VTS Week 12

This wasn't actually the image I had chosen for my choice image, however it was still a good image to use for this week. This is from my video on 11/01/12.

I think this was a very good choice of image for the Group B BWC. Since our unit was "Tall Tales" the image of the giant fit perfectly in with the unit. Since I am primarily working with 7 and 8 year old boys it fits perfectly into the interest of big, strong, "weapons" power, etc. Since they are also stage 1 or 2 viewers  it allows them  many different points of entry regardless of which stage they are located in. It also fits their needs since they can use very descriptive words and other language that can help increase their writing.

I think it challenged the boys just right actually. Since the giant had the color of the clouds the boys weren't able to tell what the giant was holding (sword, baseball bat, club) or sometimes even what it was (giant, caveman, vampire, etc.It actually caused a lot of discussion and they really didn't touch on the kids in the foreground that much. I think if they had kept going they would have dove more deeply there and made even more connections. I was a bit surprised with the vampire comment at the time honestly. However once I thought about it for awhile I determined that the cloud color must have reminded him of the "pasty" color we use to describe vampires. I would use this image for a similar group of boys just because it worked so well. The boys weren't really repeating answers really and were still going strong when I started taking the last question and one of them you could easily hear wanted to say something. I don't think I would the same length of possibly extended conversation every time but I do think it could easily go 10 to 15 minutes every time.

 

VTS Week 10

This VTS was from 10/18/2012. It was part of the BWC lesson of Mytical creatures and was of the abominable snowman.

·         Student  Engagement Learning:

o   Describe student willingness to participate in the discussion. Are you witnessing change?

The discussion seems to be really similar actually. The boys did want to try and point things out themselves a bit more this time then previous times. Its hard to tell but I think they are more descriptive when describing this piece then last time. This could be because of the subject material more than anything. This image also brought in the boys using outside material into the discussion to assert their claims (TV, movies, etc).

o   What did students notice about the featured artwork?

They noticed the Yeti, the people in the background, as well as the crack primarily.  Descriptions about who was going to get who and what was what was primarily all they discussed.

o   Are you seeing more careful observation and deeper noticing?

 With this image they did, but it could have been due to less subject material actually in the image.  However they did describe everything in detail very well and used those descriptions to back up their statements.

o   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…”

Some of their statements are conditional.  When comparing this weeks video to the previous one I notice the boys arn't completely sure what they are viewing. I think with these boys if there is a bit of ambiguity in an image they much more likely to use conditional language.

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

More so after their class mates say something of a differing opinion. Sometimes they will "talk out" what they see but they don't really revise on the spot it seems. This image did draw several different opinions on what the "beast" was and where it came from and multiple boys did use others arguments to modify their own. 

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

They are "pinging" a lot more and I think the ambiguity helped cause that a bit for the discussion.  The boys are respectful and democratic as ever even though we had a lot more disagreement. We did have a little burst of laughter after one of the boys said "goat man" but even he laughed while he was saying it. I didn't take any of the laughter to be disrespectful to what he said.

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

I didn't really altar them in this discussion a whole lot really. Part of it was since I was trying to remain as neutral as possible and the image was a hard one for me to VTS (not so for the boys) I didn't want to break neutrality. 

o   What do you think students learned from this discussion?

I think they learned that there is a lot of differing opinions just like I did. No one seemed to totally agree on anything anyone else said. Yet they remained respectful. This makes me think that also they weren't entirely sure of their own answers either to an extent.

o   What did you observe that makes you say that?

Just the sheer amount of answers as well as a couple of revisions that happened throughout. 

·         Reflective Practice:

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

This lesson felt alot better with the opening statement. However this image was hard for me to VTS only because I was a bit bored with it myself just because of the "lack" of stuff in it. I had also looked at it really closely when I helped with the Group C boys earlier that day. I probably shouldn't have looked so hard at the image earlier in the day but I'm not sure if that would have helped. The boys answers did help keep it interesting though.

o   Are the questions and prescribed teacher behaviors becoming more natural and comfortable? 

