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Welcome to Brittney Bullard’s Wiki! I am an undergraduate secondary education and English major. This Wiki has been designed to help me better learn how to implement technology in my future classroom. This Wiki contains my powerful teaching project which focuses on the concept of looping.

Looping What is looping? AKA “continuous learning,” “continuous progress,” “persisting groups,” “multi-year grouping,” “teacher/student progression,” “family-style learning,” “two-cycle teaching,” and a number of other terms Looping is the practice of advancing a group of students together to the next grade level with the //s////ame //teacher. After a “looping cycle” of about two years, the teacher begins a    loop with a new group of students. Basically, looping keeps a group of students and their teacher together over long periods of time, emphasizing continuity from year to year. Who loops? Though looping can be practiced from kindergarten through twelfth grade, in the US, looping generally occurs from grades one through eight, usually in two-year intervals.

The history of looping

 · Though the practice has existed for several hundred years, usually out of necessity (recall the one-room school houses?), it became formalized in the early twentieth century.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Impact','sans-serif'; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · <span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">Rudolf Steiner, an Austrian educator and philosopher, founded the Waldorf Schools in Germany in the early 1900s. Steiner believed that it was beneficial for students to have a   <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">long-term relationship with their teachers. The Waldorf teachers stayed with their students from grades one through eight. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · <span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">In 1913, a similar practice, referred to as “teacher rotation” was described by the U.S. Department of Education.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 28pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · <span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">Jim Grant is credited with coining the term “looping” when he, Bob Johnson, and Irv Richardson published the //Looping Handbook// in 1996.

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 28pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · <span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">Today, forms of looping are popularly practiced in nations such as Germany and Japan, and many educators and administrators in the United States are "rediscovering" the logic  <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-indent: -0.25in;">that lies behind the simple practice of looping.

<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Impact','sans-serif'; font-size: 28pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Why Loop? <span style="color: #008000; display: block; font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 28pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;"> <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 28pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"> · <span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">Though not much quantitative research exists on the subject, there remain observable qualitative benefits of the implementation of looping for both teachers and students.

<span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 1in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">1. Teachers gain extra teaching time: Teachers do not have to "start from scratch" in the fall, learning names and establishing rules and expectations. Summertime learning becomes a stronger possibility as it would be easier for teachers to implement summer reading lists, projects, and even field trips.

<span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 1in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"> 2. Teachers obtain an in-depth understanding of each child as a person, including his or her learning style, strengths, and weaknesses which they could not have obtained in a single year. This understanding strengthens teacher-student relationships and provides for more effective instruction. Students in looped classrooms were also reported to have higher reading and mathematic scores versus children who did not loop. <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 1in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"> <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 1in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">3. Social advantages: Looping builds a community and a sense of stability. Students are not anxious about a new school year and new teacher, which increases their confidence, allowing them to flourish socially and academically. This sense of community extends outside of the classroom as well: Teachers form better and stronger relationships with parents, and parents form a connection with other parents.

<span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 1in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">4. Reduced behavior problems: The long-term relationships formed by looping produce an environment that encourages thinking, risk-taking, and involvement. Schools who loop found that attendance and test results improved, there were fewer discipline problems and special education referrals, and students were less likely to be retained. <span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 1in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">5. English Language Learners: "<span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt;">adjust to their new school and become comfortable with their teacher, developing confidence in their newly acquired language" (LAB).

<span style="display: block; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 1in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;"><span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;"> · <span style="font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt;">Looping is relatively easy and cheap to implement. It is compatible with other continuity programs. <span style="display: block; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">﻿ <span style="color: #008000; display: block; font-family: 'Impact','sans-serif'; font-size: 28pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">Disadvantages of Looping <span style="color: #008000; display: block; font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 28pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;"> <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">As with every theory, looping has its fair share of disadvantages. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">1. A major concern for parents, students may be placed with an ineffective teacher for two years.

2. <span style="color: #008000; display: block; font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 28pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">Extended time working together can heighten the severity of student-teacher personality clashes, teacher and parent problems, students’ issues with each other, and even a good teacher’s specific weaknesses. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">3. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">Entering a looped classroom is hard on new students. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">4. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">It is easy for administrators to overload looped classrooms with special needs children who may thrive in such a nurturing environment, but this is not fair to the teacher or the learners. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">5. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: left;">Everyone should have a choice: teacher’s need to be comfortable with looping, students should be comfortable with their teacher and classmates, and parents should be comfortable with their child’s education. Providing this many options is often hard for an administration to administer, especially from scratch. <span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 28pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">

Resources: <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 28pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"> ﻿LAB at Brown University. //Looping: Supporting Student Learning through Long// // ﻿ // //Term Relationships,// 1997. Web. <span style="color: #008000; font-family: Impact; font-size: 28pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">[]﻿ <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Gill Sans MT Ext Condensed Bold','sans-serif'; font-size: 28pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">﻿ Gaustad, Joan. "Implementing Looping." December 1998. //ERIC//. Web. <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Impact; font-size: 28pt; line-height: 115%; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">﻿[]

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