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Hi y'all, 

I am student teaching (part-time) right now and will be studnet teaching full time next semester. One student in the class I am currently teaching has only been present for my class one day out of four weeks. He missed the entire two week unit that I taught for this semester. I am curious as to how I should keep this student up to date with the work that he is missing for next semester when I will be teaching for 60 days. Any tips or advise are greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance! 

Hello Olivia,

First thing I would do is talk to your cooperating teacher to see what strategies have been used in the past and how they handle assessments, grading, and so on.  Also, find out if there has been communications with the family about the absences and see if there is support at home for the child to catch up.  As a student teacher you should leave these communications to the cooperating teacher and I strongly advise that you do not give the family your email or direct contact information.  

Since this student is a chronic absentee you should probably start up a file folder to keep notes on what lessons/activities they have missed and collect any handouts.  If the student is constantly losing or forgetting what little work they are getting then don't send stuff home - keep a binder in class for them.

You can also be a little proactive and differentiate your teaching for this student as having a special need.  Can you put together booklets or binders of material that they student can work through at their own pace?  If the family has internet access then you might be able to find some videos or online activities that the student can do at home. Similarly, are there take-home activities that can replace some of the in-class labs and hands-on work.  

Probably the most difficult part for you will be on the rare days the student shows up - usually unannounced.  You will need to touch base with the student in some manner, which presents a problem if you are in the middle of a project or have an intensive class activity planned that day. Having that binder will now come in handy because you can always start them on that while you get on with the big work you have that period.  This may be a good time for the cooperating teacher to handle that student while you go about your lesson.  

Hope this helps,

Gabe 

Hi Gabe, 

I really like the idea of the binder! This way the student can come in and get the work missed from their specific binder allowing them to have exactly what they need and take it home. 

I think I may take this idea and run with it but instead of having one binder have two. One for the handouts and information that the student is missing during class to go into and then when they come in they can take it from that binder and place it into their own binder to take home and work through when available. This way I know what they have taken and at the pace that they are working through it. I know this particular student is missing other classes as well but is not missing all of the classes in a day. I feel as though if all the teachers that this student is missing would implement this system and then the student has one binder for all thier missing work allowing them to keep everything in one place would make the student more responsible and help with organization and staying on track with not just my class but all classes that this student is missing. 

Thanks!