Blog Topic #11 Preparing for teacher's choice

Carmen Lomas Garza

Barbacoa para Cumpleaños  (Family Barbeque?)

- 1993, alkyd on canvas, 36 x 48 inches. #PA056. Collection of Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, Texas. 
 http://carmenlomasgarza.com/artwork/paintings/

 This is the image I have chosen to VTS week 12. I believe that this artwork will have many places for students to "enter into" the artwork.  So much for them to relate to and discuss.  This will also be great for my ELL students to feel more comfortable sharing by potentially having something to relate to and see people of their similar color.  With so much going on in this image I feel like they will be able to tell a story with it.  It's also simple enough that every student should be able to find something to share.  My students need simple images with a lot to talk about at this point, especially since nearly have the class is SPED.  My challenge is getting and keeping their attention.  This much going on in an artwork should help with that.  I will also try "VTS Gymnastics" before this image is shown.  The other way this will challenge them is by putting all of these little details into one story, or summing them up.  I can't wait to see how it goes!

Blog Topic #10 Assessing, Reflecting, Planning

This is 2nd grade Lesson 3 image 1.  There are only 2 images per lesson so this is image 5. I cut the video tape off a few minutes before I ended the conversation since it's so hard to upload (it took an hour this time).

     I think student engagement was high with this lesson.  Many of them were raising their hands.  There wasn't as much for them to talk about as there has been for other images.  My projector lightbulb is fading and it makes it really hard to see the image details unless I have all the lights off.  Unfortunately it was challenging to get their focus.  Not only was it PJ day for Red Ribbon it was Halloween eve.  Ugh.  This was not our finest VTS. 
     The students noticed the old man, the boy and the dog.  They noticed that he was looking out at the sea and the boat.  They noticed the town and thought it could have been church buildings, old houses, maybe a cemetery and possible radio towers that changed into lookout towers.  They also noticed the birds flying in a circle, maybe trying to find fish. A student noticed the hat in the boys hand and the handkerchief/rag in the old mans pocket.
      Students mostly made simple observations.  There were several observations that I couldn't ask the second questions because it was simply an observation of "what they see".  However this painting doesn't lend itself as easily to multiple interpretations.  Some students noticed him looking out to sea or the boat, one student said something about maybe he used to work on that boat and brought the boy to see it. I did have several students support their interpretations with evidence.  The have been improving on supporting evidence.  Very much still early stage 1 viewers.  Many of these kiddos have IEPs so what they are doing is great.
     I think the students learned that they can look at art and figure out what is happening as a group.  They are beginning to see that if they listen to others comments, they can build on that, or realize that others have similar ideas.

Reflecting:
    The VTS feels comfortable for the most part.  There are always little gliches or things to learn.  I thought we were on a different image and the students so kindly reminded me of that.
    I think the questions and teacher behaviors came comfortably.  The paraphrasing is something I am still working on and I don't always change my wording.  I generally use conditional language without a problem but I didn't use it very often with this artwork.  I think this picture was a little more flat and there wasn't as much to read into for me to even use conditional language.  I also believe if more students had an interpretation and evidence it would have been easier to use conditional language.
    If I accidentally didn't phrase the questions correctly I usually catch myself and say it immediately after.  Sometimes I get looks or a pause that might be the result of changing the wording.  Not being mindful enough could haven been part of it.
    Surprises...  Well, I am surprised how much the ipad sitting on the table distracts them.  I had a little girl get up and walk up to the board and turn so she could see herself.  This was after I asked them not to pay any attention and they were not to be in the video, that was for me.  I am also surprised at how unproductive this image felt.  I feel like they've been growing and noticing more and more but this time it just felt a little awkward.

Planning:
     I want to work on paraphrasing, conditional language, and linking ideas.  I'd also like to work on not being so distracted by other students wiggles when I am trying to listen to someone else. And I'd like to have a plan in place to deal with behaviors that are not okay.  I think I will try to be as mindful as possible when VTSing, try to remember their names to link ideas.  I no longer have (line-up) tape on my floor to distract them because they have picked it all off, maybe that will help.  Part of me feels that the more I do this the better I will get naturally.  Then I will be able to focus on trying to change the wording when I paraphrase.  Remembering names is hard, especially when they aren't in their assigned spots.  I will so the best I can!

