Week 7, Assessing, Reflecting and Planning Blog topic #6

Assessing Student Engagement and learning:

     My students were excited to jump right into this lesson.  They patiently waited while I fiddled with the camera and some studied the painting already up.  Almost every hand went up when I asked the initial question of “what is happening in this painting?

     Students began noticing the most obvious details first, the people behind the glass, what that might imply about the setting, they quickly noticed the repetition of this figures and made observations which might imply there was a mirror.  As this progressed details emerged that gave more clues to what kind of place this might be.  As the conversation continued, the mirror image was discussed from several perspectives, as too whether or not it was a full reflection, or partial.  Where the mirror might be placed and why. As they continued to look some noticed subtle differences in the figures, a different color shoe, or hair, and then this took them to the thought of repetition and what the artist might be trying to say about that.  Showing what happened, then what happened next and then next, or showing the same scene from different perspectives.  As we got further into the conversation, the focus revolved around the function of the repetition and the artists intention for its meaning.  SO both listing and interpretation occurred in our discussion.

There was a more student interaction this time. They were actively listening to each others thoughts and often referred to something another said.  A few times students directly responded to anothers in general conversation. 

I found when this occurred the excitement level picked up, it didn't matter if was n agreement, or an extension of an idea, or even a contrasting point of view, the interaction made the process more exciting for everyone.

I believe my students are learning that when you take the time to really investigate something deeply, more is revealed.  As our conversation progressed, I was astounded at the minute details some of these kids noticed.  They really looked carefully and were not in a hurry/

Reflecting on Practice:

This discussion felt really good!  I tend to get as swept up in the discussion as the kids do so I often have to put myself in check and try not to stay from the appropriate facilitation.

            As I mentioned in my previous post, the pace the conversation took and the way students interacted, felt to me, as if they were addressing questions with out me asking.  I did, at times, bring them back to “what do you see that makes you say this... or some variation of that, often, they stated something already. OR, they would listen to someone else's statement about what they saw and then piggy back onto it with their interpretation. This seemed to happen due to the enthusiasm of the class.  I look forward to Marys feedback on that and will have to adjust things if I am incorrect.

I was surprised at the depth of observation, especially from a few of these kids.  I have several IEP kids who generally speed ten million miles an hour through assignments, yet one of these was the one who noticed some of the tiniest details. This of course impacted things for the good!

Planning:

I want to make sure that in my more relaxed state, I did not stray from what Yenawine and Housen would say is appropriate VTS facilitation.  Again, I look forward to Mary’s guidance. Im actually really excited about how I might extend these practices into the academic classes I teach.  I suspect I do already but in a different way?  I will be looking for ways I do this already and try to articulate it.