Assessing Student Engagement & Learning
My group is becoming quite comfortable with participating and so
engagement was high throughout the whole discussion. I was surprised at how the
group dissected the image. They discussed every part of the image in a way that
I don’t think they did with past images. This surprised me because the image is
rather busy, yet they touched on all parts at some point. I think this is
probably because during the first few VTS sessions, it was easier to agree with
what the first person said rather than provide a new interpretation or to bring
up another part of the image that hadn’t been discussed yet. I think during
this discussion, my group was more comfortable in making unique interpretations.
One of the participants said that she thought it was about communism. It was a
very bold statement but as she explained her thinking, the others started to
provide other evidence for how the painting could be about communism. The
conversation definitely changed once the idea of communism was brought up and
after our usual time was up, they were still talking about the painting.
Reflecting and Practice
Like I said, my group is becoming more and more comfortable with VTS
and I think now they thoroughly enjoy it. This week I got a little flustered
especially towards the end. I found myself getting a little flustered. In this
discussion, I didn’t quite know how to react when several people were talking at
once. It throws me off and I can’t focus on who I should be focusing on and
then what to paraphrase afterwards. I’m still learning how to paraphrase but
right now it’s only possible for me if I can concentrate on one person at time.
This is something that I will address with my group next time we meet.
Planning
As usual, paraphrasing will be the thing I want to improve the most. I
actual tried doing a VTS discussion with someone other than the people in my
usual VTS group just to practice paraphrasing. I was a lot more comfortable and
I think it was because I wasn’t recording myself or leading a group discussion.
Recording myself has been awkward for me so it’s just going to take some
getting used to. But I think I will continue to do practice VTS discussions
with people other than my VTS group because I think it helped me the first
time, and I want as much practice as I can get, especially not having a class
of my own to work with!
Dionne,
ReplyDeleteIt's so interesting to see what it is like for someone to practice VTS with an adults, especially who are more comfortable with viewing art!
It sounds like your viewers are becoming much more advanced, at least in stage two as they are discussing the artist's intentions. I also thought it was very interesting that one person offered up a theme, (communism) as to what the piece might be about. That is definitely a sign of an advanced viewer. It was also nice to hear that the group accepted this possibility and found further evidence to support the theme. However, just make sure you are using conditional language when talking about these intentions/themes. Make sure you are saying, "You think this piece COULD be about communism...what do you see that makes you say that?" That way you are leaving room for someone to disagree, instead of just leading the group to provide more evidence. If they offer supporting evidence that's great, you just don't want to make it seem like they have found the only/correct answer.
I agree that it is hard when multiple people start talking over each other. This is something that I have to keep addressing with my students as well. I reminded them that if they did not get called on, do not whisper to their neighbor and do not try to talk at the same time. You also might find it helpful to ask your group to just mention one thing at a time, as Mary advised me. That way you can still cover everything in the image but it gives you time to focus, as well as more opportunities for other people to join the conversation.
Being recorded is definitely awkward, but just remember that you are learning like the rest of us. You're getting safe and productive feedback, and you're not supposed to be TOTALLY AWESOME yet. Try as much as possible to just ignore the fact that you're being recorded, and don't put too much pressure on yourself when paraphrasing to throw in fancy vocabulary or anything. You're just confirming that you heard the speaker correctly, and trying to tease out visual evidence for their statements through the second question. Even though I bet your group offers evidence without being prompted too a lot :) And practicing with other people sounds like it is helpful, and that you are definitely wanting to keep working on your own performance!
Keep it up!
Lori
You have perhaps the most challenging group to work with due to their levels of experience with "eyes on canvas." Nevertheless, you are doing a spectacular job! You've moved them away from jumping on one bandwagon and staying there to a place where they are beginning to take creative risks. I can't help but wonder if their initial avoidance of divergence was the product of them realizing the groups' expertise and wanting to appear wise in the eyes of their peers. The idea of "one right answer" was probably fueling that as well. This discussion seems to have proven to them that they can break away from the pack and think independently! Your neutrality has convinced them that it is totally okay! I think you are wise in emphasizing the "one speaker at a time" rule before the next VTS discussion. It is definitely harder to paraphrase educated adult comments; overlapping commentaries make this even more challenging. Don't be afraid to stop and remind them midstream. If you explain that you want to capture the entirety of their brilliant answers and it's easier to do that when they speak one at a time, their egos may help you get your way! LOL!! Great comments!
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