Who's There?

In Front of the Class

by Linda Starr, Education World®

Make your attendance routine count.

Attendance Learning

Take attendance without wasting time.

For an easy way of taking attendance, write each student's name on a strip of tag board, laminate it, and glue a magnet to the back. Each day, post a question and possible answers on a whiteboard. Students "sign in" by placing their magnets in the appropriate answer column.

Attendance Multitasking

Take attendance and lunch count at the same time.

Hang a ribbon from a pizza pan that's divided into three sections ("Brought Lunch," "Bought Lunch," and "Milk Only"), and label small clothespins with each student's name. Every morning, have students move their clothespins from the ribbon to the appropriate section of the pizza pan. Absent students' clothespins stay on the ribbon.

Attendance Review

Take attendance with a quick quiz.

If you prefer to take attendance individually, make it meaningful. Instead of calling out students' names and waiting for them to say "Here," ask each student a quick question related to the previous day's work.

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