VTS Unit Presentation

VTS Unit Plan

VTS UNIT PLAN

LTC 8900-60 Visual Thinking Strategies II

Teachers Name:  Dustin Shryock

Course Title: Beast Feast

Age/Grade Level of Students: 1^st – 4^th grade Ridgeway Boys Writers Club

DEFINE THE BIG IDEA: The big idea of the unit that I have developed is based on Beasts. The class that I have designed my unit for is made up of 1^st – 4^th grade boys who have trouble with writing skills. The curriculum is designed to help them develop their writing abilities by providing them with opportunities to write in relation to VTS sessions and art making activities. We look to choose topics that will be exciting for these young boys that have to do with adventures, heroes, warriors and their codes of customs. (Ex. Samurai, Knighthood, Wild West, etc.) The topics we select need to be interesting and inspiring for these young boys. Beasts have proven to be a topic that inspires a great deal of imaginative thought and dialogue in relation to the images that we have focused on and the projects that we have completed.

RATIONALE for BIG IDEA  (Why is it appropriate for your students?)

The big ide of BEASTS is appropriate for these young boys because of the imaginative nature that comes with an interaction with a beast. We are looking to inspire them to use new words and rich descriptors in their writings. Placing these youngsters in a setting where they talk and write about what it would be like to come into contact with a beast lends itself to these rich descriptions. Fears, smells, sounds, tactics, tools/weapons, and settings are all things that bring about juicy descriptive words with this topic. The images that we have come up with provide rich narratives and place these boys directly in front of a wide array of gnarly beasts. 

KEY CONCEPTS and OBJECTIVES:

* Students will learn to analyze environments and determine their effect on subject matter.

* Students will learn to talk and write about the rich details displayed in a piece of artwork.

* Students will learn to respectfully discuss their opinions and feelings about a piece of artwork

* Students will learn to create artwork within a set of limitations.

* Students will learn to create artwork in relation to a rich narrative 

ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:

* What happens when I collaborate with another student’s artwork?

* What do I need to do to make my text relate to my artwork?

* What feelings would I experience if I encountered a beast in the wild?

* How do you create narrative within a piece of artwork?

* Can I expand my vocabulary by looking at and discussing art with others?

CROSS-CURRICULUAR CONNECTIONS:

This entire unit is designed to accompany an English writing program within a school. The opportunities to incorporate these lessons in either a writing program or an art program are the foundational goals of the unit. Students are being encouraged to write in relation to their creations. By doing this, hopefully students will find a point of personal inspiration to write from that perhaps does not exist in many other writing exercises. Perhaps there is an additional opportunity to connect this Big Idea of beasts to a science classroom investigating animal classifications or prehistoric creatures. 

VTS IMAGES :

Gladiator Vs. Lion

By Miguel Coimbra

I like this image as an introductory image due to its historical significance and has very rich narrative opportunities. It is an image of action and ferocity yet it does not contain anything too graphic or violent. Students are drawn into the role of the gladiator and encouraged to use descriptive words associated with the experience.

Basilisk

Artist unknown

I chose this image because of the combination of animal arts that are combined to create this Beast. These characteristics were helpful in getting the boys to think creatively in regards to the assignment I had created for them involving collaboration. It builds on the first image by using common animal features and expanding on the possibility of combining others.

St. George and the Dragon

By Raphael

I incorporated this image because I wanted to expose the students to a painting done by an important figure in art history and give our unit a wide range of historical perspective. I also wanted to incorporate images that have rich detail in the setting of the main figures. I wanted the boys to begin to look at the surroundings to draw conclusions about the meaning of the images.

     The Magma Beast

     By Spyders

I chose this image because once again, I hoped to continue to develop student’s focus to the surroundings of the main characters. I also hoped to expand the boys imaginations of the make-up of the beasts that we were experiencing and provide an opportunity for new descriptive words to incorporate into writings.

Doubled Back

By Bev Doolittle

My final image is one that I feel incorporates all of the characteristics that we were looking for in our images: narrative, rich environments and strong descriptive words. It also introduces another element of trickery or optical illusion that provides a very exciting surprise for the viewer. There is a possibility for an exciting, eye-opening realization for the students!

