Summative

Artist Statement:

The quest for perfection is exhausting and unrelenting, although many strive to attain it.  Just like the frost flowers that are fragile and have no perfection, these thread sculpture are made in the light of a process that over time can become something amazing to the viewer. The more we look at them the more they reveal to us.

“Night Bloom” represents the growth in each of my students through the use of VTS. The black thread represents the unknown moving into the white thread of clarity of understanding. The use of thread helps represent that each of us is fragile just like the frost flowers, but we can grow into something beautiful.

Summative Reflection Project Artist Statement

            Frost flowers extrude ice through slits from a stem of white or yellow wingstem plants. This formation requires a freezing air temperature and that the soil is moist. These flowers expand as they freeze and then split the stem vertically on contact with the freezing air. As more water is drawn from the ground, it extrudes a paper-thin ice layer. The length of each split determines if the frost flower has a narrow or wide ribbon of ice, they can also curl unpredictably as they are extruded. These ice flowers are fragile and each form will not be alike. I see using VTS like frost flower, each student and each lesson can start out fragile, but as we draw on what we see it grows into something unexpected.

            I wanted to highlight the notion of imperfection of the frost flowers and VTS through using thread within the shape of a bowl or flower look form. This form is made out layers of thread in a sculpture form. To highlight the illusion of perfection, we place upon ourselves in this imperfect world, through the use of VTS I’m trying to show what is reality by having students find their way of looking at art through new eyes.  Just like the way we can see the frost flower developing over a short time. Using VTS, I feel I’m giving a gift to each of my students that they can have a voice in what they might find in each new image that I have shown them in class.

            Using the gift of imperfection we can change what draws the attention out of each viewer by using VST and draws attention to what more can we see in each artwork? This artwork of a thread bowl is made out of black thread with a smaller white bowl inside of the larger bowl with then a small white and black bowl inside of them. This represents the path from the old way of seeing art through this new form of using a VTS lesson and helps open the mind of young views. Over the course of this semester I have learned that I value each and every student, just like I value the way frost flowers show us that no matter what we can grow.  They grow just like my students have grown over the semester. I also value the success of each of my student’s, I feel that I have become aware of myself as a teacher/educator and now have the resources to help all of my students.

            Through using the VTS this last semester I have seen my art and non-majors become comfortable within the context of viewing art. They are just like the frost flower that forms into something beautiful and amazing over time. That is why I chose to make “Night Bloom” as a representation of the way my students have grown this semester. The black thread shows the “unknown” in artwork, and then moving to the white thread represents the clarity we find after working through a VTS lesson.  Have the black to white thread moving back and forth inside the flower show that we may not know everything, but are in a state of growth within the VTS lesson.

Pre & Post-VTS Assessment

What does that suggest about your students’ progress and your VTS teaching? According to this program, the data is not statistically significant evident to show that my students have learned more since the beginning of the semester. The two groups equal score is 1.58 that make a 95% over all.  The difference in these groups is 123.28 to 128.44 and this does not show enough evidence for the quick calc to have the results showing significant change in the data.

More importantly, do you agree with this verdict, based on your observations of your students?  Explain. All of my students used the behaviors (simple observations, assertions, detailed observations, interpretations interpretations inferences, interpretations, revisions of thought, conditional language, and multiple possibilities) to different degrees. Pre-VTS their word count was 85 to 194 and Post VTS it was 61 to 203. These preliminary findings show that my students have grown through this process and are proficient in their ability to discuss and write about art or what is going on in the artwork. I can agree with the verdict because my students would not have that much improvement over just one semester, but there is significant evidence to show that they have learned to a satisfactory level. Overall, I have seen that each of my students has learned over this last semester and that with or without the data there is no question to this evidence.

BLOG TOPIC 15: Preliminary VTS Findings

How have individual students grown/changed over the course of their short VTS experience? Overall, my students have grown over the course of each VTS lesson. At the beginning they were withdrawn and not sure of themselves.  Now, they are all into it and want to talk over each other and find evidence that helps support their fellow classmates. My students did not show major growth over the semester, but they did show a large improvement from the beginning of the semester.

