Week #5

I have a student that is currently in the class that I am preforming the VTS assignments in, that has become “my project” for the semester. Lets call this student Mike, due to the fact that he reminds me of the main character in the movie The Blind Side.  He is quiet.  I believe that he is smart, but doesn’t give effort in his schoolwork. He is kind to everyone he talks to and he is tall and big; getting the picture. But unlike Mike in the movie where he found his place playing football. My Mike loves to draw. He carries around a notebook that he is always doodling in. All his other teachers tell me about his notebook. When I see him siting alone at lunch, he is always drawing in it. I take the time to sit down with him and page through the book. He loves to draw cartoon stories. I have asked him to take the time and draw out a comic for our school’s newspaper, but he has not yet. He was very excited that I asked him to draw for the newspaper, but he missed the deadline. I am determined to get him to draw one by the end of the school year. Anyways, With VTS, I believe that it might give a voice to Mike. He struggles with writing and in his Pre VTS assessment he only wrote down thirty words. He was very exact and did not explain a lot of details. I think that with VTS Mike can voice what he sees in the image. He can be guided by the group’s opinions to form and alter his own. I would like to see him participate in the group VTS but I am not sure if he will. I will try my best to make sure that he has every opportunity to voice his thoughts. I will make sure that he is sitting within the group and not on the group boundary. Like I said before, I want Mike to succeed in school and if his outlet is through drawing, I want to present every opportunity there is for him in my classroom. 

Week #4

After having my student fill out the Pre-assessment to VTS, we completed my assignment to introduce VTS with a discussion. We used the same image that they filled out on paper. We walked though VTS and talked about the questions. We then preformed a VTS of the image. The students were very willing to participate in the activity. They noticed details in the image and pointed out things that I did not see myself. Some of the comments made students change their opinion about what was happening after someone else pointed out something in the image. A few students participated more then the rest of the group, but that’s what I was expecting. After telling me what was happening they have very good evidence towards why they felt that way. Students were respectful towards one another’s thoughts. They corrected themselves when they were talking out of turn. The discussion ended when no one else had anything to say. We talked about the image for about fifteen minuets. Following the VTS the students wanted to know the name of the image and the meaning behind it. I told them that I would look up the name for them if they would like me to as soon as they start their projects. I also explained to them that there is no written meaning for the image unless the artist themselves wrote it down. Most of the time in art, it is up to the viewers to form their own interpretation of the artwork. They did not like it that I did not have the “answers”.

I was actually really nervous to preform this VTS. I got over that really fast because standing and teaching a group of teenage students is my job and I do it every day. Overall I thought that this activity went really smoothly and the students impressed me with their observations and own thought for the VTS image. I became really comfortable with the VTS questions and my students picked up on what I was asking after a little while. I felt that I stuck with the questions throughout the VTS and thought that I was good at rephrasing what the student said for the group. I was very excited and happy with the way that the VTS went. I was also happy that the students were curious about the image even after the VTS session. I am happy to be learning more about VTS and how it helps me and my students view an image and fully understand and see what is going on.

7 Principles Photos

By Mitch Kern

By Amir Lyles

Art:21 Artist

Art:21 Series artist:

Yinka Shonibare was focused on the theme featured in Transformation.

He grew up in Nigeria and studied art in London. He is known for his costume dioramas that explore current issues of race, and culture identity. He is physically disabled after being paralyzed form a spinal virus he caught as a child. His art employs paintings, sculpture, photography and film.

I can help students connect the idea of transformation to their lives by helping them understand the theme. This artist based his art from the world around him and how he fit within the world. He is disabled and didn’t really grow up in a place where race was an issue. He expressed the transformation of his disability and his culture in his art. I will show the students how Yinka used his art and the culture and history of a place to express his art. We can also look at how he used a story line in his film work, just like they use in Literature.

