Task 1

This “What’s in Your Bag?” task is very timely for me as the new school year has just started up. This means, my back-and-forth to school (work) bag is relatively well kept and has not collected a bunch of old pens, food wrappers or stickers, (yet) as it has just been reorganized for the school year. Many of these items in my bag I consider to be my necessities. Found in my back-and-forth to school bag is:

• My laptop
• Headphones
• My school keys (student gifted M&M’s lanyard) and whistle
• Small collection of stationery items
• Reading glasses
• Wallet
• Water bottle
• Bottle of Tylenol
• Chapstick*
• Small container of trail mix
• A handful of citrus halls
• Sage’s peppermint halo headache remedy roll on*

*considered my cannot-live-withouts if stranded on an island.

Background

I call these items necessities because I make self-care a priority throughout day-to-day teaching life. Anyone close to me knows that I am the go-to person to be a walking pharmacy or hydration station. Self-care is important for all of us. For me especially, self care is important when you are surrounded by sixty 12-year-olds all day, and also when you are growing a human! Considering the items in my bag as “texts” I believe it shows a lot about myself. Besides the commitment to self-care, the few “texts” pictured show my minimalist tendencies. Anything I do not immediately need is passed on or recycled. My bag contains only texts that are pure necessities for daily teaching life.

Texts and Technologies

My laptop is the most obvious form of a digital technology. This is responsible for my daily communication for both my personal and professional life. Whenever I can, I engage in digital communication. This ranges from e-mail communication or collaboration with colleagues, to note-taking (personal digital to-do lists), to assessing student learning, to a digital calendar and more. Reflecting on this item has made me realize how important this form of digital technology is to me. I rely on this device, quite literally, 24/7.If I receive an important piece of paper, I am quick to scan it, file it away within my computer, and recycle the paper. The small collection of stationery items I have pictured is mostly for a “just-in-case” scenario, or on the off chance that someone wants my autograph.

There is a mix of digital and print technologies throughout my bag. Not pictured, however, within my wallet are a variety of print texts featured on my credit cards, loyalty points card, or driver's license, for example. It is interesting to think that the contents within my wallet are all digital texts as there is an absence of cash or even a simple quarter.

Timeline considerations

It is interesting to think of an archaeologist viewing this photo many years into the future. I anticipate an archaeologist would view and understand my bag as only a small piece of our time in history for the average person. I believe that a wallet, keys, snacks, and cosmetic items (chapstick or equivalent) would remain constant years into our future. Although, I would image that wallet and keys would be more digitalized in the future.

Comparatively, twenty years into the past, this bag would have looked somewhat similar, but with some major changes. My laptop, used primarily as a major communication device, may still be present in the average person’s bag. A laptop twenty years ago would be much larger and would not be as much of a communication necessity as I’ve described above. Or, or some people the laptop in my photo may have been replaced with a notebook and a pen.

I believe a few other “texts” may have been changed as well:

• Reusable water bottle → plastic bottle or absence of altogether
• Reading glasses → larger size to match styles of the time
• Headphones → larger size to match the style of the time or nonexistent
• Credit cards and loyalty cards → coins and cash

Final Thoughts

Exploring the contents of my bag and reflecting on the connection between texts and digital technologies has been informative. A recurring theme for me is the importance of my laptop as a digital communicator, and this is something that I will continue to reflect on.