How has your focus class grown/changed over the course of their short VTS experience? They are ready to get right into the lesson the minute that I say we are going to have a VTS lesson. I do think they could do this all by themselves, but they are an older group that knows how to get things done. The students that were not engaged in the first lesson on are some of my best VTSers. They find evidence right out of the gate and kept it up throughout the lesson. I could not be prouder. The level of satisfaction that they have given me is beyond words.

How have you as a teacher and your teaching practice grown/changed over the course of the semester? I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to see each of my students grow over this semester. Over this last semester, as a teacher, I have also grown; I now want to engage each new student with seeing art in new ways. Have them finding themselves in the art or finding ways to understand what art can be without someone telling them what they think it is. I have had the opportunity to teach college level students and watch them each develop from stage 1 to 3. They made me want to be more than just that person in front of the classroom. The one that helps them find a voice in the crowd, the one that sees them change over time. I plan on adding VTS to my entire curriculum. I want to share and help my students grow through VTS and helping them find a voice in viewing art.

BLOG TOPIC #14: Portrait of Possibility - Revisited

Were your predictions/assessments accurate? 

Oh yes, Rikki was getting to see artwork from the other side, not just finding art that appealed to him, but might appeal to the class. He also went looking for artwork in the same media that we are using in the classroom.

What did you see during the semester that makes you say that?

Rikki now thinks about, not just materials, but what do the materials say? He is looking at his artwork with new eyes and with a deeper understanding going into it.

You developed a plan or strategy for addressing the needs of that student specifically with VTS. Having Rikki go around and looking up four to six artists, and actually doing the VTS lesson for our class was a way to help him address what he could do with his own art. Rikki really did enjoy doing the VTS lesson for the class and I do think this helped him reach his goal of seeing that he could do more than just what is the norm.

How did that plan or strategy play out? 

The plan was for Rikki to find four to six images for a VTS lesson. He did this and then we talked over each of these images to see what would be the best image for him to VST. Rikki and I picked Jo Stealey’s artwork to do. (This made her happy when she walked into the class during the VTS lesson and saw Rikki VTS it.) I videotaped his lesson so that you could see him in action. He found this process very challenging, having to get up in front of his peers and working the through the lesson.

What were its outcomes for the student?

My students went right in full steam ahead with Rikki doing the VTS lesson, but I do have a great group of students. They are so well trained; any one of them could do the lessons now. I could not ask for a better group of students for using VTS.

What are your “take-aways” in terms of this student or similar students??

I know that VTS has helped all of my students see art in new ways. Because I do have students that have never seen most or all of the works that have been shown in the VTS lesson. It has given them a broader aspect of art that they would not have had in the classroom. I do see that I will be using VTS in my future classrooms, because it shows not only what the artwork is going to look like, but it opens up the students to more artists than I would be using.

Blog #13 VTS Through a Differentiated Lens

In what way has VTS provided differentiation for students in your focus class?

My students come from different backgrounds and they have come together through using VTS in my class. I can clearly identify which students need more help/time to grasp the lesson that we are going over in class. My non-major art students have been developing over this semester because VTS, it helps in their artwork and in our class critiques.

I want to become the best teacher that I can for my students. I have learned through using VST, that I can help them in new ways. By having them work as a group, it helps to ensure the students that need more help can get it or at least understand what we are going over in class.  At the same time, I do agree with Johnson that students need to work individually as a method of increasing their cognitive development. I also, like Johnson, have my students re-work their projects after we have talked about them. This is so they have some insight and understand them better. 

What have you observed in your VTS teaching that makes you say that?

With my non-art major students, they are picking up the language that art students and I use on a day-to-day basis. They are looking at art differently and they know they have a voice to express it. Through VTS my students are finding subject matter that interests them where they were not interested in it before.  By adding the VTS lesson, it has pushed my students to open up their minds to new views and thoughts. VTS has helped all my students in someway.

