I don't know about you, but to me this question gets old fast. It was during my student teaching that I realized that I needed to create a better, less time-consuming, solution for how I manage getting make-up work for absent students/store extras of papers for students who inevitably lose them and need another one. My CT during student teaching kept her papers in a stack, where every other handout was the opposite direction, in the front of the classroom. Although this worked, I found four major flaws of the system:
The first one I really liked was the picture above on the right (I couldn't find the original source). The part I liked was that students would be able to do that themselves and it would still stay organized. I parts I didn't like was that I would need a place to store 3 different bins for different classes. Also until recently I've had classes that I see only every other day so going by day number could get messy quickly. I kept the number idea however, I just applied it in a different way. The picture in the middle above I liked because it would be a big place to post things in a calendar format. The picture on the left I like for the purposes of it not taking up much room and it be easily portable if we were working in an another room for a project. I took the elements that I liked from each of these ideas above to create my own system. I created a bulletin board calendar to post class and school information on as well as holidays. I made slips that fit in each square that would explain the information that they would need to know. I used a similar format as Eat. Teach. Write's Absent binder but made it my own. I then bought 3 different binder and a ton of double sided binder folders with tabs and numbered each side of the folders. How the system works is everyday I fill out calendar slips for each class and post it on the calendar board. I write what papers were handed out along with the number of the folder that the extras of it were placed in. I have sticky notes on the student center that either I or my paper czar write which folder number papers get placed in during the day. I also write the intro activity for the day along with what we did as well as any assignments given out. On the student side, when a student misses class they look at the calendar slip for the day they miss. If there were papers handed out that day they will find on the "papers" line something like this: "article (1) foldable (2)". The number behind the title of the paper is which number folder the paper is in. They then grab their class's extras binder, locate the folder and take the paper out. They then find the intro activity for the day, write that in their notebook and read the rest of what we did that day. If they have questions they can then ask me or another student who was present. Easy Peasy. Another option they have for find out what they miss is checking the class website. Each class has their own tab where I have google slides for each week. I write the same information that they can find on the calendar slips as well as links to slides or videos. I also have print out of the slides available for each class next to the binders on the student center. Usually the slides contain directions and information. They are available online via links on the slides but a majority of my students are not 1:1 with a device so it can be a challenge to get them access, so I printed them off for them to use when working on make up work in my room.
This system works really well for all of grade levels. It keeps the extras organized and it frees me of having to constantly giving students make up work. They can do it all on their own and ask me the more complicated questions. I always make sure they start by reading the calendar slip before I answer their questions because I want them to take initiative and be responsible in getting make up work if they miss class.
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AuthorI teach 7-9 Health Education & Computer 7 in rural southwestern Minnesota. I love using technology in my classroom and teaching students about how to live healthy and informed lives.
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