 The classroom behavior in general can be rough.  I am working on implementing this with all my grades.  I even started it with K this past week.  It went pretty well and I can see that after doing this for a while that they will have it down by the time they are in 1st or 2nd grade.  My 4th grade is my roughest group.  I had 3 or more kids playing around and being disrespectful so I sent them to their seats and then I had them come back at recess and write out their responses on a paper print out from the website.  When they were done I asked them if it would have been more fun to just be able to participate in the conversation instead of interrupt everyone else.  I hope it will go more smoothly with that group next time.  On the other hand I had two student who didn't want to come sit on the floor and basically refused, one of them made his way up to sit on the floor on his own 5-10 minutes into our conversation.  I guess that's progress.

Blog Topic #9 Teachers Choice

The students who are the focus of this VTS experience are second graders.  This class is almost half SPED and also had ELL students.  They are early stage 1 viewers.  They notice most of the details but are very much working on the "why".  Some are creative and will share, others have a harder time talking in front of others.  I usually have 1 paraprofessional with 1 student.  I notice that by the end of the day the students who use meds have lost the effects of those meds.  They are a challenge to sit and focus for more then 5 minutes.  The students also have great insights when they focus and listen to each other.


                                              Image 1:  Norman Rockwell "The Runaway"

 

Image 2:  Carmen Lopez Garza, Birthday Party

 

Image 3:  Eugeno Zampighi "Gathering"

 

Image 4:  William H Johnson, "Tattler" (?)

 

 

Blog Topic #8 VTS-to-date

   I have learned so much about VTS so far.  I had many questions about VTS as I begin learning about it over the last couple years.  The website has been a huge help with curriculum already prepared and advice.  It has also been incredibly helpful to get to have a teacher who has been doing this for a while give real application advice and feedback.  Our peer coaching and feedback has also been helpful and it's been great to hear about what VTS looks like at different grade levels.
  
   I think I am feeling comfortable with these questions and the process.  I feel calm when facilitating to the students.  I think I am doing well with pointing and paraphrasing.  I also feel like i've gotten into the groove of using conditional language and remaining neutral.  It seems to be becoming second nature when I am with my students.  My own peers might be another thing though.
  
   Since my first VTS experience with my professional peers I have learned so much more about VTS.  I feel more equipped then ever to talk about VTS to other people.  I feel much more comfortable with the process and am now at a point that I can evaluate myself and change certain behaviors or add more specific directions to my guidelines.  I am able to recognize how the students react to the questions if it is new to the class and after practice see a class that is more comfortable with the process answer the second question without being asked.  I also might catch myself using the wrong phrase and correct myself immediately. 

   If there were any surprises i'd probably have to say that VTS is much more complex then it seems but easier then I thought to implement the process.  Students have been responding really well to VTS.  They do enjoy seeing the images, but then again today I had a boy say "do we have to do that again?" I just want to make art".  Finding the balance of VTS and creating art knowing that VTS will take time away from creating art and if there will be any implications from that seems to be a bit of a challenge. I am surprised how helpful the website is.

   I want to work on many things.  I want to work on adding vocabulary when paraphrasing, liking responses, and responding to student comments and questions out of the ordinary.  I also want to manage behavior better during the vts process.  Unfortunately there are many kiddos who are active, defiant, etc. so I think it may be a challenge to keep them from yelling out and on their bottoms.  I also wish I had chairs for the bigger kids so they could sit closer but I don't.  I feel like i've seen kids throw the whole conversation off track when they were "not being okay" and I have to stop to correct them (pulling my line-up tape of my floor and chew on it, the worm, spinning in circles etc.) .  I feel like i've been able to lose them in a matter of seconds.  I want to be able to deal with behavior and listen to the kid talking at the same time.  I'd also like to shorten our conversations but it always seems like the good stuff is just around the corner and I feel uncomfortable ending our conversation.

Peer Coaching #2

Peer coaching with Mike.

