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 :)

Blog Topic 10

The image I VTSed with my students this week was the following:

When I first saw the image for this week, I immediately wondered how much my students would be able to pick up on.  Photography in general seems to be a bit tougher to VTS for me.  However, my students always seem to exceed my expectations and they did so again for this image.  The students commented on the following:

• the black and white somber mood
• the writing on the license plate
• a general feeling of being poor or poverty
• the idea of beauty
• a feeling of sisterhood or caretaking
• a feeling of nostalgia or family heirlooms

My students really gleaned a lot from this image, and likely more than I may have picked up on on my own.  They really reach beyond the obvious in images (for example, "I see two girls") and extend to the artist's ideas and intent.  I am still noticing that there are maybe two students who have yet to participate in a discussion, but that may still be to come.

I always feel comfortable with my students and I do feel that I am able to easily grasp when a discussion is over.  My VTS this week only ran about 8 minutes, so it is a bit short of where it needed to be.  I think that may be because the image is a photo and not a sculpture or painting.  Those seem to lend a little more time because it is easier to talk about artist choices and the presence of the artist's hand.  

In the future, I would like to continue to work on paraphrasing and sensing the end of the discussion.  I am always wary that I may not be letting enough time pass between comments, which may keep the few students from talking during the discussion.  I would also like to be able to better encourage those kids to participate in our talks.