While You Were Out

One area that I have struggled with in the past, and an area that I know will be essential this year, is what to do with those students who are absent from class.  Because our school is switching to trimesters, and we will see our students every day, I know that getting students make-up work is going to be a top priority. So, as always, I've been scouring Pinterest to find what will work out perfectly for me.

Here's what I came up with:

This station is the first bulletin board my students walk by when they enter my classroom - as you can see it is made up of a large calendar, an area that holds some half sheets of paper, a bin with folders, and a pen station. Let's look at each section.

In the calendar section, I will write the name and block that students missed on the day they were absent - so, if Sally is gone for three days, her name will appear on each day she was absent. My plan is to write these names down as students are working on their warm-up activity each day.

Next, I will fill out a half sheet of paper for the students and staple any papers I handed out that day to the half sheet. I titled the half sheet of paper "Yes, we did something while you were gone..." because as most high school teachers know, students often come in after an absence and say "Did we do anything when I was gone yesterday?" The half sheet will be filled out with the warm-up, any homework students turned in that day, the basic content covered and any assignments given that day (attached to the paperwork).

Those half sheets and papers will be placed in the appropriate folder for the student's block. 

When students return to class, they will be asked to:

1. Check the folder for their block
2. Get all assignments they missed
3. Cross their names off calendar

I know it is a struggle for students when they miss school, and with our new schedule it will be more of a priority to have this process streamlined. I really think this new make-up work station will help my students and me be more organized when it comes to getting right back to work when they return.