Forum Post 4 VTS Jessie Philpott

Using VTS in a classroom will help students to become independent critical thinkers. These are important skills for students to learn. It helps students to be a functioning part of society. It can also help students to be aware of the world around them. It  is very important to know who, what, and where is going on around you for survival.

Today's students are very anti-social. Teachers need to do more to help students learn how to communicate and work together. This is the only way we are going to be able to get our students to stop bullying each other. Students just aren’t being prepared with life skills.


http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/techlp/techlp057.shtml

The lesson plan a picked is a cross curriculum. It is language arts and social studies. The students can learn about different places in the world. They can discuss what they see in the pictures and be introduced to different cultures. The students can take what they have learned or saw and write about them.

The Jet-Setting Pets project is a great idea. Students love their pets and if they don't have one most kids would enjoy having one so they like to pretend. I like the idea of students using online ways to create art but I would allow students to draw too. As a class we could also analyze the photographs we look at for examples. If we were to look at other countries we can then discuss other cultures too with their art.

I strongly agree with Jessie in the fact that kids today are living in a very different society than I grew up in.  Technology is so great it has cut off the normal communication of people through the spoken language.  Today kids text their friends (and parents) to communicate instead of talking face-to-face.  Many young people don't know how to actually communicate with one another face-to-face.  All this is leading to insecurity of being left out when they are seeing friends "having fun" on social media.  Bullying behaviors are instant now that everything is at their fingertips.  

Independent, critical thinkers - isn't that what we all want for our students?!  It is hard in today's society when the "hive mind" seems to take over.  I have to post the same thing my friends are posting on Facebook, Instagram, or whatever social media is popular at the time.  

One of our goals as teachers is to create "future ready students."  How can they be future ready if they don't think creatively and independently?  I love how we are learning how arts education can help us do that for/with them.  

Your link to the Pet travel lesson is fun!! I can see doing that with my 2nd or possibly 3rd graders if I gave them a "beanie baby" (yes, I'm that old) and having them take it someplace on their Spring Break or Winter break.  They could take pictures (or preferably DRAW) and then write about it.  Our local public library has done a project like this for years.  Now, I am considering doing it short-term with one of the grade levels I teach. I think I could also find several appropriate books to read to them to accompany this lesson (that's the teacher librarian in me!).