How to save time when taking attendance

Do not waste class time by calling out students' names in order to take roll. Once students are at work, take roll. If you have a seating chart, you can see who is absent in one sweep. Elementary teachers have many options: You can write each student's name on a clothes pin and pin it to a chart near the door. As students come in, they place their pin in a small bucket. Or, vice versa. The pins could be placed in the box and the student takes his or hers out and places it on the chart. (Especially useful if you have to do a lunch/milk count.)