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Fall 2021
How Artwork Changed My Classroom
by Katherine Bishop
I cannot expect my students to learn how to come to their own conclusions by continually redirecting them from a ... -
Fall 2021
Note from the Editor
by Kabir Anderson-Singh
What choices do we make as educators that support students to take risks with their thinking? -
Spring 2021
Using VTS to Build Conversations with People Living with Dementia
by Siobhan McDonald
The non-judgmental nature of VTS synched seamlessly with what many memory care experts stress are best practices when ... -
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Winter 2020
When Uncertainty Becomes Possibility: VTS and Creative Problem-Solving
by Jessica Hunter-Larsen
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Summer 2020
Online Image Discussions
by Xenia Walker
How do we hold Visual Thinking Strategies image discussions online? -
Summer 2020
Practice and Compassion
by Madsion Brookshire
How can we achieve a feeling of connectedness when many of us cannot be physically close to our students? -
Winter 2019
Creating a Shared Language: English Learners and Bilingual VTS
by Lupe Limón Corrales
VTS is about making meaning through group discussion, but what happens when the participants do not share a common language? -
Winter 2019
About Language
by Raquel Rojas
How do we as teachers both support language development and deconstruct the structures of language that erase histories? -
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Fall 2019
VTS at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County
by Molly Porter
A T. rex skeleton may not have narrative, but the parallels between scientific observation and VTS are strong -
Fall 2019
When the “Picture” Is Not a Picture: Opening a Discussion
by Kerri Ziemann
There is an art to crafting new VTS experiences. For instance, how can VTS work with a live animal? -
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Summer 2019
VTS, Learning Environments for People of Color, and Antiracist Pedagogy
by Kabir Anderson-Singh
When separated educational settings are used intentionally, they can be essential for strong racial identity development. -
Summer 2019
What More Can We Do?
by Kai Monet
How do our choices as “neutral” facilitators uphold dominant narratives and perpetuate oppression? -
Summer 2019
Letter from the Editor
by Yoon Kang-O'Higgins
VTS has been engaging in reflective practice around issues of race, class, gender, and ability in order to increase ... -
Spring 2019
Using VTS to Teach Claims, Evidence, Reasoning, and Writing
by Aija Simmons
VTS allows students to engage in productive discussion, learn to form an argument, and transfer skills to other content areas. -
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Winter 2018
Tending a Garden Requires Care: VTS, Making Art, and Deep Listening
by iris yirei hu
Learning requires collaboration and a humble reorientation to knowledge that encourages improvisation. -
Winter 2018
Learning to Listen
by Madsion Brookshire
Listening is necessary for any conversation, but listening well expresses something meaningful in and of itself. -
Winter 2018
The Gift of Sight: Why You Cannot VTS on Your Own
by Julia Moustacchi
The core of the VTS experience lies in the fact that it takes place with other people. -
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Fall 2018
Letter from Milwaukee
by Joseph Zimmer
VTS has become a vital part of my instruction and I am convinced it can work for all students. -
Summer 2018
The Power of VTS Writing Lab Changed Me, Then My School District
by Marion Schlicker Bageant
Three, deceptively simple questions changed my teaching practice forever. I wondered, could we also teach writing using VTS? -
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Spring 2018
Honoring Students, Teachers, and the Work of Kerry James Marshall Through VTS
by Jeanne Hoel
How VTS helped shape communities of practice that value diverse input and prioritize inclusive discussion. -
Spring 2018
As Opposed To…
by Kim Aziz, Madsion Brookshire, and Mirka Jablonski
Clearly, the curriculum was failing this classroom. How should a facilitator respond in such a situation? -
Site-Specific
The Journal of Visual Thinking Strategies
Latest Edition
A Note from the Editor
What might it mean to center adult language learners in their learning? In this issue of Site Specific: The Journal of Visual Thinking Strategies, Amsterdam-based Nanja Ruiter reflects on her experiences using Visual Thinking Strategies to support her adult students of Dutch as a second language. I appreciate the view into Ruiter's classroom that I have through the careful documentation of VTS discussions she shares in her essay "VTS Discussions Can Support (Functional) Illiterate Second-Language Learners."
Ruiter makes many choices as an educator to create opportunities for student growth and cultivate community. Ruiter uses a constructivist teaching practice where her students speak Dutch freely and learn from their peers as well as their own mistakes. She also carefully selects images for discussion that honor the cultural heritage and experiences of her adult learners and also take into account Abigail Housen's research that informs VTS.
I find myself inspired by Ruiter's essay to continue to reflect on how to best center learners as an educator. I hope you enjoy reading about her work as much as I have.
I would also like to take this time to share gratitude for the contributions of my colleague Madison Brookshire to Site Specific: The Journal of Visual Thinking Strategies. As founding editor of the journal, Brookshire supported many authors including myself in their writing processes to create the best versions of the essays they wanted to write about their teaching practices. I had the honor and pleasure to join Brookshire on the editorial team and we worked together as co-editors of Site Specific for two years. I learned so much form him and appreciate the vision we shared for an online arts and education journal that inspires readers and informs practice; encourages authors; and reflects the environment of Visual Thinking Strategies itself. Brookshire continues to do excellent work as an artist and educator in Los Angeles.
—Kabir Anderson-Singh
Special thanks to Lupe Limón Corrales and Amy Chase Gulden, peer reviewers for this edition; and Madison Brookshire, former co-editor.