VTS IMAGE RATIONALE:

I think that the progression of images that I have chosen allows students to become involved quickly allowing them to share any prior knowledge they may have of an era/setting of familiarity with the topic of gladiators. The first image allows them to become involved with the image by imaging what it would be like to be in the gladiator’s sandals. We then move into some alternate forms of beasts giving students a wide range of beastly figures. Each image hopefully will expand their scope of viewership as they pull more and more elements out of the surroundings included in the images and relate them to what is happening to the main characters. I think that all of the images encourage the use of strong descriptive words and inspire imaginative adventures. The images encourage the students to look at the picture as a whole and figure out what is going on instead of simply listing things that they see inside the image.

In addition to the normal VTS session, we will have a vocabulary board next to the teacher where any rich descriptive words that are shared will be written for all of the class to see. This allows for students to focus on these and incorporate them into their own writings. It also reinforces the use of these words for the students who present them. Students become very excited to see their words on the board or try hard to have one of their own added.

STUDIO / ARTMAKING ACTIVITIES:

Monster Mash: This lesson is an Exquisite Corpse style collaborative project in which the students get to create beast halves and mix n’ match them with other students to create crazy new combinations. Each student is given two pieces of paper with initial marks indicating where the waist of the creature should connect on both papers. On the first page, the students create the top half of a beast and the bottom half on the other. They will then be able to trade with other students and have all of their sections match up on the original marks. They are then asked to write a descriptive profile for the beast describing its features and abilities. Finally, students will enter their beast into a class tournament where winners will be voted on by the entire class.

Clash of the Titans: In this lesson, students will create beast puppets and engage in some beastly smack talk with another student. Using paper bags, construction paper, glue, scissors, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, etc., students will create a beastly puppet. Then they will collaborate with another student to write a dialogue taking place in the midst of an intense battle between the two creatures. The students will then have the opportunity to preform their beastly smack-talk for the rest of the class.

Beast Feast:  In this final lesson, students will create a three-dimensional beast out of a wide array of snack foods. Using Rice Krispy treats, small donuts and tootsie rolls as the moldable armatures, students will then add candy, icing, and cereal to create a three-dimensional beastly creation. Once the creations are complete, photographed, and presented to the class, we will commence the unit with a Beast Feast!

LESSON SEQUENCE

Lesson #1 “Monster Mash”

This will be a three-day lesson. The first day we will start off with a VTS session using the Gladiator vs. Lion image to get the kids thinking about being in the presence of a beast and using strong descriptive words. After the VTS we will begin the art making exercise. This lesson is an Exquisite Corpse style collaborative project in which the students get to create beast halves and mix n’ match them with other students to create crazy new combinations. Each student is given two pieces of paper with initial marks indicating where the waist of the creature should connect on both papers. On the first page, the students create the top half of a beast and the bottom half on the other. They will then be able to trade with other students and have their entire sections match up on the original marks. The second day, I will show the Basilisk image and lead a VTS session to get them thinking in creative ways to create unique beasts. They are then asked to write a descriptive profile for the beast describing its features and abilities. Finally, students will enter their beast into a class tournament where winners will be voted on by the entire class.

Lesson #2 Clash of the Titans:  This will be another three-day lesson. We will start out doing a VTS session using The Magma Beast image to get the students thinking about the interactions between the two figures and how they interact with their surroundings. In this lesson, students will create beast puppets and engage in some beastly smack talk with another student. Using paper bags, construction paper, glue, scissors, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, etc., students will create a beastly puppet. We will incorporate the image of St. George and the Dragon for a VTS session on the second day, continuing to emphasize descriptive words and interactions between figures. Then they will collaborate with another student to write a dialogue taking place in the midst of an intense battle between the two creatures. The students will then have the opportunity to preform their beastly smack-talk for the rest of the class.