Mike,
     It sounds like you had a great VTS session.  What age group are you working with?  It's wonderful when the students are engaged and discipline sounds low.  I have a lot of students that are impulsive/defiant which makes it a little hard to listen to the person talking.  Hopefully it gets better as the students get used to being patient and taking turns.  It sounds like the VTS website has been helpful for you and it's great that it helps to know how to reply to those out of turn talkers.  What was the most helpful thing you found on the website?  Did the student follow the directions after being reminded?  Was the class annoyed at that student?
     It is very cool the students respectfully disagreed with each other.  I'm sure you were excited to see that level of engagement. I am curious to see if you internalizing the guidelines will help your level of comfort for the next time.  The other aspect that you have to deal with is that the students aren't that familiar with you right?  I'm sure that after they are a little more familiar with you and following through with your guidelines they will know you mean business and respect that.
     It sound like you have things figured out and going smoothly.  If I had to offer any advice it probably would be practicing the questions and getting to know your students.  It sounds like you've been working on all of those things and very thoughtful about them.  I don't know if this is right but if I have students being too disruptive after being reminded of expected behavior I might send them back to their seat, we were on the floor, so the rest of the group can continue on.  Of course that depends upon your classroom teaching style.

Sounds like your doing everything right.  Keep up the good work.

Blog Topic # 7 Why not tell?

Why not tell?

This is something I was curious about in the beginning.  I had thoughts about if it really mattered if the information was given or not?  My instinct has always been to feed the students information about things but I know that they often are not listening or paying any attention at all to what I am saying.  I wonder about a better way to teach.  VTS allows that kind of exploration and thinking.  I think that learning how to think, probe and look further into things with multiple possibilities far exceeds me giving information that may not have been remembered anyway.   I really like the analogy of "learning to read" and how kids are taught how to read and probe text for meaning long before they learn or have any interest in why an author writes or about their life.  It really reenforces that this is the beginning and we are teaching them tools they will use for a long time to come.  My other thought is that this is a process that they are working through as a group with many different ideas and multiple possibilities to be revealed.  Important things may reveal themselves throughout the discussion or even beyond.

I would explain to an administrator that finding the "right answer" isn't the goal of VTS.  The students go through a process of learning to look at images and make observations, grounding them with evidence, and continuously probe them to look deeper and reveal multiple possibilities.  This process teaches them how to "read" art and find the answers for themselves.    

Blog Topic #6

Assessing Student Engagement and Learning:
     I would describe student engagement as pretty high.  I think I heard from just about all the students.  I had some very creative ideas and perceptions.  They had a bit of a hard time focusing, not talking to each other, etc. but they were the last class of the day on Friday and I know that doesn't help anything.  In the past they have been able to focus better.  They were also distracted by the ipad recording.
    The students noticed many things about this image.  They noticed the "mom and daughters" first, the jungle around them, and the lack of a dad in the photo.  Many of them thought that it might have been painted inside somewhere similar to when they get their photos taken.  If they were outside some pondered what they could have been sitting on, they thought a log would have been too low and it's not in the photo.  One noticed the mad look on the girls face in the red but i'm surprised she didn't say something about her arms.  They noticed the flowers in the moms hand and background.  Some thought that maybe the dad was buried in the ground where the white flower is planted on the right.  Some thought she was someone important because of her fancy dress and collar that some kings might have.
    The students had detailed observations and interpretations with and without evidence.  I think one might have used conditional language.  I would think they are stage I viewers.
    I think the students learned how to look deeper into an artwork. Some of them are working on looking for clues as to what might be going on.  They certainly pull from their own experiences while looking at these images.I think they are learning to listen to each other.  I did have a student agree with another student using their names and building on that idea.

Reflecting on Practice:
    I think the VTS discussion felt good.  The questions seem to flow fairly easily.  I tried to remember to paraphrase everything and not jump onto question 2 without paraphrasing.  I am getting used to deciding what needs question number 2 and what comments don't.
    I think I was able to use the questions, behaviors, paraphrasing and conditional language comfortably.  Sometimes I catch myself and try to correct myself but over all I think it went well.
     Sometimes I used question 2 and used a more direct question, or "I see you noticed this, what do you see that makes you say that".  It seems helpful when there are many ideas thrown out by one student to break it down.  I haven't noticed a difference.
    If there were any surprises it was how hard of a time they had focusing this time when it wasn't this bad in the past.  With kids you never know, time of day, weather, and holidays easily throw them off.  I think they are getting the hang of the process and it's coming more easily.  It would also be great if they would stay in their seats but I guess they get so excited they really want to get up and point to what they are talking about.  I guess I will need to explain to them that pointing is my job their theirs is to look and talk.

Planning:
   I would like to continue working on paraphrasing and linking ideas.  I hope the more comfortable I feel the easier it will be to slow down and focus on listening and paraphrasing.  I did put the questions in the back of the classroom so I can look at them if I mix up the wording.