Burnt Toast

I have encountered one setback after another in my attempts to ‘Set the Stage for VTS’! First of all, my district did not start back to school until last Monday, August 15. Our three teacher workdays were jam packed with meetings, making it difficult for me to arrange a short viewing session. Then, after finally wrangling four semi-willing participants, my SmartBoard would not work! The poor library media specialist did everything she could do short of burning incense and reciting secret incantations, and in the end, because: #1. she is such a wonderful friend and #2 she realized that I was nearing total and comple meltdown, she called in the head big cheese tech god on his secret batphone number. This poor individual was actually on the way to his kindergarten son’s very first Meet the Teacher night when he changed his route, popped in, and worked his special magic on my SmartBoard. It is now functioning, but with about four inches of dead space on the right side of the screen. It seems that someone must have ‘bumped’ it during the annual summer floor buffing. Whew! It has been stressful, but I am glad that most of the kinks are ironed out and that I should be able to conduct my student pre-VTS assessment this week.

VTS Rehearsal

The Winslow Homer image I selected was Dad’s Coming

Participants - Cathy and Kellie, third grade teachers, (Due to the lowest enrollment numbers Third grade will be my target group), Lisa and Andre, resource specialists.

1. Did your colleagues notice what you noticed in the painting? Yes, for the most part my group made the same observations about this painting. I had noted that the woman appeared to be working class, due to her clothing, and the weary look on her face. No one in my group made a similar observation.

2. Did they notice details or offer insights you had not considered? How did you respond to these? Initially the group reached the consensus that this was a family awaiting the return of the father, but then Cathy introduced the idea that perhaps the father was dead. That perhaps he had been a fisherman whose boat had been lost at sea and that perhaps the family visited the beach as a way of remembering the father. The entire group then explored that possibility. This idea was something that had never dawned on me. I worked hard to maintain a neutral expression, but was afraid that somehow my eyes were revealing my surprise.

3. How did you feel about facilitating this discussion and what did you learn from this experience? I was anxious to conduct this practice session because I wanted to implement the process while it was still somewhat fresh in my mind from our on campus experience. I was also interested in seeing what my colleagues thought about VTS. I learned that I felt much more relaxed than I thought I would, that my non-fine art participants seemed to enjoy the experience, and that the narrative of a piece could take an entirely different turn than what I had imagined.

4. Were you surprise by anything related to this discussion? Yes, as mentioned, though they eventually seemed to agree that this family had either just said goodbye to the father, or that they were awaiting his return, they also introduced the concept that perhaps he was dead.

5. What would you like to work on in your next facilitation and how might you do that? Well, for starters, I will check my SmartBoard the day before I plan to do VTS and again prior to introducing the session! I don’t anticipate any problems, but I will also see if the library SmartBoard is available for use during that class period, just in case. I also felt like I was saying the exact same words over and over “What do you see that makes you say that?” and “What more can we find?” I need to spend some time thinking of ways I can change the wording without changing the meaning….or maybe it’s okay to repeat the exact same phrases???

Comments from Participants

The third grade teachers wondered if I had ever participated in ‘Adaptive Schools Training’. After I paraphrased and gestured to the area discussed and asked ‘What more can we find’ I stepped back slightly from the image. These two teachers shared that I perfectly modeled what Adaptive Schools Training terms adopting a Balcony View, removing myself from the forefront, assuming the role of facilitator. They felt that I had maintained a neutral stance, no one noticed my surprise over the notion that the father might be dead.

In my introduction I mentioned that there were no right or wrong answers, that they would be examining the image to see what we could learn. The group liked how this created a safe environment. They also mentioned that they appreciated how I affirmed each comment.

Cathy said she enjoyed the way that the VTS experience made it “open to receive the perspective of others.” The rest of the group shared that they liked the way that the group built upon one anothers ideas to achieve meaning. This echoes what Yenawine says, “The notion of building interpretations of meaning based on a large number of observations becomes common practice.” (p 10 Theory into Practice: The Visual Thinking Strategies) She also commented that several of her observations were directly from the personal experience of departures and returns while raising two children in a military family. She said she could identify with the emotions portrayed by both the mother and the children. (Again, exactly what Yenawine says on page 10.)

The resource teachers commented on my paraphrasing, saying that I had done a careful job to link observations and that they could see the potential for the development of vocabulary and language skills.

Thankfully, all of the participants enjoyed the experience as did I. I can’t wait to get started with my students!