Blog Topic #6

Video #1: Lesson 2
Assessing Student Engagement and Learning:

• Describe the students willingness to participate.
• The students in my 5th grade class were very willing to participate.  Most of the students were mature and excited about being video taped for my college class.  Before we began, I asked them questions and explained what 'getting my masters' meant.  It was very interesting to see what they thought it meant.  I had one student who did not want to talk and when I would ask her what she thought we would respond, "I'm just to shy."  She was putting on quite a show but was not causing any problems during the VTS session.
• What did student notice about the featured artwork?
• The image displayed by my projector was very washed out and almost colorless, however they still picked out many details and did a great job.  They all noticed the animals, horses and buffalo along with the teepee's and Indians.  Some students said the Indians were chasing the buffalo to kill and eat them, others thought the buffalo were stampeding the camp and the Indians were trying to chase them away to save the camp.  We also had an in-depth conversations about the material the picture was draw/painted on.  It was great to see the interpretations the students came up with.
• Did students list or interpret their observations?
• A few of the student in my group would list objects/animals/people they saw, however there were others who would explain why they thought these objects were in the picture.  I believe some of the students wanted to tell the story they saw going on while others may have thought I wanted to know what was actually in the artwork.
• Student interactions.  How did this impact group meaning-making?
• While we discussed the first image the grouped worked off of each other and really expanded on each others comments.  However we went on to discuss the second image and one student began to make some obnoxious observations which seemed to turn the session in the wrong direction.  I had some students who continued to participate, however it was not the same quality of discussion that we had with the first image.
• How did the discussion conclude?
• With the first image, the group seemed to be finished commenting about the image so we moved onto the next image.  With the second image I concluded with a review and and thanked the class for participating.  
• What do you think students learned from this discussion?
• The students continued the process we began in the first lesson.  The students were practicing listening to others and responding to what they see in the image.  They would also state if they were agreeing with the peers or disagreeing to what they heard from others.  I saw the students facial expressions along with the comments they would make when it was their turn to speak.

Reflecting on Practice:

• How did the VTS discussion feel and what did you learn by facilitating this lesson with your students for the second time?
• The process is beginning to feel a bit more natural.  The students were eager to participate and made many constructive comments.  I learned that the students will adapt very quickly to a new process of viewing artwork and discussing it.  
• Were you able to use the questions and prescribed teacher behaviors comfortably? 
• I felt much more comfortable with the questions.  The more I 'practice' with different groups of students the more natural it is becoming. 
• Were there any surprises?  How will these impact your practice moving forward?
• Well....to the fault of no one except myself...my phone rang not once but twice!!!  Quite embarrassing for myself.  I always keep it on because if someone calls...it should be an emergency.  Everyone knows I'm at school.  This did interrupt us twice however the students did a remarkable job of helping me find where I was and who was talking.  They are great at reminding us! 

Planning:

• What do you want to work on as you plan for future VTS lessons?
• I would like to continue to work on my paraphrasing and linking.  As I paraphrase my students comments I have been trying to scaffold their language and not just repeat what they say.  I have also been attempting to link comments between students and as I had mentioned in another posts the students have also began to say, "Well I agree with John....".  It is great to see them picking up on the process.
• How do you think you can accomplish that?
• I would say just to continue to practice and read about the VTS process and watch others who are doing it.