Cecilia stays with her students from Preschool class to 3rd grade. She started using Loops when a colleague came across a loop about equal value for all and tipped her off about it. She became curious and created a test account. Cecilia quickly learned how to build loops and how to use the system, with the aid of the Loops instruction material.
The first step was to remix a loop that was already in the library and to rebuild it to suit her own students. Cecilia chose to remove the group assignments in the loop and replace them with individual assignments because she taught primary school students and wanted to make the loops easier for them to work with.
The next step was to start the loop with her students. She then quickly realised what worked really well in her group of students and what she should do differently. After that, she really wanted to start building her own loops from scratch. She has been inspired by loops built by other teachers that she has found in the library, but she has also looked for other sources of inspiration. For the loop that she has built about The Brothers Lionheart, for example, she has been inspired by a program on Swedish Radio.
Cecilia can see many advantages with Loops. Partly the graphic layout of the loops themselves and partly the fact that both teachers and students can decide themselves how they want to communicate, through text, sound or film. Her advice to other teachers is simply to dare to try Loops. Distribute a loop to your students to see what works in your group. Start small, it doesn’t have to be complicated to be good.
As a teacher I get a good overview of what my students have accomplished and I can give them feedback, says Cecilia. My students’ work is gathered in Loops and that gives me good support in my assessment of their knowledge.
What do Cecilia’s students say about Loops?
“They love it and think it’s great. They think it’s fun and they are proud of the fact that they can navigate the system all by themselves. They have quickly learned how to use Loops, the layout has been very appealing for them, they know exactly where to enter and how to move forward.”