Task 1

• What is your daily need for the items in your bag?
  • I carry a lot of stuff. Some items are for sustenance - travel mug, water bottle, reusable cutlery, tea pouch. Some items are for personal care - toiletry pouch, nail case, contacts case, glasses cleaner case, wipes. Some is for work - writing pouch, journal, laptop, school keys, and finally basic daily function - phone, card case, power and cords case and the big bag.
• How might these items be considered "texts" and what do they say about you, the places you inhabit, the cultures with which you engage, and/or the activities you take up?
  • To some, it might say excessive to carry so much stuff daily. However, I went through the Fort Mac wildfire evac, and while I was into emergency prep before hand, it is even more ingrained now, that any day you might have to leave everything behind and leave with only what you have with you at the time. This is actually a small sample, because I never go anywhere with just one bag. I have go bags in my pack porch, packed and ready with a much more extensive inventory packed, my truck has its own go bags, and I have a suitcase and additional bags packed at school and a stocked locker at my gym. Additionally, it might say prefers certain designer labels, which is a vice, and technology, which is true. It probably also says no kids, as there aren't the kiddie things moms have to carry. Last, it may some organized, as everything has its own specific case / pouch. I can't handle a jumble.
• Thinking about the title of the course, what are the "text technologies" in your bag, if any? What do these items say about how you engage with language and communication?
  • It think it shows I do both digital and paper when it comes to work/school. I prefer paper copies of textbooks that I can physically highlight while reading. I do a lot of my work for school digitally. I prefer mac hardware, though use Google apps extensively (lanyard), and am a bit of geek when it come to new tech. Three years ago, there would have always been a paperback novel in my bag, but due to an injury, I can't comfortable sit and hold, read a book now for extended periods of time, so now I listen to audiobooks. You can't see apps on my phone, but I frequently use our libraries digital book borrowing app. In may ways, listing ones app might be more revealing about ones text technology and communication. As I'm sure is common for many, my phone is rarely used as a phone. It's a book, music, entertainment library, camera and photo library, work portal, fitness tracker, social connection, car key and house key, security system portal, banking, health, shopping tool and more.
• How does the narrative of the (private) contents of your bag compare with the narrative produced by image you have of yourself or the image you outwardly project?
  • I think it's pretty much the same, except my recent organization in school. I said above I like to be very organized and prepared in all aspects of my life. And that's usually true. My home is just a bigger version of this. Attention to personal style some, but function and very organized and compartmentalized. At school, for the past number of years, was . the same. My classroom was organized to a T, everything had a place and a function and it looked cute. I was prepped and prepared months ahead. I was the crazy person who sent out the entire next years photocopying in April for the next school year. My Google Classroom for the next year was done early June. I could tell an administrator what lesson or assessment was planned for any day of the year on the first day of school, and I booked out computer labs for the year on the first day. However, I had taught Grade 7 for 13 years and had the planning and prep perfected (I was not a perfect teacher, not by a long shot, but I was (over)prepared. This year, though, I feel a mess. I moved to Grade 10 for the first time. I prepped over the summer, but was also doing three MET courses, so only got 1 and half courses done. I am struggling to keep up with planning, marking and not throwing my other life routines out of whack. It's like being a new teacher again, but also doing a MET course at the same time, so there is a bit of anxiety about keeping up with this course as well. It a new feeling for me, being anxious about getting everything done. But, I am hoping after this semester, I will get things back under control and back to my regular and preferred way of handling life and work and school.
• What would this same bag have looked like, say, 15 or 25 years ago?
  • It wouldn't have had a laptop. 15 years ago I had a giant heavy PC laptop that was too heavy to carry around. No iPhone. I think 15 years ago I had a flip-phone that had nothing but calls and texting. It would also have been a Walmart backpack, and no reusable stuff. Waste reduction was not a thing for me then. Also my vision was bette,r so I didn't need contacts. And I think Google Apps were just coming out then, so no Google lanyard. I still would have had my toiletries and personal care stuff. I have always carried those types of things, as I travelled a lot as a teen / early 20's and always wanted my own "stuff" when away from home. There would have been a separate mp3 players, a digital camera, and a paperback book. My work things would have been different then too. I was just finished university and coaching sailing on the weekends/summers, so there would have been a sailmakers knife, whistle, wetnotes, and a multitool. (Those things have moved to one of my trucks bags, for on the road emergencies though).
• How do you imagine an archeologist aiming to understand this temporal period might view the contents of your bag many years in the future?
  • Hopefully the content of the medium, leather pouch - medicine, prescriptions, first aid, and contact case are no longer needed, but all of those might show that medical issues are a central part of my life and others. That "comfort" items were of importance. Perhaps that some people were trying to reduce single use plastics, and that our digital devices were pretty important. I think it would say that wherever I was living was relatively safe, as I don't have personal protection items.

Cheers!

Katie