The Easy Solution to
​Managing Student Absences


Absences. Ever feel like you spend more time dealing with student absences than with the students actually sitting in your classroom? I do. Well, at least I feel that way about the use of my prep time.

The Struggle
Teaching 130 students in a day, you can bet someone is absent. Dealing with make-up tests is one of my biggest frustrations. Don’t get me wrong, I understand people get sick from time to time. Those aren’t the ones who frustrate me. It’s the absences because of trips and vacations. You know the ones, the “pre-arranged” absences that seem to constantly be occurring.

When I first started teaching in 2003, it seemed you would have one or maybe two students who took some kind of trip during they school year and you were asked to provide work for them. Rarely now, it seems like there is never a week when a student is NOT on a trip.

Over the past year or two, doing projects and hands-on activities has actually become MORE of a struggle, because of student absences.

Today we as teachers are expected to be creative in our teaching styles and provide lots of hands-on learning experiences. But at the same time, provide the absent student the same opportunity.

Exactly HOW is that supposed to work? I can provide supplemental assignments that teach the same objective, but let’s face it, if a student is not in class, they are not going to get the same opportunity.

So with the increase in student absences, I ended up finding myself trying to keep them all straight – “Johnny is supposed to be gone for a week. Is that next week? Did I already give him the work? Oh no, that was for Susie who is leaving Thursday and coming back next Wednesday.” And on it goes…
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Sometimes the student comes up to tell you. Sometimes you receive a phone call or an email from the parent. Sometimes you are told by the front office. In any case, you are being given a “request” to provide work for a student.

And so came together another procedure to keep me organized and put work together efficiently.
I can’t believe it took me so long to create this form. Honestly, it has been the BEST when it comes to organizing and providing work for students.
Master the 6th-grade transition with the exact systems
​I use to build independent scholars.

The Procedure
No matter how I’m notified, email, phone, from the student, or from the office, the first thing I do is pull out my Homework Request Form and fill it out!
Now, if I’m able to, I will go ahead and fill in the whole form. But if I don’t have the time, or haven’t planned that far ahead yet, I will AT LEAST fill in the top portion.

Once it’s filled out, it sits on my desk until it’s completed. It stares at me – reminding me to lesson plan and/or make copies. The form requires me to fill in the instructions for the student. Then once the copies are made, I simply staple the work to the form. The next time I see the student, I go over everything with them and off they go with their packet.
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Homework Request Folder
The Homework Request System available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store

In addition to the Homework Request Form, which becomes the cover sheet for the packet of work, I also log the absence information. I keep a running list that includes: student name, class period, dates scheduled to be absent, date packet of work was provided, and date the work was submitted completed by the student.
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Homework Request Log
The Homework Request Log Available in my Teacher Pay Teachers Store

Why It Works

The Homework Request Form works for any type of absence. For instance, if a student has been out sick for three days and the office asks you to send their work to the office, it’s very easy to send the work with the Form as a cover sheet.

So you can see, this simple form benefits everyone!

+ It benefits the office staff because the form tells them who the work is for and what teacher it is from. 

+ It benefits the parent or sibling who picks up the work from the office because the cover sheet tells them exactly what the work is and who it's from.

+ It benefits the student because they have all the directions for completing their make-up work in one spot. On the cover. They can see what materials they need, what they need to do, and what needs to be turned in. They can check off the tasks as they are completed.

+ And of course, it benefits you, the teacher.  You have a place to gather the assignments and directions. You can easily track who got what make-up work and when it's due to be turned in. 

In short, the Homework Request form provides a much needed form of clear communication about make-up work, to all parties involved.
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​Ready to Roll Materials
Now that you know all about his super awesome system, you are ready to go create one yourself and start saving some time and headache!

But if you are looking for a done-for-you answer, then you've come to the right spot! Check out the Homework Request System that you can purchase for an awesome deal on my Teachers Pay Teachers store. All you have to do it print out and go!


​I know your teacher heart is full but your plate is overflowing! If you found this post helpful, I think you’ll love these other 'teacher-approved' resources. They’re designed to help you keep that momentum going without the burnout.
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Teaching with Textbooks | Teach Like Midgley

​I’m Hillary Midgley, and I help teachers move from classroom chaos to streamlined success with no-frills systems that make managing student work easy. New here? Start with the Manage Student Work ebook.