Whether you have several students who are often absent from your class or just one, providing absentees with access to learning can be challenging. In last week’s slowchat hosted by teachers Lyndsay Nottingham and Sarah Thomas, we asked for the strategies or tools you use to keep frequently absent students on track. Read on for eight of the Teacher2Teacher community’s responses and share your own in the comments below.

1. 1. “‘While you were out’ bin w/missed work, copies of notes and [the] student’s name on it.”—@maramdelgado
   2. “We work at changing school culture. Assemblies & parties for perfect attenders. Conferences, home visits for absent.”—@thatguyrick
   3. “My students take online classes & can access from home. Some students prefer to print out as workbooks to take home, too.”—@GartnerMel
   4. “We reach out to parents to make a plan including expectations for them and the student. We also create availability outside of class i.e., lunch, for teachers to meet the student.”—@nyhsseattle
   5. “Give students choice on how to make up work with a list of options but hard deadlines.”—@lynnshon
   6. “Publish deadlines; reach out w/help; connect absent students through collaboration in projects.”—@philosophypaul
   7. “Online classrooms such as #GoogleClassroom are helpful! The Question feature is great as well as providing students their own copies.”—@MsGrotrian
   8. “Pick up the phone, call them, check all is well, find out the cause for the absence, fix it with genuine respect 🙂 It depends on the child/context/relationship. Some just need…a personal learning plan, some need help beyond the school (health issues), others just need to have one person who advocates for them/mentors them, shows them how to navigate through.”—@kaiako_nz

Don’t miss this week’s slow chat about giving students independence—use #T2TChat to join in the conversation with hosts Lyndsay Nottingham and Sarah Thomas. And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter if you don’t already!