ETEC 540 Blog by Laura Orlowski

Ni hao! I’m Laura Orlowski: a mother of 4, math teacher, cartoonist and master’s student. I am fondly known as “the woman who runs around with her hair on fire” by my dear husband. My students know me as Ms. Yang. This year I’m teaching IB Math (part-time) in apparently the largest high school (2320 students with only 1700 capacity) in BC, Canada. I do therapy in the form of a comic strip called “Yin + Yangster” which has been on hiatus since the inception of my last child.

For this assignment, I present to you the exclusive viewing of my work knapsack. Inside, you will find a math teacher’s essential toolkit: computer laptop, scientific calculator, USB drive, agenda, writing implements as well as non-math related items of chapstick, perfume, hand sanitizer, hand cream, cold sore ointment, keys, wallet, water bottle, sanitary napkins, cough candies and gum. All of the teaching-related items serve me well in the classroom to ensure I am prepared and organized as I facilitate math in the class. The other miscellaneous items ensure that I am comfortable, fresh and hydrated so that I feel presentable and reasonably professional at work. Due to sheer neglect, I forgot to take out an old Costco receipt (they seem to multiply in my bag) and some ginger candy for morning sickness that was much needed in the first trimester of my pregnancy. Affixed outside is a bubble tea keychain with real liquid and simulated pearls and an authentic Chinese stamp that reads “Pearl Milk Tea” in Chinese characters. This is to broadcast to all my favourite drink of choice.

These items in my bag are considered “texts” in the sense that it’s the created construct of truth with authority about me. The computer laptop represents my reliance on digital technology to teach math and engage my students. The scientific calculator points to my specialization in math needed to employ its use while the USB drive contains digital documents and lesson plans created by yours truly. In addition, my thoughts and ideas are communicated by means of good ol’ fashioned handwritten technology in writing implements and are organized through the use of my agenda. With regards to non-math essentials, the water bottle, chapstick, perfume, sanitary napkins, hand sanitizer, hand cream, cold sore ointment, gum and ginger candies are “text” that conveys my attention to personal hygiene and health whereas my keys and wallet signify the responsibilities of life including the payment of bills and securing my home from intruders. My cell phone is a powerful tool of communication that accesses information, people, finances and entertainment.

Text Technologies: My writing implements along with my agenda are an example of primitive text technologies that allow for the creation of written texts whereas my computer laptop and USB are text technologies I rely on to engage in the digital world of educational content creation. My smartphone is also a major player in the creation, storage and transmission of text-based information. My scientific calculator displays, stores and computes mathematical texts. All text in my non-math essentials were digitally created including a wayward Costco receipt, my chapstick, perfume, sanitizer and hand cream. Professionally it would appear that I am very reliant on digital text technologies to communicate and facilitate math instruction. As such, the items in my bag reflects my engagement with mathematical, digital and written literacies on a daily basis.

While the contents of my bag reflect an individual who is tech-savvy and organized, my work desk and inner turmoil will tell you otherwise. I find myself in between two worlds, with one foot entrenched in familiar habits of the old analog world and my other foot hesitantly exploring new digital technologies. However, I do think I present myself reasonably well professionally as I take extra efforts to preserve this aging body. If my school bag was discovered 15 years prior to the beginning of my teaching career, it would include far fewer text technologies as I relied solely on transparencies and overhead projectors to communicate math content. Further, if we searched into my backpack 25 years prior, we would find science and math textbooks as I was a high school student with a heavy academic load. There would be no personal electronic devices including cell phones or laptops that students take for granted today. It never ceases to amaze me at the rapid pace of technological innovation over my lifetime that I wonder how far we will go especially as it relates to Artificial Intelligence. If one day my current bag is discovered by archeologists, I think they would conclude that the bag belonged to someone who was fluent in mathematical, digital and written literacies where numbers were of great personal significance and that I was someone who cared about personal hygiene and health. Finally, the cultural relic in the bubble tea keychain would add a touch of cultural significance as there are also Chinese characters on its surface and either I was someone who identified with the Chinese culture or appreciated the literal or symbolic representation of the drink itself.