Blog Topic 9

As a reminder, I have been VTSing with my smallest class, my Advanced Art group.  They are either Juniors or Seniors who have taken all of the other art classes my school offers.  The class is super independent, where students generally compose their own projects to complete.  The images I am considering for my teacher's choice VTS are:

By Shintaro Ohata

By Banksy

By Edward Hopper

By Moki

Blog Topic 8

This week, my students completed a VTS of the following image:

So far, I think I am doing a nice job at a few things.  One positive aspect of my VTSing has been my positivity.  I have great relationships with my students, and this makes for a really happy and easygoing atmosphere.  The sense of trust that provides definitely enhances our VTS discussions.  I also feel that I am getting better at listening to what my students are saying.  This makes it easier to paraphrase what they have said.  I can see vast growth since the beginning of the semester with my peers, especially in regard to listening and paraphrasing.

I still feel surprised at how uncomfortable I was doing VTS at the museum yesterday.  I think the acoustics of the room and my difficulties hearing definitely played in to that a lot, but I would like to continue working on being able to do these lessons in any situation.  As I move forward in this course, I would like to continue to work on paraphrasing and determining when to use the second question.

Some interesting things my kids noticed about this photo were:

• a sense of old vs. new due to new clothing, old house and furniture
• a sense of destruction due to the peeling paint
• a sense of loneliness due to lack of a decorated space
• the possibility of a flood or water damage due to the peeling paint and clothesline (drying out)

I was surprised a how long we talked about this image.  When I first saw it, it seemed a bit one note, and when our discussion went on for about fifteen minutes, I couldn't believe it.  One student who has yet to participate said something this week, so that is something to be proud of.

Blog Topic 7

After reading Philip Yenawine's piece on VTS and information, I was really struck by his comparison of viewing art to reading a text (since art IS a visual text anyway...).  Yenawine stated that art, like a text, needs to be considered from multiple perspectives.  Yenawine says, "...we feel that capacities to observe, think about what one sees, reflect on meanings, and consider various interpretations are basic to art viewing and the prerequisites for later learning."  After taking a course on visual literacy and visual culture, I have learned that this comparison of art to text is absolutely true.  Why should art be held to a higher, more rigorous standard than a typical text?  Why is it not ok to look at an image and wonder or imagine?

I absolutely side with Philip Yenawine here.  The student who imagined aliens instead of gas masks was not damaging other students or making a mistake.  He/she was simply using their experiences and prior knowledge to bring themselves into the image.  What I love about art is that it is open to interpretation.  Each viewer who looks at a work brings their own background and experiences to the table when looking at a piece of art.  Without a little room to move for interpretation, art becomes fixed and black and white, like a math problem, which couldn't be more opposite of what art is really all about.

Blog Topic 6

This week, my students did a VTS of the following George Tooker painting:

My students have VTSed this artist twice now, and both times they have seemed really excited about the work.  Almost all students raised their hand at one point, and they were all really respectful of one another.  Some things they noticed about the image were:

• a clear divide in classes (rich vs. poor) due to clothing and items characters held
• a theme of pain, suffering, waiting, and imprisonment
• repetition within the painting (boxes, groups of people)
• a neutral color palette

My students seem to surprise me every week.  Sometimes their artmaking can really lack in critical thinking, and when the class participates in these discussions, I feel so impressed.  They have such great vocabularies about art and seem to notice many deep details in the work.  I think that my students artmaking abilities will really benefit from out VTS discussions because it gives them an opportunity to see how other artists create conceptual art.

Overall, the VTS felt really good to me.  I don't seem to be having any issues using the prescribed lines much at all.  My students seem to be getting used to having these discussions. as I have noticed that they are providing evidence for what they see without me having to ask them.  While I know this is inherently good, it sometimes throws off my balance during the discussion because it makes me really think about what I need to say next.

In the future, I really want to work on transitioning more smoothly.  A few of my students shouted out during the discussion without being called on, and I need to be able to better handle speaking to two students at once.  It is really surprising me how much I am enjoying this class and I really hope that it continues to be beneficial to my kiddos.