Yes they really are. Standing in front of them helps with that. Doing in front of my fellow peers is nice, but it just doesn't "feel" the same. 

o   Have you tried to reword the questions without changing their intent/meaning?  Did the change impact the discussion in any way?

Not really part of it I am still doing for continuity but also because I just really don't want to break neutrality. I think with more experience as time goes on I will deviate the questions some.

o   Were there any surprises?  Will these impact your practice moving forward?

Just the sheer amount of answers. Honestly I thought I had figured everything out in the first 30 seconds. However they kept the conversation rolling for a full 12 minuets! It just shows that even if I'm not fully into an image that doesn't mean they can't be.

·         Planning:

o   What do you want to work on as you plan for future VTS lessons? How do you think you can accomplish that?

Neutrality wasn't the easiest thing during this lesson. There were several time I wanted to say Yeti but I didn't. I assume thats just patience and with time I feel that will get better and better, hopefully not worse!

VTS Week 6

Today's image was of a Rockwell Image on October 4th 2012.

·         Assessing  Student Engagement and Learning:

o   Describe student willingness to participate in the 2^nd VTS discussion.

 A majority of the boys participated throughout the discussion. I didn't ever have to call on anyone and it seemed as if there was always a hand raised. All of them seemed to be engaged and there didn't seem to be side conversations going on either. The boys generally always look at the image but when they arn't the seem to be looking at whoever is speaking and don't really "leave" the discussion.

o   What did students notice about the featured artwork?

The construction equipment was noticed pretty quickly and they weren't sure exactly what it was. The blue prints were also notice pretty early and some people thought they were going to build a baseball field, a football field, and even a house were what was planned on them. One of the boys thought the dog was going to play with them and that they were just trying to exercise the dog by playing fetch with it.

o   Did students list or interpret their observations? (Why do you think that occurred?)

The boys don't really seem to all that often and generally interpret their observations not long after what they see. I feel part of this is because they are used to VTS and are used to the three questions as well.

o   Describe student interactions during the discussion.  How did this impact group meaning-making?

The students were respectful to each other throughout the entire lesson and even when they disagreed with someone they did it in a respectful manner. The boys also address the group as a whole and not just me. This seems to help as I also feel it helps keep everyone that much more respectful to each other.

o   How did the discussion conclude?  

The lesson concluded with Mary giving the cut off signal and my prompt to the boys that I would only take two more questions. I'm pretty sure they would have kept talking for about another 5-10 mins or some but by then I think we might have started going in circles even if I readdressed the first question.

o   What do you think students learned from this discussion?

I think some of the boy might have picked up a new term "blue print" that they hadn't possibly heard before.I think they might have also started to become more used to me since this was my second time VTSing with them.

o   What did you observe that makes you say that?

Several of the boys address the "blue print" but just called it a piece of paper. It wasn't until one of them actually called it that they started to refer to it that as well. The flow of conversation was much better then the first time and didn't seem as timid with me up there as well.

·         Reflecting on Practice:

o   How did the VTS discussion feel and what did you learn by facilitating this lesson with your students for the second time?

It felt better then the first time I was up there with them. I am still trying to learn their names so that has also been an obstacle for me at this point when trying to call on them. They are also all full of very different ideas. During the first lesson I remember the dialogue was all really similar this time there were a lot of different answers throughout.

o   Were you able to use the questions and prescribed teacher behaviors comfortably? If you omitted or changed one, what impact did it have on the discussion?  Why do you think that occurred? 

Yes and no, most of it was just needing practice and doing all of the opening statement was the only reason I wasn't completely comfortable. I did change it up just a bit only to reflect what Mary tells them to have what they hear at the beginning of VTS to be consistent.

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

Just the amount of response that were different. I didn't really break neutrality but I realize that I was possible that if they had said something off the wall it might have thrown me off. Its something that I will have to remind myself and keep aware of.

·         Planning:

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

Just keep working on that opening statement and being comfortable with it. After that these boys make the actual VTS discussion run smoothly.

o   How do you think you can accomplish that?

 Practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, practice, and more practice.