Blog #12 Assessing, Reflecting, and Planning Video C

         Reflecting back on Yenawine’s recommendations for image selection I do think this image is appropriate from my student. Them being in college age students we as teach are trying pushing all their boundaries and this image is do that.

         This Image might have been too daring with a group of a different age group or had not been working with VTS, but I did feel that most of my students would be able to handle this image. After the lesson, I’m on the fence if it was the right image for my students. “Raw Skin”, the image, really made them think. It was a step up for this group of students and I hoped that I pushed them to dig deeper into their cognitive processes. Some of my students just sit back in most of my VTS lessons and don’t share their ideas, but with “Raw Skin” the majority of my students did share their thoughts. I could see the gears in their minds moving, as they were looked at this image.

They wanted to find an answer to, why it she pulling her skin off?

I challenged them today, to find the meaning in this VTS lesson, but I do not think my students came to the table ready to work through the image. Over the last few months, they have been getting better and better at looking for the meanings in each new image that we see in the VTS lesson. The students did a great job of thinking through and finding meaning in “Raw Skin”. They stepped up to stage 3 for this lesson. That is where this group should be now.

         One of my students that just usually sits back in class during in the VTS lesson he was the biggest player in this lesson. He is shy and not an art student, but he gave it his all today.

         I still feel, sometimes, that I’m the one who needs to work on my paraphrasing words that will challenge my students. I just need to get out of my own way and let it happen. I forget to even link back to other students because I was so in my own head. I do think that over time, I will improve on the VTS lessons.

Blog #11 Preparing for Teacher’s Choice:

Karin Janssen 

Raw Skin: Uncompromising visions of the visceral body 

2013.

“RAW SKIN challenges the dualistic view that the body is merely a seat for the mind, a shell which, with willpower and discipline, can be moulded into a perfect shape, something that we have influence over. This idea denies the reality of our living bodies, our corporeality. The exhibition RAW SKIN aims to research what happens when internal emotions start bleeding into the body, changing, morphing, transforming and exploding it, causing it to clash with the external world around it.”



How do you believe this image addresses the needs and concerns of your students?
Raw Skin challenges the view of the body by just seeing the shell in which we all have on the outside of one self.  That mold that each of us is trying to achieve the “perfect shape”. In my class, we talked about the living body and the dualistic view that we all have about our bodies.  Bringing this image to the VTS lesson is another way of talking about and emphasizes body image. Will my class of older students see this as something that each and every one of them are dealing with on a day to day basis?  I think through art images like this one we can open dialogue for students to be honest about these issues.

In what ways do you believe it will challenge them?
This image changes the traditional conception of understanding the body and would suggest the values we put on ourselves.  Communication about the body and the relationships that all students have with their own body can be worked out in their art in a healthy way.
I have to find more stimulating images for this group.  In finding this one, I see my students really opening up about the imagery and wanting to know more about this artist. Second, this is a 3-D wok of art and my students are drawn more to those than the 2-D works.  So I do hope this work pushes the boundaries in the next VTS lesson.

Blog Topic #10 Assessing, Reflecting, and Planning with Video B

My students were very engaged in this lesson (they woke up). I think that the subject matter helped in this lesson. They kept trying to figure it out. They kept trying to understand what the artist was trying to tell us. They were pulling out things that helped other students to start gauging the artwork. They noticed the undertones of the message that the artist was trying to tell through this work. They talked about the two different feelings going on within the work. My students are thinking on a deeper level with this lesson. They went back and forth from stage 2 to stage 3. The students increased their thinking about the work. I think that my students are learning that this is a safe place to open up and talk about anything in the artwork. They can dive deeper into thinking and meaning with art. 

