9 fun ways to take attendance
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Whether it’s a way to speed things up a little or to build rapport with your class. Trying out a new technique for taking attendance can be a fun routine to implement. We’ve gathered 9 of the best ideas around for you to try.
1) On this day — At the start of each day, share an interesting fact about that date, a significant event that happened, or a fun fact. A great way to get a bit of history in there! A quick look on Wikipedia will give you myriad events and famous birthdays to choose from.
2) Getting to know you — Once you’ve said their name, ask them a question. What’s your favourite thing to do? What is your favourite movie? This can be a little time consuming, but it’s a great way to engage with students and get to know them as well as encourage them to speak in front of the class.
3) Speed things up — If it’s time you’re looking to save, then set a stopwatch and see how quickly you can whizz through the attendance sheet. Can the class better it each day?
4) Mix things up — Pick names in random order when taking the register. Keep them on their toes and make sure they’re concentrating.
5) Delegate — Ask a different student each day to take attendance for you. The kids will thrive on the responsibility. Plus, it gives you a couple of valuable minutes to get some last-minute prep done.
6) Joke of the day — Before or after you take the register, share a silly joke or ask one of the class to share their favourite. This sets a fun and upbeat tone for the rest of the day.
7) Go international — Share a list of ways to say hello in different languages from around the world. Once you’ve said their name, the children must choose one of them to respond with.
8) Rate their day — Once you’ve said a student’s name they respond with a number between 1 and 5 to say how their day is going. This shows you care and also gives you a great idea of their mood.
9) Next one on — Once your class are familiar with the order they come in the attendance register try this. You say good morning/afternoon [name] to the first person, then they say good morning [name] to the next person on the list and so on until everyone on the list has been marked in. The last person on the register says good morning/afternoon to you.
