How to be Prepared for Student Absences
An Organized Teacher Can Help Students Catch up After Absences
Sep 2, 2009
Preparing for the unexpected student absence is a large part of a teacher's everyday job description. Students will routinely miss school for health issues and teachers need to prepare for those absences in order to minimize the work necessary to catch the student back up with the rest of the class.
Preparing for the Unexpected Student Absence
For the start of the 2009-2010 school year, Prince George's County Public School System in Maryland had a computer glitch and 8,000 students started high school with no schedule or an incomplete schedule. This problem was corrected within the first week, but students essentially started school a week behind and have to be caught up.
While glitches like this are impossible for teachers to predict, it is essential that teachers have a plan in place for helping students catch back up. While in this particular case, students have the optional extended day or Saturday classes to make up missed work, this is not always going to be an option.
How Teacher Organization Can Benefit Students
The more organized the teacher, the easier it will be for a student to make up missed work. Teachers need to organize class lesson plans, keep master copies of handouts and keep a paper copy of student grades. Knowing exactly what the student missed without having to spend time sifting through paperwork will help cut down the time it takes students to make up work.
When a student arrives back at school after an unexpected absence, the organized teacher can pull out all the work that the student missed in a moment. In elementary school, students can often receive help from a teacher with this missed work during recess that very day. In middle and high school, students may need to meet with the teacher after school or receive help from another student to complete the missed work.
Teacher Strategies to Deal With Student Absences
Starting a class notebook is a great way to be prepared for the unexpected student or teacher absence. This is a blank notebook that one student each day is assigned to write in. The student should record the date, homework assignments and any important notes, if applicable. This will then provide students who were unexpectedly absent a quick review of what they missed and will allow a teacher to see how things went with a substitute teacher.
Another option for being prepared for the unexpected student absence is a spare homework folder. As a teacher hands out notes or assigns work, a copy goes directly into an extra folder with the date. The student who is absent will then have all the assignments and notes in one place and can even take the folder home to complete assignments without the teacher having to put together the work.
Whether student absences are planned or unexpected, being prepared will help ease that student's transition back into the classroom. Staying organized and keeping track of assignments for these students takes minimal effort on the teacher's part and can make a huge impact on the student's ability to catch up quickly.
Learn how to deal with unfinished student work.
Read more tips and tricks for teachers.
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