Reflecting back on this lesson, I feel that my students have acquired more knowledge than I thought they would. After these last few months my students are starting to look at art in a new light from what they were doing before. I say that half of my class is engaged with each new work that is shown. I’m trying to introduce more complex topics into each image. I have witnessed that through using VTS my students and I are starting to see artwork and the world differently. 

With them being much older, my college students have an advantage over younger students. They have different behaviors than school age students and they also think differently than their counterparts. Once or twice I did omit a question, but my students are very good and did not allow it to affect them. They asked why and I said the same question over and over. I have to tell you more about VTS and why we ask the questions we do.  No surprise in this lesson, but I do see that most of the students are starting to move quickly from stage 1 to stage 2, with two or three moving into stage three. 

I want to work on my linking back to each student, by responding back with two or three more people in the link. Next, I would work on my paraphrasing, bringing in words that at least helped with my student’s vocabulary level. I will accomplish this by adding new words to my own vocabulary on a daily basis. Lastly, I need to work on when I omitting the question; I know that I need to add something like a poster on the back wall to help with this and going over the question daily for me.

I have a treat for you all.

I had my Intermediate student prepare a VTS lesson for our class. Here is that video.

Blog #9 Teacher's Choice Proposal

       My students are in college at the University of Missouri.  I have 14 students that are in one or the other of my Beginning and Intermediate Fiber Arts class.  These are stacked classes and can have advanced and graduate students enrolled in them.

      Each student is at a different place in his/her education from early college to last semester seniors and some are not even art majors or minors.  My students come from various areas and different departments throughout the University and take this class for credit in the humanities area.  Each of my students arrive at class with varying amounts of art education.  I encourage them to bring in their own voice to their artwork through each of the areas we are using to help tell about their art.

We meet twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday at 8am to 11am for a three-hour block of time. 

      We meet in Bingham Commons.  This building is an old kitchen and dinning hall that was in operation about 20 or so years ago. This is the preferred place to have a fiber classroom.  We can beat paper, dye fabric, and make baskets in an area that is very forgiving.  We, in fibers, will work in multiple medias this semester.  We are also working with 3-D sculptural units, first surface design, paper sculptural, and basketry. Presently, we are in the 3-D paper sculptural unit.  Each student will beat own pulp and creates an armature to cast over. Then, our next unit will be sculptural basketry.  This is why I have chosen these four artists for my teacher’s choice images.

Blog #8 VTS to Date

The first thing that I’m very comfortable doing is pointing to an area that each student is talking about and I think I have this down pretty well. I have to use a long ruler to be able to touch the image on the screen, because of the very large desk that is in front of the screen. Also I think I’m showing to each of my students that I’m there for them.

Adding VTS to my curriculum involves decisions that help me see the artwork different after each lesson.  I’m now looking for more in each work of art that I’m seeing in my everyday life.  Also this experience has let me evaluate am I giving my students enough information so that they can see art in different ways. I know look at my peers artwork in an open minded way that helps me see that there is more to reflect on in art than just what is on the surface.

Trying to take out all the stumbling blocks by letting there be an open-ended question. Letting the students have freedom in looking, talking, and questioning the artwork without all the answers placed in front of them. The learning through approaches allowed the students to ask why and keep on asking why. Understanding art in itself can be difficult for some students, but using VTS improves their knowledge of critical thinking. I have been surprised that students not engaged in class, can be engaged in the VTS lesson. I see that they understand more than I thought they were.

To what degree would students learn the concepts of looking at art be taught separately?  This is a necessary question to ask the educator in expanding a student’s art experiencing in both creating and interpreting an art form.  In the present political climate of budget restraints and common core standards, it may be difficult to get a straight answer.  Nevertheless, we must continue to fight for the overall education of our students and that includes improving the art curriculum in primary and secondary education settings. Yet, I still want to work on the question of “What is going on in this picture?” “What do you see that makes you say that?” and “What more can we find?” Getting down each of these phrases is my biggest concern and the paraphrasing would be the next concern to me. Coming back with different wordings is something that I think I will be dealing with for a long time, but it is something that I am most compelled to over come!