Lesson #3 Beast Feast:  This will be a one-day lesson to end the unit. We will start with a VTS session on the Doubled Back image. This image will get the students thinking about all of the components that we have been focusing on in the other images and also introduces another element of trickery or optical illusion that provides a very exciting surprise for the viewer. In this final lesson, students will create a three-dimensional beast out of a wide array of snack foods. Using Rice Krispy treats, small donuts and tootsie rolls as the moldable armatures, students will then add candy, icing, and cereal to create a three-dimensional beastly creation. Once the creations are complete, photographed, and presented to the class, we will commence the unit with a Beast Feast!

ASSESSMENT STRATEGIES

*With all of these assignments, students will be asked to present or share their writings and creations with the class. Their willingness to share their work and contribute to the VTS sessions will be the main form of assessment.

*The student’s ability to collaborate with peers and maintain respectful classroom behavior in the VTS process will be an important component of the assessment.

*Students will also be assessed on their writing. Not necessarily their quality of writing but their attempts to use strong descriptive words that will be emphasized throughout the unit.

UNIT EVALUATION & ASSESSMENT

Success

·      This unit will be a success if students complete writing exercises using strong descriptive words found on the word bank created during our VTS discussions.

·      The unit will be a success if students are respectful of one another during their discussions and build off of each other’s ideas as they develop a knowledge base.

·      The unit will be a success if students are excited to see the new VTS image that is revealed and re eager to share their answers.

*Hindsight*

Success

·      The word board was a very big success. Having strong descriptive words spoken by classmates written up on the board in front of them really enhanced their willingness to contribute and their use of these words in their writings.

·      The images chosen seemed to be a big success. The conversations were lively and the students were drawn in to the fine details of each image. They were desperate for answers and were excited to create once the session was over.

Disappointments

·      While conducting the VTS sessions for this unit, I was disappointed in the amount of student comments I was able to get to in each VTS discussion. It seemed like many times, there were students waiting with their hands up to be called on that we didn’t get to because I was not able to keep the class comments on point and allow each student to share only one thing. Many times, students were sharing a laundry list of things and eating into the time we had leaving little time for the rest of the class.

Revisions

 After going through this unit, I would omit the exercise of having students vote on a class winner based on their writings describing their Monster Mash creations. After each student shared, it seemed much to brutal to have only one winner and a classroom full of losers.  Watching them work so hard on their writings and struggle to share in front of the class, voting on which one was better did not seem appropriate at all.

VTS assignment #5

Describe student willingness to participate in the discussion.

     Students were very eager to share while looking at this image. As I was going through my opening statements about the VTS activity, students all across the room had their hands up eager to share. I think that putting the image up to soon always distracts the students and they never quite listen to the instructions when they are already thinking about the picture. Luckily the students are familiar with the process. I think setting up a system to show the image where you can reveal form the front of the room after you are done talking is ideal. Then you can make your opening remarks and THEN reveal the image without having to go over to a computer or projector. The students are always very eager to share their thoughts at the beginning but then they get tired if they aren't called on within the first few students. They lose attention and forget what they were going to say. I think this is why it is so important to move quickly without rushing the students.

What did students notice about the artwork?

     The students were very aware of the environment that the scene was taking place in. Some of them thought that maybe they were inside a volcano. Many of them were very interested in the make-up of the beast. they wondered what would happen when the lava solidified. Would the beast still be able to move or would he become a solid rock? They were also very interested in the weapon that the human was carrying. They didn't think it looked like a sword but thought that it was a blade of some kind. They were very concerned about how the person was going to get out of the cave/volcano. I think they were very concerned with the warm colors. They kept making comments about the heat and danger of being burned. 

Did students list or interpret their observations?

     The students that share first typically list things they see and it was no different during this session. They list many items they see and the elements making up the picture. However, after the main elements are listed, the group seems to adjust and move into the task of breaking down the meanings of the things that they have all noticed. Basically they need to list the items in the image and then move into a time of interpreting them. I try to stick to the question of "What is going on in this image?" Instead of "What do you see in this image?" to keep them on track and avoid lists. However, I think at this age, especially the younger ones, they really need to list the elements before they are ready to figure out their meanings.

Describe student interactions during the discussion. How did this impact group meaning-making?

