Facilitator FAQs Home

What are Facilitator FAQs? At VTS trainings across the country, educators with varied experiences who are working with diverse populations often share common questions and concerns. The Facilitator FAQs provide in-depth responses to many of these questions based on what we've learned from those same educators and their experiences utilizing VTS in the classroom and galleries.

What's your question? While we won't be able to include every question in this space, by posing your own question or responding to others' questions below we can slowly grow this database and address the most pressing questions of the collective VTS community.

Suggest a topic or make a comment at the bottom of this page.

General
• If someone asks
  “What’s VTS?” what do I say?


Method
• Can you help me learn to paraphrase and link?
• What do you mean by 'linking answers'?
• How do i paraphrase simple comments?
• What do I do when I hear 'wrong answers'?
• How do I encourage quiet students to participate?
• What do I do when kids repeat what others have said?
• What do I do when we have to end a discussion but many students
  still have things to say?
• What do I do when some one asks a question?
• What do I do about the student who intentionally tries to sidetrack the conversation?
• What do I do with those who try to dominate or always have something to say?
• How do I handle hurtful or inappropriate comments?
• What if my older students show signs of boredom?
• How do I adapt VTS to apply the strategy to written texts?


Theory
• Why Art?
• Why does VTS emphasize discussions?
• How does "What's going on (happening)
  in this picture?" relate to data?
• What do you mean when you say VTS
  is “developmentally appropriate?”
• Why do you say that VTS is
  an "authentic experience"?
• What do you mean by
  "aesthetic thought"?

Rationale
• When do I use
  "What do you see that makes you say that?
• Why must I continue to repeat
  “What more can you find?”
• Why must I keep repeating the questions
  verbatim, at least, at first?
• What's the difference between
  open-ended and directive questions?
• Why do I paraphrase every comment?
• What do you mean by paraphrases
  using conditional language'?
• Is pointing really necessary?
• Why do you ask us not to summarize?
• Why do you ask the teacher to
  accept all comments “neutrally?”
• Why do you recommend no praising?
• Why ask,
  “What more can you say about this person?”
• Why ask,
  “What more can you say
  about where this is happening?”
• Why ask,
  “Where do you think the artist was positioned
  to see the picture this way?”
• Why ask,
  “What objects seem close to us, etc?”
• Why ask,
  “What more can you say
  about when this is happening?
• Why ask,
  “How are these similar? How different?”
• Why ask,
  “What do you think interested the artist
  when making this picture?”


Assessment
• What makes my students grow with VTS?
• How can you claim VTS
  encourages rigorous learning?