Blog Topic #11: Preparing for Teacher's Choice

The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles (1991) -Faith Ringgold
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l267nyD5yI1qzy9rqo1_500.jpg

I have decided to stick with my original image for the Teacher's Choice VTS lesson after reviewing and reexamining the prospective images I chose a few weeks ago.  I have chosen this image because of the reasons I listed in my blog post from week 9 and because I still think this is an appropriate image for their age, stage, interests, and abilities.  I also still think the features/aspects I listed in week 9 will be points of interest that they will take notice of and that will intrigue them during our discussion.

This image is a good choice for the content/curriculum I am currently teaching because it is full of many of the Principles and Elements of Art I have discussed with them since Kindergarten, so they can make connections there.  The piece also references several time periods in history.  One of the fourth grade GLEs states that students can "compare art from historical time and culture", so this will be a good piece to align with that particular standard.  Students will be able to use their knowledge of history from their classroom to decode what is going on and who the famous figures in the piece are.  I'm hoping the piece will challenge the students to do what I stated above: discuss their knowledge of these historical figures and the traditions of African American culture that are depicted in the piece.

Blog Topic #10: Video 2--Lesson 4/Image 1

Here is the link to my second video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ew0og-Iqo_g&feature=youtu.be

• Student Engagement Learning:
• Students continue to be very willing and excited to participate in VTS discussions, as evident by the many hands that raised in the air even before silent looking time was over.
• Observations made by my students during this discussion:
• Some students were immediately under the impression that the photograph had been taken during times of segregation because of the separation between the group in the foreground and the man in the background, and because of seemingly old-fashioned attire.  They were a bit fixated on the thought that the African American man in the background looked very sad, and that lead some of them to believe the people in the foreground may have been slave owners.  I wasn't expecting students to speak so frankly about the subject (especially the second child that participated), and I was a little flustered when I tried to paraphrase his comments.
• Other students thought the clothing looked like it belonged in present times, specifically the child that was wearing what appeared to be track pants/sweatpants.  I thought that was an interesting observation.  Several students thought the people were traveling because of the setting of the piece. 
• I had a feeling the students had recently been reading about or studying times of segregation in their classroom lessons, due to the connections they were making to the photograph.  Due to their connections to previous knowledge, I think I would qualify them between the Stage I category because their observations are still very centered on the emotions of the piece, and the Stage II category for this discussion, because of their desire to build a framework for the piece using "their own perceptions...and the values of their social, moral and conventional world".
• Students are definitely expressing their observations conditionally, because they start many of their sentences with "It looks like..." or "It might be...".
• There were definitely demonstrations of more flexible thinking during this lesson because several students raised their hands more than once to give multiple viewpoints of the work, changing their minds from their first observation as they listened to other's opinions. 
• Students are linking their own responses by agreeing and continuing with thoughts their classmates have stated, or by coming back to their own responses and building upon them.  They have been very respectful with each other, often agreeing with ideas their peers have had.  When there are disagreements, they are made kindly and without being hurtful.
• I think I did an okay job altering the questions this time.  It will be good to have more practice getting myself out of the habit of just asking the three questions the original way.
• Students are continuing to grow with VTS, learning how to look for details that make connections to information they are learning about in their regular classrooms and world outside of school.
• Specifically the many observations about slavery this week led me to believe my students had been discussing in their classroom and it was fresh in their minds when they looked at the image this week.
• Reflective Practice:
• This VTS lesson was not my best.  I was concerned about my time this week, and the addition of my new introduction and the need to vary questions this week made me get a little jumbled at times.  Plus, at the beginning, I thought the computer had stopped recording and I got flustered.  Technology....bleh.  ;)
• The original three questions and the prescribed teacher behaviors are what I do feel confident in this week.  I feel like it was just the new stuff I was struggling with.
• I don't think rewording the questions impacted the goal of the lesson, I just think I wasn't as smooth with their delivery as I will be with more practice.  I had gotten into a good groove of using the original three, and I was obviously trying to remember to vary them this week, leading to me stumbling over my words at times.
• I was very surprised at the fact that my students discussed slavery so much with this image, simply because of the separation between the white family and the African American man in the background.  I was concerned about how to paraphrase the second boy's final comment, because of it's insensitive frankness.  I don't think he meant for it to be that way, but in any event, I struggled with paraphrasing.  On the VTS homepage, it suggests to immediately follow with "What more can we find?" to encourage other opinions to be expressed.  I will definitely keep this in mind if I run into a situation like this in the future.
• Planning:
• For future VTS lessons, I will memorize my introduction by practicing it in my spare time for several days and I will become better at varying the questions so my transitions aren't as choppy in the future by practicing doing so with a group of peers or a different group of students. 

