VTS Week 5

Portrait of Possibility:

I have several students in mind that VTS will be a benefit for. But today I am going to focus on two boys, Mr. Storyteller and Mr. Self Confidence. Both of these boys are in 4th grade.

Mr. Storyteller-
I have had Mr. Storyteller for about 9 months and everyday he continues to wow me in many ways. On the first day he attended art, he wore his art shirt, which was a tshirt that had a picture of his art from his old school on it. He is always looking for validation and when he gets it, he will then remind me "remember when you said you like my drawing" etc. This is a kiddo that needs constant stimulation- he is frequently making noises that his peers find very difficult to ignore. During instruction time, he rarely pays attention, no matter where he sits or even with a personal invitation. He is very enthusiastic about everything he does and loves art! I have chosen Mr. Storyteller because of what I saw with lesson 1 vts. He was engrossed in the art and conversation the whole time. 15 minutes of focus time for Mr. Storyteller is totally unheard of, Yipee :) I feel that VTS caters to my friend in so many ways, he loves to tell stories and his imagination is endless. I have noticed that his attention to detail with VTS is incredible compared to previous assignments. I think VTS will help Mr. Storyteller stay focused, engage in higher level conversations with classmates, get the validation he enjoys, allow him to share his ideas in a light that gains respect from his peers, and get him excited in a new way about art. The plan, VTS Mr. Storyteller and his classmates, making mental notes to later tie back to, with the validation of noticing his hard work and focus. Hopefully this focus will start to stretch into other parts of his education!

Mr. Self Confidence-
He has been my student for the past two years. Oddly enough he is a twin and I think they are totally different in many ways, but exactly the same in one area... self confidence. He seems to lack any kind of confidence in his work. He needs me to help him or validate his every move in my room- and it has only gotten worse in the last year, I do know that this is also the case in his classroom as well. I have to admit, I am concerned that Mr. Self Confidence gets the annoyed vibe from me once and a while... last year about Christmas time, I worked really hard at helping him (and brother) to make decisions for themselves without needing me for every step. It drives me insane when my students ask me "like this" and the answer is right in front of them, or "what do you think Mrs. Schotte." My typical response is,"what do you think, you are the artist" or "look at my example, does it look like what I did."  We had made a lot of progress, but a summer away means one step forward, two steps back. I wonder if something is not happening outside of school that he is taught to use someone else opinion and approval for every little thing. My hope is that VTS will help him to slow down and really pay attention to details. He struggles to pay attention in class and rushes through a lot of work. I also hope that Mr. Self Confidence will gain more confidence when he is validated for his answers in VTS and potentially students will start "pinging" from his ideas to give in more peer derived confidence. The plan is the same at Mr. Storyteller- let VTS do its magic.