As you all know, attendance is always a concern in a school. The curriculum moves so fast, these days, that students can miss key information and get behind very quickly. I have tried various things throughout the years to promote attendance with some of our higher absentee kiddos. I have abandoned the traditional group approach with these students. They are already missing instruction when they are absent that it made no sense to me to pull them from instruction to talk to them about being absent (and missing instruction). Last year, I would attempt to do minute meetings with them once per week to graph their attendance. I got pulled frequently for other crises that I often missed seeing them.
This year I am going to try something new. I have borrowed a form from my 5th grade daughter's binder and adapted it for my use. The students I see for attendance drop in my room on their way from the bus to class. They color in their attendance from the day before (so we know they didn't leave early). We set a monthly goal as well as a quarterly goal so we can celebrate more frequently. My hope is that since they will see me daily, maybe they will be more "aware" of how often they are absent. Fingers crossed!
