6th grade A
class
I first asked my class
to tell be what they thought Visual Thinking Strategies are. A student did get
to the conclusion (from the pre-test) that it is “looking at art and writing
about it”. I told them it is a new way of looking and discussing art. When I told
them we would be doing VTS
today; there where several groans. I think they where anticipating a lecture.
There was a lot
discussion on the cards in the picture. Where the red (cards) cards or the
stand to help hold up the cards. There was not very much listing. There where
some interesting comments. One student believed the scene was taking place on a
train because of the windows in the background (Harry Potter influence?). There
was a collective “oh” from everyone else after that comment. The only problem I
faced during the discussion was one boy keep arguing right after someone spoke.
For example one student said ‘I think the red is the support that holds up the
cards” the one boy immediately said “no those are cards”. I asked if anyone has
disagreements to please raise their hand for me to call on them. He did it
again a few times and he never raised his hand. I spoke to him after class and
told him I would love to hear from him but I want everyone to hear his opinion,
so would he please raise his hand. I think the students really enjoyed it. They
wanted to keep going but it was
going on 20 min.
I think I did well at
sticking to the three questions as written. And for the most part was neutral. The
exception was when they saw something I hadn’t; like the train idea I raise my
tone of voice a little “ok!” instead of ‘ok”. I want to work on not worrying
about time, and just watch them for the queue they are done. I also need to
work on neutral voice.
Hey Adair! So exciting to read about how it is going in other grade levels! :) I think my kiddos haven't grown into their own voice yet so don't shout out as much, but keeping him after to talk to him was awesome. I had one that kept mumbling after a few comments so maybe I will talk to him next time if it happens again. Do you have problems with a few of the students getting restless towards the end of the conversation even though most of the others are still engaged? Wondering if I am the only one dealing with that problem?
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great discussion. We'll talk about how to manage "I'm over it" students with "Just one more thing" students. Bring any strategies you've tried to our October 12 meeting and I'll share a few I have. We all learn from the experience of others. Neutrality is one of the hardest, particularly when a normally silent student belts out an amazing observation. Maybe a wink? Great job!
ReplyDeleteHey Adair! I think that talking with your "energetic" student after class was a good idea - I'm interested to hear how his behavior has changed since then. I particularly like your comment about time, "I want to work on not worrying about time, and just watch them for the queue they are done." If your discussions are close to 20 minutes, and they are still engaged, I think that's great! I have a problem with time myself, because I get so wrapped up in the discussion, I kind of forget about time - which is a bit of a problem since I'm not doing this with my own class! There are other things they have to do, you know, and I can't just keep on going! I also like that you introduced what VTS was and asked them what they thought it was - I don't think that I did the best job doing that with my students. Also - how is the "ok!" vs. "ok." going, because I feel like I have the same issue...
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