Looping with Students
I have been thinking about the concept of looping back around with students as a teacher. For example, next year, I could possibly begin teaching 9th grade and then move along with them through their 12th grade year. (*Reminder: I am an English teacher. Looping isn’t easily possible for all subjects.)
One of my colleagues and I have been discussing the merits of such an experiment, particularly for our school’s population, for whom consistency is infrequent at best. In reality, if I chose to do this, I would likely loop back to 10th grade because our school has a Freshman Academy small learning community.
However, I am still not sold it is the best decision, so I wanted to open up a conversation to my peers to get your feedback. I have considered some pros and cons and will list them below. Please share your thoughts!
Pros:
- Students would have a consistent teacher
- Teacher would have firm understanding of students’ capabilities and knowledge base
- Students and teacher would form strong and meaningful relationships
- Teachers get variety in the subject matter
Cons:
- Students would not get variety in English teachers
- Teacher would not get variety in students
- Teacher would take longer to become an expert in grade level strategies and lesson plans
- Sometimes teachers do not “click” with their students, so the experience might be four years of h*ll.
(although, on the other hand, it would teach both teacher and students to get along…)
Post some comments! I would like to get some fresh perspectives!
