For this task, I decided to create a song with original lyrics. It is about the items that I use in my bag and what happens for me during a regular work day. The lyrics are sung to the tune of Maroon 5’s “Memory.” Please keep in mind that I am not a singer, so this is as good as it will get! As a refresher, this is the image that I took of the contents of my bag from Week 1.

Click below, follow along with the lyrics, and enjoy!

Lyrics

I, wake up tired – every morning

I rush to get clothes and my lunch together

And then I make sure to check Google maps to see if my commute will be good

 

Then I walk my dog, Baby O

And make sure he goes pee and poo

And then he’s fed and medicated, as he has high anxiety.

 

I then put on my mask

As we are still in this pandemic

Make sure I have my work card, keys, and whistle around my neck

 

I make it to work just in time,

To open the window shutters,

And get out the hand sanitizer,

Okay here we go.

 

Deep breath.

I got this.

Good morning class,

Let’s try to have a good day.

 

Kindies come in all wild,

It’s going to be a long day

And an active one at that

Loudness and chaos is the description of my class.

 

Even though they are an active bunch,

all 18 of them tend to pull on my heart strings

By the end of the day, I am ready for a nap.

 

Doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo

Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo

Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo

I am still ready for a nap.

 

I need to prep for tomorrow

And then commute home

In traffic

From Delta to Vancouver

 

Driving home is my down time

I then reflect on my day

Listen to music

And I’m on my way, oooo

 

Once I am at home,

It is time to pull out my computer

To start reading, doing assignments, and tasks for my masters

 

For a break,

I have my dinner to boost up my energy

As I need to get my homework done

Before the deadline.

 

Back to the computer I go,

I pull out my agenda and the two syllabuses,

So I can check off what I’ve completed and cross out what I’ve read.

 

Doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo

Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo

Doo-doo-doo-doo

I am almost a master

Doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo

Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo

Doo-doo-doo-doo

Soon I will be done

 

We are half way through

This semester,

I cannot wait to be done.

Only 6 more weeks to go.

 

The evening comes around so fast,

Now I get to lay in bed

With Oslo

And watch some TV like FBI, NCIS, 911, and Greys.

 

Now it’s time to take my pills,

I take 12.

It’s a shit ton

But I need it

In order to physically

Make it through life.

It sucks but I have to,

So I do it.

 

Alarms are set,

All 5 of them are ready.

7:00, 7:15,

7:30, 7:45, and 8:00.

 

I lay in bed for hours

Because my mind and body can’t settle.

I TikTok it up until my eyes are blurry

And my phone drops on my face.

 

Now past 1am

And I wish I could have slept early

But I didn’t so I watched hours of nonsense

And learned new things from randoms around the planet.

 

Doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo

Doo-doo-doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo

 

Goodnight world.

 

This was such a fun assignment. I really hope I did it correctly and was able to weave the contents of my bag into what a day in my life looks like. I brought the contents in my bag to life through this parody. I was able to find an instrumental cover of the song “Memories” by Maroon 5 on YouTube so that I would have the correct tune to one of the songs I enjoy the most right now. This allowed me to use the tune to help formulate the rhythm of the lyrics. 

In week one when I described the contents of my bag, I did it in a way that could be viewed visually and textually. Now, as we have moved onto week seven, this task is viewable in another multiliteracy mode where it can be accessed in an audio form. The New London Group (1996) states that “new communications media are reshaping the way we use language” and that “there cannot be one set of standards or skills that constitute the ends of literacy learning” (p. 64). As the world is full of diverse individuals that have differences throughout every aspect of communication, it is important to make literacy available in an array of multimodals. As well, The New London Group (1996) states that “dealing with linguistic differences and cultural difference has now become central to the pragmatics of our working, civic, and private lives,” which suggests that items need to be produced in multiple ways that are available cross-culturally (p. 64). As an educator, we have to make sure we are able to reach all of our students by using multimodal ways to teach them and understand the different ways that our students learn, whether visually, textually, orally, or spatially. 

After I completed this task, I sent the audio file to my sister and my niece and nephew watched it, as well. After they watched it, my nephew, who is in kindergarten, was inspired to share a day in his life from his point of view. I decided to add it to this post. He was able to recreate this task from his point of view in a visual and audio mode. This is how he is best able to describe his day since he is unable to do it textually. I am only sharing the audio portion due to privacy. Click below to listen. 

References 

The New London Group.  (1996). A pedagogy of multiliteracies: Designing social futures. Harvard Educational Review 66(1), 60-92.