumed it already for the day. I always bring a reusable utensil to prevent having to use plastic.
- School keys- these keys are essential to me moving about our school’s building and letting me into the rooms that I need. They are on a school lanyard that describes the pride I have for my school.
- A mask- pandemic teaching:) Can’t get anywhere without this thing!
- Laptop- Most of my coursework is digital and its text is on my computer. There is a sticker that is on my laptop, left from the previous user. I have hidden it because I think it is Star Wars? But Star Wars does not represent me as I haven’t seen any of the movies. I am not a big movie buff.
- Notebook- this item is essential for me when going to meetings or working on my masters. I process by writing and drawing mind maps. It helps me focus on what is important and summarize thoughts.
When considering my items as text they do convey a lot about who I am and the activities that I like to do. I would definitely say between the coffee, school keys and the laptop you would be able to understand that I am a teacher and these are some of my key daily tools. What might be strange is that I am missing “paper” as a teacher. This may describe my teaching style or literacies that I prefer as being more digital than paper to pen, or it describes the fact that my teaching is more participation based not needing as much paper. This of course is all just an interpretation. The athletic wear and water bottle describe me as being someone who enjoys physical activities. I am physically active on almost all school days whether I am participating in my PE class or doing my own workout in the morning.
My items from a private point of view may have more meaning to me than to others. The narrative that each item holds personally for me says a lot about who I am based on past experiences of my life. When you see athletic clothing, you might think I have just started including physical activity in my life. My workout wear does not describe the adventure I have gone through in my life as an athlete. Those clothes do not speak to an outsider to say that being an athlete has shaped my life and who I am today. A picture of items just speaks to a stereotypical or practical use of the item viewed, but that is not to say that all items might have a story or more meaning connected to them.
The text technologies in my bag that help me to engage in language and communication would include my pens and notebook, as well as the phone that I am taking the picture with. My pen and notebook describe how I communicate with myself. In order to work through or process other texts I must create text of my own. Putting ideas or text into my own words is critical to me fully understanding something. The phone, second to in person conversations, is an item that I use to communicate with others. Texting or emailing are two things I use my phone for quite often and help me to communicate to others.
15-20 years ago I was not a teacher but instead a student. Some of the contents would have been the same including a change of clothes and a water bottle. These physical literacies, which describe that I like to live a physically active lifestyle, have not ever changed from me being a student and teacher. I have been active my whole life. The “digital” contents that are present would not have been the same. A laptop was not something I used very often when I was a student and all homework would have been printed instead of digitized. As a student you may have also found a binder full of paper and likely a textbook or two. As a student you would also not see me using a phone as I did not have one 15-20 years ago. My communication was in person or on a landline. Perhaps ICQ or msn messenger were around but I definitely didn’t use those often. If someone were to see my bag in future years I think similar changes would occur or not occur. The physical fitness items would still be the same but digital technologies may leave more room for interpretation.
If someone in the future were to look at my bag many of the contents I would say are timeless pieces of technology. The athletic/ workout clothing would be easily understood, as would the notebook and pen. Items that might prompt more confusion would be the digital tools and technology. Our current world is in a technological age where changes occur by the day when it comes to technology. Perhaps in the future my phone and laptop will have morphed form their typical uses of today’s times. Its scary to think that these items could become obsolete in a matter of a few years.