Just Passing Through

Keep track of students when they leave the classroom.

At a glance
Tent cards tell you at a glance.

Fold pieces of oak tag in half to create "tent cards." Label or decorate cards to represent a variety of common destinations -- speech, instrumental music, the nurse's office, and so on. Have students place the appropriate tent card on their desks whenever they leave the classroom.

Chart It
A chart and a clothespin reveal all.

Post a chart listing students' names on the right and the places students might go -- the library, the office, or the restroom, for example -- on the left. Clip to each student's name a clothespin with his or her name on it. When students leave the classroom, have them move their clothespin from their name to the place they are going.

Personal Passport
Students make personal passports.

Have each student glue his or her photograph to a note card or index card and add such personalizing information as interests and goals, likes and dislikes, family members and friends, and so on. Keep the passports at your desk, so students can use them as hall passes (You can use them to learn students' names!)

Article by Linda Starr
Education World®
Copyright © 2005 Education World