     When students are stuck searching for the right words to use, other students cannot help but chime in and help them out. I think that this is okay as long as another student doesn't take over the focus of the group while another student has the floor. They are ale to come up with definitions as a group and I think they all take more ownership of the discussion and the investigation they are all a part of trying to find the answers and keys to the image. I am very excited about the boys tendency to make statements such as "I agree/disagree with what so-and-so said because..." For the most part, they all use this phrase and are very respectful in the way they interact with each other. I think this has a lot to do with the environment that Mr. Tilley has created within the Boys Writing Club. He is always encouraging them to be respectful and be gentlemen. 

How did the discussion conclude?

     The discussion concluded with a lot of comments aimed at the weaponry being carried by the human in the image. Their main concern was if this figure was going to be able to defend himself and get out of the volcano. They were very eager to talk about movies or video games where hey had seen similar scenarios played out and what type of weapons would be needed. Their main concern was victory and survival for the human figure. I had to conclude the discussion as the conversation became a little more focused on who had the coolest games or had seen which movies instead of breaking down the image. I think this is usually my cue to wrap up the session and move into our artmaking session.

What do you think students learned form this discussion? What did you observe that makes you say that?
     I think that the boys focused more on the surroundings and key elements that were taking place around the main figures this discussion more than in past sessions. The beast seems to be created by the environment in which he is in, so I think that this directs their focus more to the surroundings. In hind sight, I think that was a good reason to show this image. They were very concerned with the threat of being burned or boiled inside the volcano. They seemed to be burdened by the setting and wanting to find a way out. I think this is a different reaction than what we have had from other images in the past. At one point a student was talking a lot about volcanoes and lava. He seemed to have a great deal of knowledge about the topic. So I asked him to tell the class what lava was exactly. He gave a great description and the rest of the boys were very intrigued. I think that when students use a big word or say something that makes other students ask for a definition, this is a golden opportunity to ask the student to define it for the rest of the class. THis is usually impressive for the others and the information sticks with them. The rest of the class then wants to show what they know and it creates a good atmosphere for collective knowledge building. 

How did the VTS discussion feel and what did you learn by facilitating this lesson with your students?
     This one felt great. I gained a new appreciation for the importance for scaffolding images from week to week and having a progression. Instead of showing similar images, try to challenge them with images that make them focus on different aspects of an image. The environment was a huge aspect in this photo and students spent more time trying to solve the dilemma that was presented by the setting. I also learned that it is good to challenge students to define terms that they use that may be unclear for the rest of the class. This is a great thing to do when you get the chance.
  

Were you able to use the questions and prescribed teacher behaviors comfortably?

Were there any surprises? What do you want to work on for future VTS lessons?
     I think I was able to use the questions pretty comfortably. I always struggle with asking "What is going on the image?" Instead of "what can we find in this image?" This encourages students to list and that seems to be what they want to do in the beginning. This probably has a lot to do with the way I begin the session. I was a bit surprised when a student asked me what VTS meant  and I thought for a moment about describing the technical meaning of VTS and then I quickly decided against that and just said "VTS is a fancy word for looking at pictures." He seemed satisfied with that response.

Based on your growing knowledge and experience, was this image an appropriate choice for your students, considering their age, stage, interests, and abilities? Explain why or why not.
It turned out to be appropriate for these guys. They were very engaged and had a lot of fun trying to imagine themselves in the setting and trying to figure a way out and defeat the beast. 


Did this image motivate rigorous & engaging discussion for students? If so, what do you think made it successful? Would you use this image again?
I think that he success of this image came from the fact that it had an opportunity for rich narrative and allowed the boys to go on an adventure together. It inspired rich art making involvement. They responded to the task of creating Exquisite corpse beasts  to trade with one another in a enthusiastic way. I think this image changed their perception of what a beast is. I think they wanted to think of a beast as being a large animal, but this allowed them to think a little bit more out of the box and create beasts out of other things such as rocks and lava. I would certainly use this image again!