BLOG TOPIC #7 Why Not Tell?

By not teaching the VTS or not telling the viewer what the work is about, we are just asking them to find their own meaning from their own experiences. Within a group of people you can pull many ideas and much more experience. What each person’s experiences will be is so different from the person next to them. So, by not telling the viewer, we are creating a bigger picture of what is going on in the world today and past experiences. We also need to grow as viewers and if we are just spoon-fed the meanings of the artwork no will grow in understanding and take more information away from the work.

There are many different possibilities that people can take from asking just one simpler question, “what more can you see”, changes the ambiguity of the artwork to something more fulfilling that they can ask more questions of what they are seeing. Part 1 & 2 helps open up the question, why is this artwork like this or what is in this artwork. If we stop asking questions and have the freedom to speak our minds on what we see, we have stopped the process of opening the mind to grow.

The evidence is in the question, what more can we find?  With that question being asked of the viewer, we are asking them to think beyond what is right before them. This question being asked of viewers is finding a method for them to be able to take away from their own experiences. The observations of artwork can not just be something that is not given through names and date, but a more meaningful journey that help each viewer associates with their own experiences. I find that with my own students having VTS in the classroom opens up a way for all students to voice what they see happening in each of the artworks that I display.

Blog #6 Assessing, Reflecting, Planning

Right out of the box, they were engaged.  Even my student, which is not engaged in class, started out engaged in the VTS lesson.  Then the class just went from there. Half of my students are in stage II and a small group are still in the beginning of stage I.  This shows me that some students are learning from these VTS lessons and some are just on the outside of the learning curve.  

During this general observation of my students, I noticed that the students asked more meaningful questions and I also noticed, by their observations, that their answers were more in depth. Overall, most of my students picked up on small details and tried to analyze the artwork.  

The students noticed “Color, color, color” that is dark, foboating, depressing, and gloomy. Then they moved to the man on bed that looked like a medical bed or a military bed. Then, they related the pile of clothing being 6 feet high as if it were six feet under or in the grave. They were exhibiting a form of reasoning out on what was going on in this image. They came up with different scenarios that might be behind the work. 

They were:  1) They observe the man on the bed that it might be a solider and the clothes were the weight of war. 2) They noticed pieces of clothing “a pair of sweat pants and shirts”. 3) With in the difference of colors within the clothing really had powerful ambiguity that helps this shape that is tomb like to pull the viewer in.

What did my students learn from this VTS lesson? That it’s okay to have an opinion, that this class can have an open dialogue or they were in a safe place to say what was on their minds.

The feeling of this lesson was great and after awhile I was in the groove with what they were saying and wanted to join them in a discussion of this artwork. They had it going on and it did not feel like a VTS lesson for me, but finding what the meaning of this artwork is. They have grown so much over the last few weeks and I’m so amazed by my students. I was very surprised that they are learning. I think that the VTS lessons are coming to a place that is opening up my students, so that they can understand viewing artwork is different than just looking at it.  I was so happy today that they have come so far in just this short time.

What I would like to work on is my timing and vocabulary, that way I can push the students timing and vocabulary to a level that is so far out there. They will never go back to just seeing art. I think I can accomplish this by broadening my own vocabulary by pushing myself to comprehend more of each artwork that I show.

Blog #5 Portrait of Possibility

I have chosen “Rikki” who would be helped by using VTS; I think the VTS would challenge him beyond where he is today. He is a very bright student, but I think it could make him a great artist and someone that could go to graduate school and with this push would help him to go down that path. Rikki really took to the VTS lesson today. He surprised me with his answers and the way he would come up with the meaning to the teapot. He looks at the meaning to the scroll design on the bodies to that of henna. The earrings represent babies and the teacup in the tummy as a baby that has not been born yet. He would feed off the other students and after I was done with the lesson, he and Amy wanted to keep going.  They sat there and kept analyzing it.

