Skinning, Modding, and Mashing Potatoes

Beach's statement about not pretending that we are technology experts in the classroom was comforting as I read the Jenkins piece and did not understand all of the technology terms. I decided to turn to an old reliable (the original wiki-- I think), Wikipedia, to discover the meanings of skinning, modding, and mashup. It turns out that skinning can mean changing the appearance (or "skin") of a computer program -- or drawing a character in a computer program. It can also be a new activity combining skipping and running -- or a controversial wrestling move involving "the placement of pressure on an opponent's rectum," also known as the "butt drag." Modding is a slang term for "modify," usually in reference to hardware or software. Mashup has subcategories, as in digital mashup (text, graphics, audio, video, animation), music mashup, video mashup, and web application hybrid mashup -- all related to combining (or mashing together) pieces of different things to create a new thing. I believe that Steve talked about mashups for a music presentation in Beach's class.

All of these terms are listed under the "expression" category that Jenkins describes as a form of participatory culture. These are ways of expressing new things by using parts of things that are already in existence. Jenkins writes, while on the subject of appropriation, that "all artists work within traditions; they all also violate conventions" (32). This statement and Jenkins' methods of expression listed above mean that creativity is accessible. Especially if the new model of knowledge is as a collective intelligence, a good artist, through a dialogic process, will take the knowledge that we have and show it to us in a different way in order to expand that knowledge.

The Standard of Standardized Tests

As a possible aid in dissecting dialects, I like the Urban Dictionary. There's quite a debate going on there about the term "Ebonics."

Smells Like Your Voice

Twice now "Smells Like Teen Spirit" has crept into our cohort's discussion of educational methodology. The first was during Maggie and Meaghan's music presentation (in December?) on cover songs for Rick Beach's class. The second was on Tuesday when Ms. Haug enlightened us on using the famous Nirvana song to teach tone and style. I think Ruth Culham would agree that Kurt and crew mastered this trait and knew how to draw the listener in and create a bond between the listener and the writer (103) -- so ripe was the song for personal connection that others took it and ran, with the result being one song performed in many different voices. Below are some of those voices, courtesy of a great (albeit not very original) resource for video in the classroom, YouTube.com.

If you like one in particular, please vote for it in the poll to the right...

Who Knew the FPT Had an Acronym Too

In anticipation of the debate in class about the five paragraph essay, my position is that I am against teaching it as a required format. It stifles ideas, limits creativity, and emphasizes format over content.

In her article "The Ill Effects of the Five Paragraph Theme," Kimberly Wesley writes, "The result of my analysis of this [student's five paragraph] essay suggests to me that the thesis requirement of three separate but equal points hinders my student's thought process as she writes.... Other student writing samples carry seeds of critical thought that are never allowed to grow" (58). Although some students may find these limiting boundaries comforting when writing otherwise seems like a daunting and overwhelming task, as they progress as writers and thinkers the confines of the five paragraph essay do not allow enough room for a good idea to take root and flourish. In this way, the five paragraph essay is like a fence that keeps kids safe in the backyard. When they are young, this is okay and prevents them from getting injured or lost. As they grow older, though, the fence becomes limiting if it keeps them from seeing other parts of the world.

Ruth Culham tells us that "our job as writing teachers is to give our students many opportunities to try out different kinds of structures so they'll have lots to choose from when they write" (73). Joanne Gillespie describes her experience using a multigenre writing approach with seventh graders: "By giving students an opportunity to respond to A Single Shard through various genres, I hoped they would engage with the text and think deeply about the novel. And that is just what happened" (878). If our job as writing teachers is to give our students the tools to express themselves creatively, then we have to teach our students to be comfortable with many different formats. Creativity is unique and original, and often this necessitates just the right format. Sometimes that format may be the five paragraph essay, but often it is not.

Dornan, Rosen, and Wilson write that "the one, two, three format is so stultifying that writers become more focussed on the form as they write than the content, also removing any reason for caring about or assuming responsibility for the message" (132). This should be the ultimate reason for avoiding the five paragraph essay. If the paper doesn't actually say anything, then really, what is the point of writing?

So while I have made my case against the five paragraph essay, I also see Tracy Novick's point that it can still be done with imagination and skill. If the focus remains on the idea creatively expressed in a manner that is relevant to the audience, then that is my main goal in the end.


As for a resource, I found this little blurb called "Beyond the Five-Paragraph Essay" that lists common issues that come up in writing essays and suggestions for assignments other than the "FPT."

hippopotamus hippopotamus hippopotamus

In the spirit of Dornan, Rosen, and Wilson's descriptions of their own personal writing process -- and also our discussion on Tuesday of images as text -- this is a 20-second photographic reflection on my own writing process, composed in an expressive (not poetic or transactional) style.



As a freewriting resource, I like the CreativeWritingPrompts.com website. Move your mouse over any number from 1 to 302 for a different prompt that may propel you from writing "hippopotamus" over and over again to something meaningful and inspiring.

Student Criteria

Our final project is about the effect of male media representation on boys. If I had students working on this same topic, I would have them collect examples of media representations of men, discuss the examples in class, perform research on their own, and then write their own analysis. Their writing would be evaluated on being able to draw specific connections between their example piece of media, class discussions, and their research. It should contain an example or quotation from each of the three. It should also contain a unified theme or opinion, backed up by evidence, that the student wants to convey to their audience. Finally, the writing should be well-organized, well-written, and free from errors.

Media in the Lifestyle

In a typical week, I read the Start Tribune most days. According to the Washington Post, it was a local, family-owned newspaper until 1998 when it was sold to McClatchy Co. Then a year ago, McClatchy sold the paper to Avista Capital Partners, "a firm specializing in private equity investments primarily in growth oriented energy, healthcare, and media companies." My parents have been reading the Star Tribune for a long time. My dad jokes that a conservative friend of his used to refer to it years ago as the "Red Star" paper because of its liberal bent. Now his comment is that the paper has been getting smaller and smaller these days with less content.

Another media source that I rely on is Minnesota Public Radio (MPR). I listen to their news, classical music, and "Current" music stations on the radio throughout the day and subscribe to a few of their podcasts. As far as I know, MPR is a private, non-profit orgnization that gets funding from foundations, businesses, and "listeners like me." I find MPR's news coverage to be thorough and unbiased, and from their music stations I get music that I can't get anywhere else on my radio dial.

Since I rely so heavily on those two sources of news, I recently decided to branch out and subscribe to the New York Times daily headlines and news alerts by email to get a broader perspective in addition to the Minnesota perspective.