VTS assignment #4

In response to Yenawine's article, Thoughts on Visual Literacy:

      It is interesting to think about the fact that people need to develop their ability to look at images and be able to digest the information that they are presented with in a way in which they can relay a response. We are bombarded with images constantly and our brains tell us immediately if we are drawn to a certain image or not, but most of the time we don't know why. Reading a book is not able to happen unless you learn a set of symbols. My young niece can not read, however she can describe a picture with ease. However, the meaning within the image is not something that she can relay. She knows what is in the photo, but she dose not know what the objects represent collectively.      

"Reading levels are understood as gradual and slowly evolving, allowing for large and small developmental changes in skills, understanding, and involvement. Visual literacy should be seen as a similarly slow-developing set of skills and understandings that progress unevenly, each step building on earlier ones, each dependent on certain kinds of exposure and instruction." (Yenawine, Thoughts on Visual Literacy)

      I think that most of the students that make up the BWC group that I facilitate are in Stage I pre-literate stage. The boys tend to relate everything they see to something they have experienced instead of connecting it to aesthetic associations. I think this is why it is important to give the boys in my group an image to feast on that is rich in narrative. The images that are more abstract or lack juicy details seem to head no where. The boys love to describe what they think is going to happen within the story of the artwork, but have little to associate it with other than video games. They are certainly growing however. The comments that they give now compared to last year when I began the program with them are astounding. I will always remember the museum visit we made with them at the end of last year in which all of their hands were in the air when the docent asked questions. They had a lot to share based on their personal experiences and the beauty of being part of this program, they know have personal experiences to relate their findings to from other artwork they have viewed in BWC! They are growing a base of information. 

"At the earliest stage, viewers' strength can be characterized as storytelling--that is, relating what they see to what they knows by strings of personal anecdotal responses. They see things through their own life experiences--and not through a framework of aesthetic associations as experts do. Teaching effectively to this stage involves presenting the viewer with works that encourage a narrative reading, and relate to familiar contexts and activities. Ask them to look and think about what they see, then to look again, and to share and compare their perceptions and responses with others. This viewer can quickly learn to observe more and ground their stories in evidence within the picture rather than simply in their memories or imaginations. This capacity itself represents growth, essential for moving to later stages." (Yenawine, Thoughts on Visual Literacy)

 Sequencing of VTS images

     Walker states that "If knowledge is not meaningfully connected, it has little value. The implications of this for instructional planning are that the sequence in which knowledge is presented to students must be meaningful. Knowledge must be thought of in terms of building blocks scaffolding, and connections. As teachers, we must ask ourselves "What do students need to know first so they can understand what follows?" (Walker, Teaching Meaning in Artmaking) This is an area that I need to work on a great deal as I put together a unit involving VTS exercises. This semester, my image progression has not been constructed well although I have had a few thoughts that have influenced my progression that seem to fall in line with Walker's thinking. 

     I started off the semester looking at images that placed the viewer in confrontation with a beast by showing a gladiator fighting a lion. My hope was to get the boys used to the idea of placing themselves inside the painting and thinking of the things that they would encounter while facing a lion. THe image suggests these types of questions in its subject matter and composition. I wanted them to use descriptive words as to what they would be experiencing. After this image we moved into more imaginative beasts with different hybrid features. This was to get the boys to become more creative in the beasts that they were creating. Finally I moved into a set of images that depicted more imaginative encounters with beasts in terms of environment and beastly make-up. The projects that we created around these images had a great deal of writing involved so the more interesting the setting and beastly detail, the more interesting their writing became.