Blog Topic #9: Teacher's Choice Proposal

The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles (1991) -Faith Ringgold
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l267nyD5yI1qzy9rqo1_500.jpg

I chose this image by Faith Ringgold for my Teacher's Choice Proposal because my young, 4th grade students are very interested in images that are bright, colorful, and have a lot of potential for various narratives.  The figures are painted stylistically and the diversity of the way the females are painted will provide them with expressive content.  The image is accessible in more ways than one.  For instance, students will find it very interesting that an artist they recognize, Vincent van Gogh, makes a cameo in the middleground.  I also like the fact that it isn't a painting on canvas, that students will be able to make connections to the quilted border.

Blog Topic #8: VTS-to-Date

• Student Engagement and Learning:
• Students were as willing as ever to participate in the 3rd VTS discussion.  I don't think they approached the discussion differently than in previous VTS sessions.  Yes, they have gained experience using the strategy, but they have always been a very engaged group so I don't see that there have been major changes in the ways they have participated since the beginning of the semester.
• Student responses aren't necessarily different, but I have tried to remind them before each session to make sure they only make one statement when their names are called.  I love how thorough they want to be with their observations, but that tends to lead to others not having a chance to speak, or the same observation being mentioned over and over.
• I think at this point the quality of the discussions has remained very good.  My group has always been quite comfortable speaking their minds about the various works of art, and that hasn't changed.  This has been a rough time to introduce VTS to my class because of how much schedules have had to be rearranged due to snow days, lessons I needed to teach before the end of the year, programs at school, and other variables.  The class has done very well with the introduction to VTS, but I don't know how much growth I have seen.
• Some of the observations students made during the 3rd VTS discussion were:
• The child has been injured. She is sitting on an adults lap, her face looks sad, and there looks to be a scrape on her knee.
• The child is sick. Her face looks pale, there is a pot of something next to the people that looks like medicine, and there is a cabinet above the two people that looks like a cabinet that holds medicine.
• It looks like the people have been quarantined because of their sickness. They look pale like they are sick and the blinds are drawn on the window like they have been locked in.
• It looks like the child is an orphan. The lady that is holding her looks like a nun and sometimes nuns run orphanages.
• The person holding the child is a man. It looks like he is going bald.
• The person holding the child is a woman, it looks like she is wearing jewelry.
• The person is a man, it is not jewelry, it is buttons on his shirt, and he is wearing red pants, there is just a blue blanket over his pants that looks like a skirt.
• It looks like the building is from the south, because in the south, the buildings are made of clay, and that’s what the wall of this room looks like it’s made of.
• It looks like there has been a natural disaster that has wrecked their house. They are very sad looking, and there seems to be a lot of things out of place, especially by the bed or chair on the right.
• Student interactions during this lesson were as good as ever, with the exception of getting a little off track because of the office calling my room and my principal needing to pull me aside to ask me a brief question.  One difference during this discussion was that there were actually some amicable disagreements made.  The students disagreed as to whether or not the adult subject was a man or a woman.  No one got their feelings hurt, and I do think this has been a positive gain made by my students.  I think they realize that VTS is a good way to practice voicing their different and unique opinions.
• Reflective Practice:
• Thus far, I have learned that VTS is a great way to get students involved in talking about artwork, and that it is an invaluable part of an art classroom starting at a young age.
• I feel like I am able to use the questions and prescribed teacher behaviors comfortably during most sessions, but I do still tend to gloss over the second question unintentionally.
• As mentioned above, the problems I am seeing are students giving multiple observations all at once, leading to me forgetting to ask the second question.  I have also had trouble with finding plenty of time to facilitate the discussions and get my class on schedule with the projects my other 4th grade classes are completing.  I'm hoping starting VTS in the fall and getting into a groove right off the bat will help that situation next year.
• I have been pleasantly surprised by how well my class has adapted to the VTS process and am looking forward to introducing the process to more classes in the fall.