Looping

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Home : 2005 : March : 21

Looping
By GaTeacher

I teach at a middle school where everyone must loop. I am in the last year of my 2nd loop. There are some advantages: you know your students, you know their weaknesses and strengths, you get to know the parents. However,
by 8th grade the disadvantages seem overwhelming. Right now, with 39 days of school left I am SICK of these children. We have been together since they entered the 6th grade. I think that you start to lose your effectiveness as a teacher. You almost feel like the children's parent because you are with them so much. You start giving in to things that you would never allow because

you are TIRED. Don't get me wrong, I have very high expectations for my students, but you get to the point where you look at past behavior and academic performance and say,"Well, Johnny hasn't done it in the past what makes me think he will do it now." Another frustrating thing is parents. There are some parents that I have NEVER seen. Doesn't matter what we do, we can't ge a parent in for a child. You would think if you have a child for three years you would see a parent.
Of course, not only is this a looping team it is also a full inclusion team. I have MI, EBD, MO, LD, gifted, and regular students on the team.
We have tried to talk our ADMIN into 2 year loops but they don't listen. They don't care that we get burned out. I would love to do a 7-8 loop. I love teaching 8th grade. So, it depends how long you loop and how willing your admin is to listen to you to make it better.