VTS assignment #3

"Does the art making problem extend beyond cleverness and novelty? Does the art making problem  originate with a big idea? Does the art making problem include divergent elements that provoke meaning beyond its apparent and obvious aspects? Is the art making problem directed towards meaning?" (Walker, p.70) 
     These are the questions that Sydney Walker is presenting to us as we examine our ability to teach students how to create meaningful artwork. These are tough questions to approach unless you have a plan. I feel like VTS is an exceptional tool to assist a teacher in achieving positive results in their curriculum driven by these questions. To create an assignment and expect students to dive in with the goal of creating meaningful artwork is certainly wishful thinking. However, taking students on a journey by allowing them to view inspired artwork through the vehicle of VTS before they begin, I believe students have a great chance of understanding the questions that are important for artists to consider in the creation process. Students are drawn to logos and pop-culture figures. They will simply recreate these in their work if our direction and instruction is not fine-tuned and gripping. In my opinion, VTS is a great way to help kids take a good look at art and realize the millions of important decisions that go into creating something of value. When they have gained an appreciation for what they see and are inspired by something that relates to them, then they are heading into the direction that we want them to go. Presenting a good art making challenge is important, and i feel that VTS is a great way to draw students in so that they will understand the challenge and accept it with vigor. 


     In response to A Brief Guide to Developmental Theory and Aesthetic Development (DeSantis & Housen), my thoughts seem much more clear as to why the phenomenon of VTS seems to be so successful on so many levels. "According to developmental theory, learning occurs when individuals interact with their environments (which include people and how they behave, objects and phenomena encountered in the world) and then reflect on that interaction." The environment we create when we ask students to examine a piece of artwork together and discuss their understanding seems to be the ideal place for development to happen in regards to a mind in tune with artistic things. In my opinion, we are created to be in relationship with others and when we facilitate relationships to be structured around a problem, the problem is usually dealt with in a much more efficient and accurate way. Students build thoughts and gain confidence as they hear other students speak about similar things to what they are thinking or feeling. Students thoughts are reinforced and solidified, allowing them to develop towards new ideas and ways of thinking. We are refined when we operate and open up in the context of others.

VTS image #1

Was it an appropriate choice for your students, considering their age, stage, interests, and abilities?  I think that it was an appropriate choice in the fact that it was rich in narrative and that it presented a topic that they were very interested in. They were glued to the image as each student shared more information that they knew about the subject and period being investigated in the piece. It is an image of action and ferocity yet it does not contain anything too graphic or violent. 
Did this image motivate rigorous & engaging discussion for students? A few students had interesting facts to share about gladiators and how events like these were conducted. The younger students were amazed and wanted to know more. We had a great discussion and students were excited to create. Many students got caught up in the moment and wanted to share how they would battle the lion. I think that was an indication that the students were totally involved with the details of the piece.
Did this image satisfactorily introduce the BIG IDEA, CONCEPTS, and/or ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS of your unit? Our hope was to set the young boys imaginations free as they learned about and create beasts of their own. I think this image helps to put the boys directly in front of the threat of a beast and helps them to think about the details that make a beast so beastly. If they are asked to put themselves in the shoes of someone encountering a beast, the situation is much more inspiring. 
Was the image rich enough to encourage continued discussion and/or independent student investigation? We certainly ran out of time as the boys continued to want to add their own comments or tactics as to how the situation had unfolded or how they would react in the situation of the gladiator. The comments kept coming even some boys tended to repeat what others in the group had already said. I think that is to be expected of a group of boys of this age.
Would you use this image again to introduce the BIG IDEA?  If so, why? I think that I would use it again  for the fact that it help to put the boys right at the feet of a giant beastly creature with the inclusion of the gladiator. The boys liked the idea of imagining themselves as gladiators and thinking about the fears, strategies and dangers that they would encounter in that situation. This was exactly what we wanted them to think about and describe in their artwork/writing.

 

VTS assignment #2

Introductory statement for BWC VTS session:
"TOE JAM!!! Welcome back to Boys Writers Club gentlemen. Today we are going to start out our time together how we usually do: by taking a look at an image and discussing our thoughts about what we see. In a moment I am going to put the image on the screen and before you say anything, I want you to take a few minutes to look at the image and think about the things you see. Once we have all had a chance to look at it, you can raise your hand and I will call on you one by one to ask you to tell us what you see going on in the image. When someone is talking, we are going to be respectful and listen to what they have to say about their observations. We are not going to talk while someone else is talking, we are going to wait patiently until it is our turn to speak. When it is your turn, you may explain if you agree or disagree with something that was said. Please keep your seats and use your words to describe what you see. I will point out the details of what you are talking about from the front so that the class can follow along. Are there any questions? Okay, here is our image for today... "


