Woah!

I am so glad that I finally finished recording myself talking about my typical day with my “diaper” backpack. Reading and referring to the multimodal layer diagram in New London Group’s (1996) article, I contemplated how I could change the semiotic mode of Task 1 to a different one for several days and I finally decided to verbally talk about my day with my essentials in the backpack with some audio effects to help listeners visualize my day, the bag items and myself.

So, my story starts with a key jiggling sound at my garage in the morning, trying to double check if my essentials are all in the bag before leaving home with three my children. After dropping off two of my daughters at their school, I am heading to a recreational centre with my youngest daughter for her dance class. Toddler’s nut-free snacks and diaper changing necessities are pulled out of my bag to use. On the way to a park for play time and lunch my daughter falls asleep and once again my MET studying essentials: cellphone, pen, paper, and Air Pods come in handy to utilize this waiting time.

I tried to use two different modes of meaning:

• Audio Design: oral language and audio effects help visualizing how the bag items are used and what they are meant to the storyteller.
• Visual Design: even though my story does not include any pictures or animations (if I had more time and technology skills, I would have included animations or movie to make this task more complex), the setting of the time and the place that I take my bag allows the audience to visualize objects and movements.

After learning and thinking about multimodal literacies this week, as a mathematics teacher, I think this multimodality can also be applied to numeracy and mathematical representations. For instance, abstract mathematical concepts can be delivered and understood more successfully using various modes of meaning and their design elements, such as visual, spatial, or gestural design as opposed to merely using written texts.

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