We can look at the idea of Transformation and compare and contrast this enduring idea to other artists. Art: 21 has a list of other artist under this idea topic. We can view or read about that new artist and relook at Yinka’s artwork. We can also look at different artist backgrounds and history to compare with the theme of Transformation. This way we could research the individual artist’s definitions of the theme of Transformation.

I like the idea of presenting a theme to a whole class and having them base an artwork from that theme. Most of the time we come up with a theme together and discuss the possibilities of where that theme can take us. After viewing and researching a theme, I would be interested to know where my students would go with it. I would prompt them with questions about transformation. We would look at their personal feeling of transformation and how they would express that through artwork. I think if we make it personal a student would become more invested in their work and would explore the theme on their own as well.

Week #3

Week 3:

 I gave the Pre VTS assessment to my Foundations of Art class. All of my students were present

 during this class. It is a mix grade level group; consisting mostly of freshman and sophomores 

with one Senior and a few juniors. They are all in this basic class with very little prior knowledge of

 art at all. After reviewing the results of the assessment, a lot of the students came up with a common 

story line. Some students revealed more evidence then some of the others. A lot of the students 

created a story with predictions on what they were viewing. This class has about half of the student 

population that requires accommodations due to a Learning Profile, aka IEP.  I was surprised on 

how well they did with telling me what they saw in writing. But I was also very disappointed in 

some students writing skills.

 

I believe that the students fall within Housen’s description of Stage one:

Accountive viewers are storytellers. Using their senses, memories, and personal associations, they 

make concrete observations about a work of art that are woven into a narrative. Here, judgments 

are based on what is known and what is liked. Emotions color viewers' comments, as they seem to 

enter the work of art and become part of its unfolding narrative.

 

They all had a narrative and told me a story about the painting. They all had some predictions. I am 

looking forward to when the students can write and vividly describe what they see. One of my 

schools common goals is writing skills. I think lessons like this will help improve writing. I also think 

that the students will like these writing lessons because there is no right or wrong answer. They are 

simply telling a story about what they are viewing and providing evidence to back up their story.

 

I am very excited about using this more in my class!

Week #2

I guess I never posted this last week! Sorry for the delay!

Week 2:

I was unfortunately only able to collect one coworker to perform the VTS with. Due to this week 

being Catholic Schools Week, we have been on a special schedule every day, all week. We were 

cut down on our plan periods and when we have one, we are very limited on time to get things 

done. So you can say its been crazy around here and not a lot of people were willing to give up 

all their time this week.

 

But needless to say… I worked with what I had. I presented the Winslow Homer work, “Dad’s

 Coming”. She was able to quickly find things within the picture and support what she was saying 

with evidence.  She liked the higher order thinking skills that were required for this task. She did 

not come up with a story line that followed the title. After she asked for the title of the work, she 

was surprised with the answer. She created a story of a “day at the beach”. She thought that this 

was a great way to enhance your viewing experience and make you think about the meanings 

behind a work.

 

She was impressed with the teaching methods and the steps in VTS. She asked multiple questions 

about the VTS process and how she would be able to use it in her classroom. She stated that she 

would like to come back when I perform this strategy in the classroom setting. I told her that I 

would welcome her to come when we do this. I am not sure if she will be able to because we 

have the same plan and teaching times. We will see. 

Seven Principles

Paul Duncum article about the "new" Seven Principles of Visual Culture Education.

I liked some of the new principles that are presented in this article. Most all the principles, I feel that they overlap and relied too much on the others. For example, I really like the idea at looking at the visual objects in a culture that relate to the Principle of Representation. But Representation needs to include the principles of Ideology, Sedution and Gaze. A viewer is going to view something differently depending on their personal background and relationship to the object being viewed. All of these principles intertwine within the others. The traditional Principles of art education intertwine within each other too. We wouldn't have balance or space, without line or value. Right? I guess I am trying to say that I am at a neutral opinion when it came to this article. Nothing really jumped out to catch my attention and on the other hand, nothing upset me as much as the Kamhi article.