Week 10- Video #2



 Assessing, Reflecting, Planning

           Describe student willingness to participate in the discussion. Are you witnessing change? Students are familiar and very comfortable with VTS, most were anxious to participate. I noticed that a couple of students who did not volunteer last time shared this session.

            What did students notice about the featured artwork? Are you seeing more careful observation and deeper noticing? Students noticed the setting, the subjects, and the emotion of this piece. There was only one student who offered an ‘inventory’ type observation. I felt like a lot of thought went into the most of observations. (I felt that the sparse background of the piece required careful observation.)

            Are students expressing their observations conditionally as they gain experience looking at art?  (i.e. “It could be…” “It might be…” “It’s possible…”  “I wonder if maybe…”

I see some conditional observations. One boy said “I kind of think’, and another girl said, ‘Maybe’.

            Are students demonstrating more flexible thinking? (i.e. “At first I thought, but now I think…”  “It might be…, but it could also be….”)

The second student I called on offered two possible scenarios, beginning her statement, ‘I think that it’s either…or….’ Another student changed the narrative he was describing, modifying it as he said it, like the meaning was clearer to him via the process of relating his thoughts orally.

               Describe student interactions during the discussion. Are they linking their own responses? Are they respectful and democratic as they construct meaning?

 My students are adept at linking. Sometimes I will call on someone ten minutes after another student has shared and that student will say ,”I agree with what John or Mary said” and then elaborate on the reason why. Students are not disrespectful in their discussion, however, there were two students sent back to their seats for failing to sit quietly.

Were you able to vary the questions from time to time without altering the meaning? 

 Yes, blabbermouth that I am, I think I do a pretty good job with varying the questions. In watching the video I realized that at the beginning I told the students that there are no right answers, fortunately, they had heard my spiel often enough that no one picked up on that….I meant to say no wrong answers!

What do you think students learned from this discussion? What did you observe that makes you say that?

First of all, though it’s not captured on the video due to a technical problem, when I first turned on the SmartBoard, there was a mild undercurrent of surprise that an ‘old’ photograph could be a piece of art. Additionally, students realize that I will call on everyone who volunteers to participate and that I will value all responses the same.

Reflective Practice:

            How did the VTS discussion feel and what did you learn by facilitating the 4^th lesson with your students?

 As I mentioned earlier, both students and I are comfortable with the process, and each other. I am no longer as anxious about time; I know what behaviors to anticipate from which students. This lesson further reinforces the passion I already feel in regard to VTS!

       Are the questions and prescribed teacher behaviors becoming more natural and comfortable? Have you tried to reword the questions without changing their intent/meaning?  Did the change impact the discussion in any way?

The whole process feels very natural to me, I enjoy facilitating the conversation. My rewording of the questions did not seem to have any impact on the discussion.

Were there any surprises?  How will these impact your practice moving forward?

Early on in the session I called on a student who is new to the group. He had sat through a previous VTS session, without actively participating and had never raised his hand induring art class. (The student has an IEP, and seems very quiet.)He told me that he had not held up his hand and I replied that I wanted him to look closely at the image, that I would return to him later. I had no idea how he would respond, and hoped that I wouldn’t be putting him on the spot. It surprised me that he had something to say when I called on him the second time. He linked his response with that of another student, and then contributed more information. In the future I plan to use this technique with other students who aren’t as anxious to share.

                             

Planning:

What do you want to work on as you plan for future VTS lessons?

Hopefully I managed to maintain neutrality, but I was extremely frustrated with one student when he spent several minutes trying to point out something that was not a part of the picture. I could not locate it no matter how hard I tried. He finally came to the SmartBoard and pointed to the ‘bag’ that he saw, and after all of that, said, “It has stripes.”(Inside I was screaming - it took so-o-o long!!!) I want to work on being more patient. Perhaps I could have extracted some more information from the student, but I he had already taken so much time that I just wanted to move on.

How do you think you can accomplish that?

 I just need to relax, breathe deeply, and enjoy the experience, however it unfolds.