My Biggest Pet Peeve Eliminated!

One of my biggest pet peeves as a teacher is when I discover a student's work is missing, I ask them about it, and they reply with, "I was absent. You didn't give it to me." As I am trying to control my temper and not turn into the Incredible Hulk and throw chairs (and quite possibly the student) across the room, I ask, "Did you ask me for it?", to which I am met with silence no matter how many times I ask the question.

How to handle work for absent students has been a constant question for teachers since the beginning of time. But never fear, I have a cheap AND easy solution! Ready for it??

• Buy a few colored baskets from Dollar Tree.
• When students are absent, place a basket on their desk. It collects not only worksheets and assignments from the class, but also any papers that are handed back or need to go home. 
  
• It requires very little training to put kids in charge of this task. They know that if their neighbor is absent, grab a basket and set it on their desk. They also make sure to put any handed out papers in it.
• When the student returns, they find all of their work and papers neatly collected on their desk. If they are absent for multiple days, the basket continues to collect. They simply remove their papers and return the basket.
  
• If your students switch classes throughout the day, the basket can either 'travel' to the next class (with another student) or the basket is moved to the counter to wait for the student to return. (I have 'the neighbor' write the student's name on the top paper so we know whose basket it is.) 

Not only does this solution keep the hair in your head and guarantees your sanity for another day, it helps students learn responsibility and holds them accountable for completing work they miss.