”Rikki” is the name I’m going to use as a pseudonym for my student. Rikki is a first year art student, willing to learn new things. Sometimes he does not always engage with the lesson plan. I would say he goes his own way, but he is very smart. I have to push Rikki sometimes and at other times he’s just a super kid.

I think Rikki would benefit by being exposed to new images, terms and techniques. Rikki is one of those students just on the brink of finding himself as an artist.

VST lesson plan; I would like to have Rikki find four to six images that he would like to know more about. Then, I would like to have him do a VTS lesson for the class. This would allow Rikki to see from both side of understanding the learning process.  I would videotape this so that we can go over after the tape after he is done. That way he can start thinking about the artwork in a new light.

Blog Topic #4 Assessing Student Engagement and Learning:

                                                                                        Student Engagement and Learning:

I prepared my students before the video was turned on. I told them we would be doing a VST lesson. I asked them to silently look over the image on the screen for couple minutes. Then I turn on the video and we started. As I called on my students they responded with hands raised. My student engagement level was open and thoughtful. They sat and thought out each piece of this artwork. Then they would ask one question at a time, I loved that they listened to me this time. They started with small surface items that were easy to find, then they got down in depth to what was going on. They picked out the meaning of the books from the mouth of the bird, to that of the books in the stomach. My students really went for “Why”. They pulled out that each layer was a represented of layers of a person’s soul; this is shown in the center of the bird. With the layers of nails on the outside, it helps to protect the bird from the outside world.

Reflecting on Practice:  

After the video was turned off we talk about the “why” this lesson is helpful and that it would help students to understand art better over time. A student wanted to know why I said, “what I hear you saying is”, I loved that they played off  each other this time. All in all, I’m very happy with this VST lesson today. 

Planning:

Next time, I hope to pull more from my students and show them they can understand that it’s okay to state their opinion and they need to be awake. YES, my class is at 8am and for College student and they are not awake just yet. I’m still working on being comfortable in the rewording back to my students, but I think that it will come in time.

BLOG TOPIC #3: Pre-VTS Assessments

My new favorite word is “WHY” after doing this last VTS assignment. I think we need, as artists, to ask that question more often than we do. We need to ask it all the time within the practice of thinking of the eye to mind connection, what do you see and we need to ask why?  Why do I see things like this and not like that?  Why did they do it that way not this way?  Why the color green in a purple painting? Asking the question why is an innocent question, but I think it’s one of the biggest ones we can ask.

What did you notice about your students’ written responses? They gave more details about the artwork. They gave additional information about what was in the background and why was this work done. They were also willing to talk about what was in the artwork after the papers were gathered up. They engaged with each other to find the answer to what was going on.

Did you recognize kinds of thinking discussed by Yenawine? Yes, through writing and doing VTS over long periods of time, we can see the growth within each student. Sometimes this growth is hard to see if we use the standard testing methods that do not realistically measure ideas students learn over time, but adding the VTS to their course work along side with other skills, is very necessary to help each student grow over time.

Reflecting upon Housen’s descriptions of Stage 1 & 2 viewers, did you recognize characteristic responses/thinking in these pre-assessments? The skill at drawing conclusions from complex observations that carried over to the classroom and then to the students to note is why I think have a pre-assessment in the classroom helping each student to push their own response to the artwork. The Housen process talks about helping students with their grammar. By taking the time to talk out what has been seen, they can and will push/add new words to their vocabulary and so on to the assessment. They might not understand every word until the class discussion goes over it. With this approach, we, as teachers, do not have to dig very far to see that each student can be educated in a quality manner.  Additional resources might be needed to further encourage each student to expand their vocabulary in the arts.  In this way, they can also better understand the world around them. 

Were you surprised by anything in the students’ writing? Some yes, but the next time I will not be doing this at 8am, but rather a 10am.  My students are not up at the 8am slotted. Some students are willing to give more than others, but that I think goes back to the way each of them learn. Some are open and loud about what they see and others sit back and listen to what is being said.