Attendance

Yay! I'm doing good so far! :) 2nd post....

One of the most fun ways to incorporate technology happens first thing after students walk into your classroom each day.....Attendance. I know many teachers who still call roll.....not that I have a problem with that, but why not let the students in your class help you out with that task. :) I have been in some classrooms where, once a student gets to school, they move their name (frog, person, smiley face, star, etc.) from one side of the pocket chart to the other. Well there is nothing wrong with that, but let us incorporate technology using that same concept!

First, I will start with those of you who have Interactive Whiteboards (SMART, Promethean, Mimio, etc.). If you have an Interactive Whiteboard you can create a simple attendance file and use it everyday, all year or create a new one each month. The attendance file could be something as simple as putting every student's name (or picture and name or even just a picture) on the board and having the students drag their name from the "home" side to the "school" side like the example below.

If you want to be a little more creative, you could create an attendance file to fit the theme you are studying or to go along with a holiday / season. The example below is one I created to use in January when it is supposed to snow. :)

The snowmen on bottom are "Infinitely Cloned*", so students simply touch the snowman they want and drag it on top of their name, picture and name or just their picture. The teacher can simply look and see which names do not have snowman on them and immediately know they are not in class. Fast and easy!

If you do not have time to create an attendance file yourself, do not give up! SMART Exchange, Promethean Planet and Mimio Connect all have files you can download and use! Simply go to the site for the brand of Interactive Whiteboard you have and search for "attendance", download and use! Viola! There are some creative ones out there!

For those of you without Interactive Whiteboards, do not run away thinking this post is not for you! :) You can create something similar using Microsoft products or Apple products, depending upon what platform your district uses. I created this file using Microsoft PowerPoint, however it could easily be created in Microsoft Word as well.

The snowmen in the bottom corners have been copied multiple times to match the students I have in my class. The concept is the same, the students pick a snowman and drag it on top of their name, however, they will have to do this on a computer, since an Interactive Whiteboard is not available.

One easy way to incorporate technology in your classroom!

*Our district uses SMART Interactive Whiteboards and this is a term SMART uses. I am sorry to say I am not very familiar with Promethean nor Mimio to know if this is available in their software applications.