As a classroom teacher there is no shortage of problems to
solve. At the middle school, CJ McDonald
found a challenging one to help resolve.
The problem: Taking attendance accurately in a handful of large
middle school classes in an efficient manner
The solution: Collaboration with the Teacher Leadership Program
With a vocal classroom that typically has around 75 students,
Kelsey Brown was always looking for ways to create efficient procedures.
Attendance has been a challenge in the past. The second her
students aren't engaged in singing, they are tempted to turn and talk to their
neighbors, so it is hard to see exactly who is where when they aren't facing
the front and standing still. "Calling roll" took way too long.
Having student volunteers do attendance from a seating chart was
inconsistent and sometimes became a distraction.
Kelsey mentioned this to her mentor coach, Jennie Lorenzen and to
her Instructional Coach, Steven Starkey.
They, in turn contacted the Technology Integration Coach(TIC), CJ
McDonald. Collaborating with his fellow
TIC Ryan Gotto, CJ tried a handful of different attendance strategies such as
using an iPad to scan QR codes that students held up at the beginning of class. After a few dead ends, Ryan suggested having
students scan in with their ID card like they do at lunch and the library.
CJ then created an Excel spreadsheet that would automatically
identify students with their bar code number, refer to a master class roster,
and black out the name of students who scanned in at the beginning of
class. The scanner was purchased with
building funds, by the Excelsior building principal, John Christian.
At the beginning of the 2015 school year, the new TIC Todd Lane worked with CJ McDonald and Kelsey Brown to set up the Excel document, the scanner and to brainstorm classroom management strategies to have students scan their cards as they walked through the door each day.
SUCCESS. Kelsey had this to
say:
“This new ID scanning system has created a very efficient,
reliable procedure for attendance. I take attendance much more
consistently and save time during
class. Some days last year I either forgot, submitted it all at the end of the day, or got frustrated and didn't take it at all. This year the kids think it's sweet and high-tech, too.
Each grade level has an Excel workbook, and each day has its own
tab. I look at PowerSchool shortly before class starts and make a note of
excused absences. As students come into the room, then know that they
need to grab their folder, scan their ID, and find their spot. I usually
stand by the scanner to expedite this process, and to make sure nobody is
sneaking out after they have scanned! About 5 minutes into class, after
our warm-up, I call the names of students who have not scanned in. If a
student doesn't have their ID, they just say "no id" and again, I
make a note.
At the end of the process (which takes less than a minute) I
have a short list of names, in alphabetical order, to mark "absent"
in PowerSchool. I also have a permanent record, of class attendance and specific reasons kiddos missed
class, without having to log into Powerschool."
Problem solved.
