Summative Project and Artist Statement

Using Visual Thinking Strategies in my classroom has benefitted me in so many ways.  I have been most struck by its focus on patience, quiet, and listening.  VTS, in some ways, mirrors my philosophy on life by placing so much importance on the true, careful art of these ideas.  VTS has helped me to become better at all of these, especially listening because it requires you to delve deeply into another person’s words and ideas and reiterate them back to the participant. 

As a metaphor for my learning this semester, I painted a stack of balancing rocks using watercolors.  I chose to make this painting because I felt it best expresses how VTS has benefitted me.  VTS has shown me that silence is something to be revered, and that the patience of speaking and listening slowly will be rewarded.  The balancing rocks are a little part of nature that absorbs the quiet and all the sounds around them.  The rocks stand quietly while being present will all that is happening around them.  The painting uses mostly pastel and neutral colors, with little flecks of browns to simulate the texture of the rocks.  The artistic choice of watercolor paint helps to drive home that feeling of flow and natural elements.  While the painting is simple in subject, it becomes complex in metaphor and idea.

Blog Topic 16 Pre and Post VTS Analysis

My data consisted of ten students.  There were some that were not included in my sample due to absences.  Here is my data pile with a cameo by little Pete.

And, here are my data screenshots.  The first is of my word counts and the second is interpretation or influence with evidence:

I was really saddened that both of my responses were considered to be not statistically significant because I really believe that VTS has benefitted my class.  As I mentioned in my last post, there are outside factors that may have affected my data, like the kind of day students were having and the fact that I was missing three kids from my sample.  Even though I am a hardcore believer in science, I still think that I have seen benefit from doing VTS discussions and I definitely plan to continue them each week.  My students really look forward to them and I enjoy facilitating.

Blog Topic 15

I was so surprised to see my students' final numbers this week.  They didn't all go up, but the ones that did went up drastically.  About 75% of my kids writing samples went up in word count.  Three students weren't included in my sample because they were absent on a day when we did the pre or post tests.  I also know that one student was having a particularly bad day on the occasion of the post test, so I think she may not have taken it seriously as her score went down a lot.  Overall, on an individual basis, my kiddos did a great job.  Most of them used more words and cited reasons for their thinking when in the past they did not.

I saw a lot of benefit from holding almost weekly VTS sessions with my kids.  They became something to look forward to on Friday's.  My kids wanted to see art that's out there, and they wanted to talk about them.  On week's when we didn't have discussions, the kids said they wanted to or that they missed doing them.  In a way, it feels like our discussions were a way to bond.  They got to freely speak about their ideas in a place that lacked judgement and fear.  I really feel that VTS has helped my class to bond with one another and with me.  Because of VTS, I am becoming more patient and a better listener, which is something I try to work on every day.

Blog Topic 14

In week five, I identified a student who I thought VTS might help.  The student's name was Brad.  After almost ten weeks of VTSing, I am sad to say that I did not see any improvement during the VTS discussions.  Brad was one of three students who did not participate in any image discussion that we had.  I am a little disappointed that Brad, and the other two students, didn't participate, but I suppose that doesn't mean that these kiddos learned nothing from our discussions.  VTS offers such great opportunities for listening and wondering, which I know that Brad must have been doing.  He was present during the discussions and attentive to what his classmates were saying.  My hope is that he gleaned at least a little about artistic choices and meaning making during the discussions so that he may be better able to understand and implement these concepts within his own work.

In the future, I would be really interested to find a way to help these students participate.  VTS is all about feeling comfortable, so it would be wrong of me to call on them.  Anyone have any ideas about how to encourage these students without making them feel uncomfortable?

Blog Topic 13

Differentiated instruction helps to better meet learners where they are by addressing multiple needs of students at one time.  I believe that VTS is a great way to differentiate in many ways.  For one, VTS allows the teacher to choose images (unless you are using the prescribed VTS curriculum) that will benefit a particular group of students.  For example, maybe during a week where color is being taught your class looks at Wayne Thiebaud.  This is a form of differentiated instruction because it is hitting on a certain topic or area and addressing it in a different way (visual, audial) than it may have been previously taught in the classroom.  VTS also helps to differentiate students' art vocabularies by hearing words they may not have known before.  I truly believe that VTS has benefitted my classroom, especially with their art vocabularies because I am noticing more of my students using advanced language more frequently than I noticed it before we began VTSing.  My students seem to be thinking about and planning their art more deeply, which I almost never thought might happen.

Blog Topic 12

The image I selected for the Teacher's Choice VTS was:

I was really happy with the way this VTS discussion went developed.  Most of my kids, save maybe three, participated at least once, with some commenting multiple times.  The image felt really appropriate because I thought it lended a lot to the ability for my students to develop a narrative about the image.  The kids picked up on so many of Hopper's lovely details.  Students noticed:

• Two people having a meal (kids debated about time of day)
• That it looks old because of the clothing and sign design
• That the restaurant looks nice because of so many details (lamps, shades, nice chairs)
• The woman in the middle is the focal point
• An urban feel because of the sidewalk outside the window
• The conversation between the women seems important

The kids captured so much about this painting.  They always impress me with their ability to find the tiniest of detail intriguing.  I worked really hard on scaffolding this time, trying to connect each person's idea with that of another student.  I worked on remembering which student had said which comment so I could revisit it later.  

I would absolutely use this image again.  This was one of the longest discussions we have had to date, so I am up for doing another one similar to this.

I had two difficulties during this experience, one being getting the three quiet kids to speak.  The other was a student who is not in my class.  He likes to visit me and was present during the discussion.  He liked to interrupt and talk over me while the discussion was going, which was pretty distracting to me and the kids (I had to scold him in my video).  I should have better prepared him for what we were doing.

Blog Topic 11

The image I have decided to use for my teacher's choice VTS is Chop Suey by Edward Hopper

I decided against the other images because I felt that they did not have enough detail or opportunity for narrative within them.  I was really interested in the Banksy image, but I think I had shown it before during another presentation in class.  Hopper is one of my most favorite painters.  I love his use of light and ambiguity within his work.  I think the color in the image lends a lot as far as emotion goes within this work.  I think that because there isn't a true focus to this image that my students will really take in the background and environment in this piece.  

I think this image will definitely challenge my students because it is a little less clear than some of the other images we have seen.  I want to slowly start working toward more complex, abstract images and think this might be a good avenue to do so.  My students always, always surprise me during VTS and I am so looking forward to talking about this.  Last week when we didn't do a VTS, my students asked why we were't completing one.  So, in that regard, I think that they are really liking doing this too.  Thanks, Mary :)