The Good News About Looping

I have been teaching for a long time. The past two years were the first in my career that I was given the chance to intentionally loop with my students from one year to the next. I knew, instinctively, that this would be a good thing for me. My curriculum would be seamless, and I would know my students. What I didn’t know is just how much it would help my students.

As you may have read in my September 2022 post about my first-week-of-school tradition of letters of introduction, I begin each year by writing—and reading aloud—a letter of introduction to my students. I struggled with the idea of asking my looped students to write me another letter, but the better part of my brain prevailed. I revamped the directions for those students who have worked with me before. They wrote letters to me again, telling me about anything that happened since I last saw them. What I received made me realize that this was not only a good idea, but a necessary idea. I will do it again next year.

I learned a good deal about these young people, things that they might not have shared with me when I first met them. Because I kept my confidentiality promise last year, they knew that I would not share the letters with anyone. So, they wrote to me with that in mind. And that will help me to be a better teacher for them this year, because I know what is going on in their lives. Even though I may not be able to do anything about their situations, I can recognize them and approach them from a feeling of understanding. This is, and will be, good for all of us as we tackle the year ahead.

As I get to know my sixth-graders, I continue the relationship with my seventh- and eighth-graders. Our trust is already built. Our rhythm has already been set. There was no need for “getting to know you” activities or games during our first week of school. We know each other. And our relationship is getting deeper. I believe that we have gained two weeks of content over classes I have taught in years past, because we began with literature and writing on day one of the school year. We all know what we are in room A-7 for, and we got to the business of it right away.

So, this concept of looping helps me in curriculum work. I know where they have been and where they need to go. I know what we did well last year, and I remember what may have gotten short-changed. I know what resonated with them last year. I will not again attempt those things that crashed and burned. I can streamline our work and activities and even topics to meet them where they are.

This concept of looping also helps me in the art of being human as their teacher. I have been given a gift: I know things about my students outside of school; I know what struggles they may be facing; I have been let in on their fears and worries. If it results in nothing more than a small comment, a reassuring smile, or a bit of eye-contact, my students will know that I know. And when you are in middle school, it often seems like nobody knows or cares. So, I have been given an advantage, and I am grateful for it. I will not waste it.

There are so many SEL programs out there, and I am certain that many of them are wonderful, but I believe this is true SEL. My students and I know each other. We get each other. We “see” each other. And when this is true, everybody wins.

I would say, “Let the year begin,” but ours already has.