Q: HDO    Distance Learning: Options for Taking Attendance
A:
Distance Attendance
Distance Learning: Suggestions on How to Take Attendance
FastDirect strongly advises all schools to continue to track attendance through Monitor. Options 1 and 2 will show you two ways to continue to track attendance through Monitor. These options will guarentee that your student attendance records and report cards are accurate for this school year. The third option can be used in tandem with option 1 or 2, but we do NOT advise our schools to only use this option.  Tracking attendance through Gradebook will NOT feed individual attendance records nor report cards.



Option 1

Teacher's take daily attendance on their homepage. This will feed Monitor, Individual Attendance Records, and Report Cards.
*During this time it may be useful to make sure that your school has given teachers the ability to edit past attendance dates for their homeroom students. If you are not sure if your teachers have this ability please contact the HelpDesk and they can check and turn it on.

Homeroom attendance

Option 2
The office uses Monitor to take attendance for all homerooms. This will feed Monitor, Individual Attendance Records, and Report Cards.
Monitor Attendance

Option 3
Teachers use their gradebook to track attendance per course. This will NOT feed Monitor, Individual Attendance Records or Report cards.

For Teachers: How To Take Attendance in Gradebook
Step 1. Go to Grades Select a Curriculum and click Gradebook Input
Step 2. Select Create Event
Step 3. In the Category Drop Down select Attendance
Step 4. Check the box to Send FDmail to Parents and Students
Step 5. You can choose the Status "Not For Grade" if you don't want it to count towards the final average.
Step 6. In the Description/Links box add a note to your parents to respond via FDmail to be counted present for the day.
Step 7. Click "Create Event"

Attendance Event

Step 8. Wait for parents to reply to your message.

Parent Attendance Message


Step 9. When a parent sends a reply you can check the box for the student.

Gradebook Attendance Input

**You could use the Input Notes section of Gradebook to add who responded and what time if needed.
***You could do this for each curriculum or just choose to use one to track attendance for all.