Always Better the Devil You Know/Good Luck with All That
For the first time in my teaching career, I'm looping this year. If you're unfamiliar with the term, "looping" refers to teaching the same group(s) of students for more than one academic year; e.g. teaching 7th and 8th grade English to the same group of middle-schoolers for two consecutive years. I was fully complicit with the looping plan, so I'm pretty much okay with it.But I've spent so much time thinking about all the great things I can do with these same kids that I haven't really considered any of the unique challenges that might be posed by greeting the little devils I know on Thursday morning. (Just kidding! Mostly!) So, anyone who has looped before: Any pitfalls of which I should be aware? How much change is too much for kids who think they already know everything about how you roll? Is it easier or