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Home : 2002 : March : 10

looping
By Kathy

Hi Kirsten,

Am not sure what kind of "help" you are looking for, but I can tell you that it can be a real advantage to have children more than one year. Five years ago I transferred to a two room school and I taught (consecutively)1-4,
2-4, 3-4, 3-5. That meant the fourth year I had some of my original first and second graders for the fourth year! (The reason for the grade change from year to year was that the school kept growing. We now have 5 teachers and I teach grades 3-4--a combination I love!!)
I came from a large school where I had taught just one grade (3rd) for nine years so it was a HUGE

adjustment for me. The biggest challenge (as you will find)is that you can't just use the same materials over and over again!! The upside of that is that you have to get "fresh ideas" which helps you grow as a teacher. You can find those in all kinds of places (including this site) and I'm sure even this year you have materials you didn't get around to.

I also found that there was a tremendous advantage in having children more than one year as you don't have to spend so much time getting to know them. Everyone feels comfortable. What I found is that they became a little "family" and I didn't have that usual "Let's test the rules" at the beginning of the year because they already knew the classroom guidelines and knew I would enforce them. New students just seemed to slip right in and follow along. Teaching students for more than one year is a real "gift of time" because you can just take them that much farther.

And the amazing thing to me was the way they clung to certain "traditions"--such as decorating gingerbread houses at Christmastime and didn't want to do something "different." My children were younger, so you may find a bit difference with the older ones, but even they can like the familiar.

One of my colleagues said what she did when she got a group of kids for the second year when they were hoping to move on was to ask them what they thought would make it a "perfect year." Then she tried to incorporate some of their suggestions and she said she had one of her best years ever.

I thought--for the most part--it was great! Hopefully you will enjoy it, too.