VTS1: Peer Coaching 2.

Dionne,

It's so interesting to see what it is like for someone to practice VTS with an adults, especially who are more comfortable with viewing art!

It sounds like your viewers are becoming much more advanced, at least in stage two as they are discussing the artist's intentions. I also thought it was very interesting that one person offered up a theme, (communism) as to what the piece might be about. That is definitely a sign of an advanced viewer. It was also nice to hear that the group accepted this possibility and found further evidence to support the theme. However, just make sure you are using conditional language when talking about these intentions/themes. Make sure you are saying, "You think this piece COULD be about communism...what do you see that makes you say that?" That way you are leaving room for someone to disagree, instead of just leading the group to provide more evidence. If they offer supporting evidence that's great, you just don't want to make it seem like they have found the only/correct answer.

I agree that it is hard when multiple people start talking over each other. This is something that I have to keep addressing with my students as well. I reminded them that if they did not get called on, do not whisper to their neighbor and do not try to talk at the same time. You also might find it helpful to ask your group to just mention one thing at a time, as Mary advised me. That way you can still cover everything in the image but it gives you time to focus, as well as more opportunities for other people to join the conversation.

Being recorded is definitely awkward, but just remember that you are learning like the rest of us. You're getting safe and productive feedback, and you're not supposed to be TOTALLY AWESOME yet. Try as much as possible to just ignore the fact that you're being recorded, and don't put too much pressure on yourself when paraphrasing to throw in fancy vocabulary or anything. You're just confirming that you heard the speaker correctly, and trying to tease out visual evidence for their statements through the second question. Even though I bet your group offers evidence without being prompted too a lot :) And practicing with other people sounds like it is helpful, and that you are definitely wanting to keep working on your own performance!

Keep it up!

Lori