60-Second Strategy: Attendance Question
Transforming a mundane task like roll call into a chance to connect and share a moment with students makes the start of class more joyful.
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Go to My Saved Content.Many are familiar with the famous scene from a 1980s movie where ennui-ridden high school students mumble a listless âHereâ in response to their name being called for attendance. Roll call can be boringâand a little painful. But language arts teacher Sarah Kristiansen at in Rhode Island has found a way to turn it into a chance to connect, laugh, and learn a little about how her students might be feeling that dayâby asking whimsical attendance questions.
Kristiansenâs daily opener serves as both a check-in and a mood-assessment tool for students. She starts by presenting a fun question, often based on a or accompanied by humorous visuals projected on her board. As she calls names for attendance, each student responds to the posted question.
One dayâs mood scale question might be âWhich medieval lion are you?â with each student responding by naming the particular image that best represents how they feel that day. Kristiansen has also used a menu from an ice cream truck or hot-take preference questions like âShould ketchup go on french fries or off to the side?â (which, in one instance, sparked a heated debate that carried on beyond the classroom).
âWhen I start to take attendance, everybody stops talking because thatâs how we structured that attendance questionâyouâve got to listen to what your peers are saying,â she says. In addition to providing Kristiansen with insight as to each studentâs state coming into her class, it helps the students recognize how their classmates might be feeling that day.
The attendance question infuses the start of each class with joy and lighthearted humor, transforming a typically mundane task into an anticipated and enjoyable activity. This practice not only lightens the classroom atmosphere but also fosters a more connected and responsive classroom environment. By incorporating a playful element, Kristiansen sets a positive tone for the day, enhancing student engagement and participation from the outset: âIt has become a really great and important part of our classroom culture.â
Editorâs note: This summary was written with support from ÁůşĎ˛Ę˛ĘĆąâs custom AI tool, which prioritizes information from our archive of educational content.