* In response to: Eye of the Beholder: Research, Theory and Practice 
by Abigail Housen

       I enjoyed reading the account of Housen's research and development of the VTS questions and reasonings behind them. After having the opportunity to look at the reasoning behind the structure of the exercise, and having a chance to implement it in a classroom, I am once again sold on the quality and validity of the exercise and its role in a 21st century Art classroom. I feel that the exercise and the questions that it is based on truly facilitate the opportunity for students of all stages of development, backgrounds/cultures, and levels of interest in art to contribute and be taken along for the ride with the class as they develop ideas and understandings of the artwork presented together. It is such a simple exercise but achieves so many of the challenging goals we have as we set out to educate students about art.

"All students can respond to them, but, more importantly, we find in school and after school that all do. In other words, these questions get all students talking, even those who are usually silent. We repeatedly encounter teachers who are amazed that several students who never before spoke up in class had a lot to say, and other students listened to them." (Housen, p.15)

     Beyond getting students involved that are typically not as engaged or eager to participate, the exercise seems to reinforce for the entire group the idea that it is okay to share your thoughts at the risk of sounding silly. I remember being scared to share ideas in school. As a matter of fact, I still am!! Now that I think about it, the only time that I feel uninhibited to share thoughts on the fly in our graduate program is when we are engaged in VTS. I think that this speaks volumes about the design of the exercise. When a student is told that a discussion on the meaning of art is open-ended and that their is no wrong answer, they are given free reign to be themselves and their own thoughts have a place to be celebrated wether they are in-line with someone else's or not. 

"By looking again, reconstructing, and developing new hypotheses, the student learns that the aesthetic experience is open-ended, subject to multiple interpretations. He experiences that it is alright to make mistakes, that the more you look the more you see, that it is alright to change your mind, and that it is enjoyable to engage in this kind of problem- solving. All of this, of course, is good inquiry behavior." (Housen, p. 17)

VTS in action at Boys Writer's Club

As I mentioned in previous post, our Big Idea that we are dealing with at BWC this semester is Bodacious Beasts. The class that I am working with is made up of about twenty 1st through 4th grade boys who have displayed difficulty in their development as writers. The purpose of the program is to help the boys develop writing skills in relation to creating artwork. We have chosen several topics that are designed to get these young boys excited and facilitate them opening up their imagination to create and write. The perfect place for me to develop as an art teacher!!!

After watching my initial VTS session of the semester on video I noticed several things about my facilitation of the VTS exercise:

1. I think that I do a good job of engaging the students to respond to my questions by my positioning in relation to them. They are all sitting on the floor in front of a large Smart-board. Instead of standing up and towering over them, I have gotten in the habit of knelling down at their level to a point where I am even with the image and able to point out their observations and close to where they are creating a less intimidating presence giving them a more comfortable environment in which to share. 

2. I think that I have a good ability to remember what the boys say and summarize for the class the points that they have made. I think that I certainly need to work on my ability and habit of getting to the second question asking the boys to explain their comments.

3. I also feel like I need to develop my ability to manage the discussion in terms of helping students end their comments when they start to ramble or soak up the attention. If one student dominates the discussion, that leaves little opportunity for the others.

VTS assignment #1

     Yenawine makes some very interesting statements about the use of teamwork and community when interpreting and digesting an image. In light of research I am doing for another class this semester, these findings in regards to VTS are very exciting and important to my development as an Art teacher. While reading a book called A Whole New Mind by Daniel Pink, I have realized how important it is for Conceptual Age thinkers to be amble to Symphonize their knowledge to make new and exciting connections.  I am able to connect these studies to our VTS research through Yenawines remark staitng: 

"A group of people brings a breadth of information and experience to the process, even if it is not experience with art. Importantly, the synergy of people adding to each other’s observations and bouncing ideas off one another enables a “group mind” to find possible, plausible meanings in unfamiliar images much more productively than any individual alone could do. Through the group process, the individual’s possibilities are enhanced significantly."

