Absent Student Work

As much as we'd like to have all our students at school everyday (well maybe not everyday), that's just not realistic. We do have to deal with absent students and the work they miss while they are absent. I've done this a little differently every year, but I still haven't found that perfect system.

Last year I found that it worked really well to write any absent students' names on papers as I passed them out. My challenge was what to do with those papers to make sure that the students got them when they returned. I tried putting them on the student's desk. However, I team teach with another teacher and I have different students coming in and out all day. Often times these papers were shoved into the black hole that is a student desk. I also tried sticking these papers in a pocket chart that I have. This didn't work because if I didn't remind the students, they would forget to check. It just wasn't very organized.

Then, I saw this wonderful pin on Pinterest:

Unfortunately, the link didn't go anywhere so I don't
 know who to credit for this wonderful idea.

My plan is to make a file folder for each day of the month (1-31). Then, whenever a student is absent I will place their work, with their name on it, in the folder that corresponds with the correct date. That way when the student returns, all they have to do is check the folder of the date(s) they were absent.

I even made a cute label page to attach to the front of the crate. I've made this page available for free on my TPT store. This download has the sign available in several different colors, that way you might match your classroom theme or color scheme.

Click here to download this product for FREE

What do you do to organize work that your students miss while they are absent?