VTS Blog Post 1

Hi everyone!  My name is Karen Shortt-Stout.  I am embarking on my second semester in the Art Education Graduate Studies program, and as such I am not a full-fledged classroom teacher yet.  Fortunately, I have been offered the opportunity to do VTS work this semester with the Boy Writers Club at Ridgeway Elementary School here in Columbia, Mo.  Unfortunately, I don’t have all the details just yet on the specific group of students with whom I will be working, so this first blog post will have to be based largely on my own speculation.

What I can say about the Boy Writer’s Club in general is that it is the brain child of Ridgeway Principal Ben Tilley who hopes to find ways to make writing fun and exciting for boys, who statistically are not as strong in writing as girls.  Part of the rationale for working with students in a writing centered program is that their written responses to the VTS experience, whether reflective or creative, provide a unique tool for assessing the ways in which VTS can address the Common Core Standards for Language arts and Literacy (https://bblearn.missouri.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-846480-dt-content-rid-17937669_1/courses/ltc_8900_mf2/COMMON%20CORE%20State%20Standards%20Initiative.PDF), a goal which is of particular interest to the research being conducted in this class.

Many of the boys in the club have done VTS with students in the past, so depending on the particular group I wind up working with, I imagine at least some of them will be familiar with discussing art and even with the VTS method itself.  Working with a large group of young boys, I think it is safe to anticipate some issues with corralling and holding their attention, however, I hope to be able to redirect all of that energy into some positive outcomes.  Young boys possess such  a fantastic, not to mention entertaining, wealth of creativity and energy that is in every way equal to, although different from that of girls.  I anticipate no shortage of creative ideas, but I think the biggest challenge may be in guiding and honing those ideas into materialization.

I am so excited about working with this program and learning from all of you!