Many teachers have a system to keep track of which students are out of the classroom. Some use a sign in/out sheet, others have a pass that sits on the student’s desk, etc. Lots of teachers also have something to indicate where the class is when they’re not in the classroom. Many have door hangers, signs, etc. Here’s an idea that works great if you’ve got a metal door (magnetic):
This teacher found huge magnets (dry erase calendars) at the dollar store and bought 4. Here’s what she did with them:
1. Label this one “classroom” (you could just use tape or something to designate this section of the door if you only wanted to buy 3).
2. Cut it up into small pieces so each student has one (name, number on it). These start in one section of the door each day. The kids move them to the “classroom” section as they come in first thing in the morning and then move to a location when the student leaves the classroom (to go to the nurse, for example).
3. Divide it into different sections to represent where a few students might go at a time (nurse, office, bathroom, literature lab, speech, etc.)
4. Cut it up into small signs to put on the front of your door when your entire class goes somewhere (recess, art, computers, library, etc). Assign one student to move all the magnets to their proper place at the end of the day and to be responsible for moving the appropriate magnet to the outside of the door when the whole class goes somewhere.
You can spend time making yours cuter if you want. This teacher made this last-minute and has just kept it…
Know of another good system? Comment below!
Squarehead Teachers 