With the new school year, we learned that we needed to find a new way to track attendance. Our homeroom attendance still gets entered into our school system, but now we need to track our class attendance on our own.
Enter Google Sheets. This application is extremely similar to Excel, but I like it because it feels easier to use. I simply created a new Sheet, added tabs for each of my classes, and copied my class lists into each tab. I typed the dates in the first row, and then I added an attendance question underneath.
But wait, you might ask. What's an attendance question? Instead of simply calling each student by name and waiting for them to say "here," I ask a question. Their answer to the question tells me they are present. This not only keeps kids on their toes, but it also helps me build rapport with them. Their answers have been hilarious, and I am able to integrate their answers into our conversations throughout the year.
As I take attendance, I also type out which seat they are using for the day. Since I have flexible seating, students may not sit in the same type of seat two days in a row. Keeping track of their seat use helps keep them accountable and honest. If I see a student has sat in the same type of seat, I simply tell them to move.
Google Sheets has made all of this super simple for me. I can easily access the file on my Drive, and it saves automatically. It's definitely a time saver!
Example attendance questions:
What is your favorite color?
Cats or dogs?
What is your favorite cereal?
If you could get rid of any month, which one would it be?
What class should we add at our school?
Enter Google Sheets. This application is extremely similar to Excel, but I like it because it feels easier to use. I simply created a new Sheet, added tabs for each of my classes, and copied my class lists into each tab. I typed the dates in the first row, and then I added an attendance question underneath.
But wait, you might ask. What's an attendance question? Instead of simply calling each student by name and waiting for them to say "here," I ask a question. Their answer to the question tells me they are present. This not only keeps kids on their toes, but it also helps me build rapport with them. Their answers have been hilarious, and I am able to integrate their answers into our conversations throughout the year.
As I take attendance, I also type out which seat they are using for the day. Since I have flexible seating, students may not sit in the same type of seat two days in a row. Keeping track of their seat use helps keep them accountable and honest. If I see a student has sat in the same type of seat, I simply tell them to move.
Google Sheets has made all of this super simple for me. I can easily access the file on my Drive, and it saves automatically. It's definitely a time saver!
Example attendance questions:
What is your favorite color?
Cats or dogs?
What is your favorite cereal?
If you could get rid of any month, which one would it be?
What class should we add at our school?