Woo Ecstatic Teacher Here!!!!! If I could have posted at work and not have been blocked, I totally would have done that at lunch.
What an exciting day! My 4th grade group took their pre-assessment. It went fantastically. I quickly glanced at them and skimmed a few for content. I had word count varying from 20 words to 120 words. Most of them were well written and really payed attention to details. I gave them 15 minutes with the prompt we were given. I still had 3 that were intently looking and writing when the timer went off :) I will report back with more results, I have decided to have each group of 4th graders take the assessment. I can't wait to see how they do.
Also, I was at the tail end of a class (3rd grade) and had just finished introducing our next project (Pablo Picasso). I need to fill the last 10 minutes until they walked out the door, so I did a VTS session on a Picasso piece (collage musicians). The kids came up close because I only had a print of the image, I quickly described a few points about VTS, and we started. Their responses were very creative, and then as someone pointed out a hidden dog in the image the conversation took off. I might have messed up a bit and am not sure if this was okay. My kids were pointing out colors, so I kinda of fed more information, asking about color families. Can we do that or only stick to the three questions? Well it was a great way to end the class and I'm looking forward to trying it with the rest of 3rd grade this week.
I enjoyed watching the woman and her class on you-tube. She did a fantastic job of paraphrasing. I especially like the way she pointed out how they had seen a certain number of things before she paraphrased. Then she would say, "I'm just curious, what did you see that makes you think that was ______________" I thought this was a great way to pose the question in a really neutral way, while acknowledging the kids ideas.
Happy VTSing- So far- Great things are happening :)
I did cartwheels when I read your opening line to this posting! I love it when teachers are happy with VTS.
ReplyDeleteYou had a strong pre-VTS assessment if you got between 20 and 120 words. Can't wait to see the end of semester results!
I was also excited to hear that you used VTS as a "filler" for your 3rd graders. Great way to make every instructional minute count. Make their brains work until the moment they walk out the door! Love it!
As for adding guiding statements to a VTS discussion, as a VTS instructor worth my weight in salt I do have to say that Housen and Yenawine strongly discourage it for beginning viewers. What you are trying to do at this early stage is remove yourself as the supreme source of information so that students will develop self-confidence and independent thinking. If students know that you are willing to share what you know,they will continue to lean on you... some will kick back and stop the mental work all together. Others will hold back because you have established that there are right answers and they fear they won't be able to produce them if they speak. Make 'em work and make 'em reach! The best way to understand the difference between pure VTS and what I call "VTesque" is to be sure that you return to a netural, "no information coming from these lips" stance with these students the next time and compare the experiences. You may find greater participation when you step out of the middle. If they "don't notice what you want them to notice" then, stop right there and think about your objectives. If your objective is to teach formal qualities and art historical knowledge and for them to notice certain things in the work, then VTS is not your tool. If you want to ignite student engagement in looking and encourage self-efficacy and risk-taking as lookers, then yes, VTS is exactly the tool you want. As they gain experience with VTS and art knowledge through other aspects of your teaching throughout the year (through art making discussions and individual critiques), those things will enter the discussion orgnically without your prompting and BINGO, you have an assessment for the unit! That is when the sky opens up and the angels sing!!
I am so excited that you are already beginning to use VTS outside of your focus class!! I'll REALLy do cartwheels the day you blog about doing it with a kindergarten group!! They will knock your socks off! (And no harm done with your 3rd graders, Kelley. We all stepped outside the neutrality zone, myself included. You are to be congratulated for snatching up the opportunity to try VTS with a different group! Yeah for you!!!!!!!)
Okay, glad to hear it happens, but I will be sticking to being neutral. Thanks for the advice. I was tempted to try it with one of my Kindergarten classes, but decided against it. My goal is to try with Kindergarten by the end of September, and try with a different grade level each month.
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