schooltool Logo

Using the Attendance Journal

The Journal provides a method of tracking classroom attendance as well as other data attached to specific class meetings, such as class participation grades. The current emphasis is on creating a fast and convenient method for teachers to enter this data during class. More advanced attendance functionality, such as excuse workflows, will follow in subsequent releases.

Finding the Journal

While logged in as a teacher, there are two ways to access your Journal. On your calendar view, you can follow the “Journal” link on each section meeting event. You can also follow the Journal link in the top bar:

_images/journal-1.png

Entering and Saving Data

The tabs across the top of the grid allow you to switch between months, and the column headers correspond to days, with time or period name in a row below. If the section meets multiple times within the same day, there will be multiple columns with the same date and different time/period listed.

To navigate around the worksheet, you can use the mouse to click directly on a cell or use the arrow keys to move from cell to cell.

In each cell, you can either enter:

  • an “a” for an absence;
  • a “t” for a tardy (late) student;
  • a number from 0 to 9, where “0” will register as “10.”
_images/journal-2.png

You must click Save to save your work.

Journal Statistics

The Absences column totals the student’s absences for the entire Term (not just the current month). For example, viewing the October tab carries across the September statistics from above.

_images/journal-7.png

The Average column provides the average of the numeric scores for the term. Note that if no score is entered for a given day, it is not included in the calculation. That is, an empty cell does not equal “0” when the average is calculated.