Portrait of Possibility
4th Grade, ELL Cluster class, 50 minutes.
I have one student, "Student A" who I think VTS will be very helpful for. He seems very excited about diving into images. Even in the pre-assessment, he came up to me and was pointing out things he saw, and I had to just tell him to stay in his seat. After he looked at our first image together, he raised his hand with excitement and couldn't wait to be called on. So much in fact that he kept calling out. Normally if "Student A" is not occupied, he has a strong personality and can be doing other things that tend to cause distractions. So I was glad that the activity was engaging enough for him to stay focused.
However, some of his statements he made seemed slightly off, as in not very probable. This could be because it was his genuine opinion, or because he is being silly. Either way though, even if he thinks the boards people are carrying in the desert are surf boards...students respectfully disagreed with him and provided evidence for what they thought might be more probable. I think this solution is good for either cause of his statements. If he is being silly, he will see that his peers are going to disagree and move on with the conversation. If he is being genuine, he will start to provide more concrete evidence for his statements throughout the process when he sees his peers doing so.
But overall I am excited that Student A appears engaged, willing to contribute to the group, and has the potential to be re-directed by his peers instead of me while I facilitate the discussion. I also think that it will improve his writing skills when he takes the excitement and is able to see many things that he likes to point out and explain what he sees that makes him say that, on top of creating such elaborate narratives in his imagination
If he continues to say things that seem a bit off I will stick with question two or if it becomes apparently silly I will paraphrase quickly and move on. If need be, I can have a side conversation with him about his intent at the end of the class. I can also give reminders at the beginning of the discussion about the expectations for how VTS will go.
Lori, I also have a student that sounds like your "student A", in that he can be a distraction, but if he can stay engaged he can be insightful. The problem sometimes is keeping them engaged! I have encountered "silly" comments--or not very probable--as well, and they can be a challenge to handle--especially if the comment gets the rest of the class all wound up! I think the way you seem to be dealing with comments like that is great and as you said, hopefully the rest of the class will disagree and he will see that his silliness isn't getting the reaction he had hoped.
ReplyDeleteIdiosyncratic answers are an indicator of Stage 1, but I think it is good that you are being vigilant, nonetheless for other motives. How is this child regarded by his peers outside of the discussion? Sometime attention-getting behaviors (which I'm suspecting COULD be the case) could be motivated by being ignored or disregarded by peers outside of the discussion. I like that "redirection" is coming from peers. If he's trying to impress them, their respectful corrections could be all it takes in a short period of time. I hope his enthusiasm is evidenced in his post-VTS writings. You may have found the "hook" that will keep him engaged; something you can build on for more appropriate behaviors in other areas of his art room experience. Just be sure to remain neutral with the improbably responses. On the outside chance that he is trying to get a rise in you, he should see again, in pretty short order, that "left field" answers aren't going to do it.
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