                     - Yenawine, Guidelines for Image Selection for Beginning Viewers

Legendary basketball coach John Wooden states that the ultimate mark of teamwork is when individuals work together to create something greater than the sum of it's parts. That is what Yenawine is describing here and is also what I have experienced in all of my experiences as part of a VTS discussion. The opportunities for students to collaborate and harmonize their understanding and knowledge base is endless in the VTS setting. This is creating a greater knowledge base for everyone involved.


     The selection of images to allow for this experience to flourish is crucial. From my experiences, I agree with many of the thoughts shared by Yenawine. In regards to Accessibility: "Viewers should be able to glean what they can from the objects without expert intervention, learning to trust that most art can be interpreted to a meaningful degree through examination, association, and deduction" (Yenawine). In short, the images we are selecting should be juicy and ready to dive into. Images that have a great deal of powerful and interesting detail allow for viewers from any background to immediately contribute to and become interested in the discussion.


      It seems that no matter what you try, students will try to create a Narrative within the artwork. We should be trying to facilitate this by projecting images that lend to this tenndency in the early stages of the time  spent with a group. Students grab onto stories. Another characteristic of the conceptual age thinker, according to Pink, is their ability to tell stories and incorporate stories into their work. We must be thinking in regards to these tendencies and attempting to cultivate within our students the desire and ability to tell rich stories within their work. 


     Another interesting note that Yenawine made was the tendency for older students to be a bit suspicious of a process where there are several right answers. The point is made that student are used to definite right and wrong answers. This makes it important for the instructor to emphasize that students are on the right track of thinking about the image in the way that the artist intended or at least they would accept their interpretations. Although I am only working with 1st through 4th graders, I do find a tendency in one of the sharper students to always ask for hard answers at the end of the discussion in regards to what the image was about. It is tough for me to not give him answers and encourage him that his thinking of the image was valid. He told me that it should be tradition that I shared what the real meaning of the picture was at the end of our discussions. I suppose that by giving answers would prove some students thinking invalid and therefore discourage them. Leaving the answers open ended tends to give validity to all students thinking and interpretations.


     As I spent some time going back over some of the material written by Sydney Walker in her book, Teaching Meaning in Artmaking, I realized a critical benefit to incorporating VTS in my classroom. Walker states: "Although we, as art teachers, may yield to student pressure to move quickly to the artmaking process itself, students will soon lose interest because they have brought little in the way of knowledge to inform their artmaking. Under these conditions, artmaking instruction becomes a constant search for new media, techniques, and gimmicks to sustain student interest." I think it will be my tendency to want to start creating as soon as we can in the classroom. However, if we aren't taking time to spike students interest before we begin, wetting their appetites, they will burn out and lose interest in their creations. By incorporating these VTS sessions, not only are we increasing their knowledge base, helping them learn to talk about art, and helping them learn to communicate, we are helping them become more effective citizens in the world of visual culture.

     My VTS experiences this semester have happened in the context of the Boys Writers Club program at Ridgeway Elementary School. In this program we seek to help young boys who are struggling with their writing development, develop by pairing their writing exercises with art making exercises and VTS discussions. This school year we have been investigating the topics of Samurai Warriors, Knighthood and Beasts.
      This is the first image that I selected for our Beast unit. I chose this image because of the combination of animal arts that are combined to create this Beast. These characteristics were helpful in getting the boys to think creatively in regards to the assignment I had created for them. They were asigned to draw the top of half of a beast on one piece of paper and the bottom on another piece. Then the boys were able to mix and match the top and bottom of their beasts with others creations.
     I also liked the nature of the photo as it contained rich detail and lent itself to narrative. The boys really enjoyed the image and it successfully unleashed their imaginations on the assignment at hand. It is challenging to select images of beasts based on the criteria laid out by Yenawine. Man images tend to be gruesome or poorly created. The selection process seems to be of the highest importance when constructing a lesson around a VTS discussion. With several little sets of eyes in the room, they truly notice everything and they are eager to share with their friends. In hind sight, I feel like this was a good choice for the first image of the Bodacious Beast unit. RWAAARRRRRR!!!!!!!