Overview For Teachers

ATTENDANCE & PUNCTUALITY: The ability to come to work/school every day on time; leave and return for meals and breaks on time; the ability to notify supervisor/instructor in advance of planned absences; make up work or assignments punctually; come to work/school prepared to work.

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PURPOSE: Upon completion of this module, the student will understand the importance of maintaining good attendance and being punctual in the workplace. In addition, the objectives listed below should be met.

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OBJECTIVES:

 Ability to recognize the importance of maintaining a good attendance record.

 Ability to understand the importance of being punctual in all aspects of life.

 Ability to understand how your attendance and time management skills can positively and negatively affect your

    life.

 Ability to recognize the importance of being prepared for things and how this impacts others

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OVERVIEW:

This module concentrates on teaching students to recognize that attendance, punctuality, and being prepared have widespread impacts on personal reputation and opportunity. In addition, attendance and punctuality affects other students and a teacher’s planned activities. Maintaining good attendance sets a tone of commitment and accountability, and by nature if not maintained, portrays a lack of commitment and/or accountability. These perceptions, whether accurate or not, can adversely affect a person’s reputation and the potential for future opportunities. Lessons provide students with an understanding of the importance of being prepared vs. unprepared.

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TEACHERS: WHAT ARE YOU OBSERVING?

What does attendance and punctuality look like in the classroom or in school in general? A great way to answer this and get things going is through engagement with the students. Ask your students these questions:

1. What do attendance and punctuality look like in school?

2. How does your attendance or being punctual affect others around you? Example: other students (if someone in your group is late), teachers (already started a lesson), team members, etc.

3. What do attendance and punctuality look like within your learning?

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RELEVANCY OF ATTENDANCE & PUNCTUALITY:

Employers state that many applicants and employees have issues with being punctual and being consistently present for work. They rank good attendance and punctuality as the most significant employability skills needed in the workplace.

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LESSON:

Setting Yourself Up for Success in Attendance and Punctuality
Time Allocation: 20  minutes
Materials/Resources: computers/tablets/smartphones (students - optional), whiteboard, markers, pens/pencils, Attendance & Punctuality Worksheet, paper

ANTICIPATORY SET IDEA:

 Ask students the following questions for a short opening discussion:

     o What are some reasons that you have been late or not showed up to certain things?

     o Could your lack of punctuality or attendance been avoided? Why or why not?

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WATCH THE VIDEO:

DIRECT INSTRUCTION:

 Write the following quotes on the whiteboard and read them out loud to the students.

     o “Preparedness and punctuality are the two most important qualities of a leader.” –John A. Widtsoe

     o “If you are 15 minutes early, you are on time. If you are on time, you are late and if you are late, you didn’t want to be there.”

         –Anonymous

 Ask students: what do you think about these quotes? Do you agree or disagree? Explain your answers. What if I told you that being late or not showing up for something could be avoided? Because it’s true! There are ways to set yourself up for success so that you show up, and are on time, for all your activities.

GUIDED ACTIVITY:

 Put students into paired groups and give each pair a copy of the Attendance & Punctuality Worksheet.

 Students will work with their partner to complete the worksheet and when they are finished, they will find another pair of students, creating a group of four, and compare/share their answers.

 When finished, come back together as a class and have students volunteer to share what they wrote down.

     o As students are sharing, encourage the rest of the class to provide input or feedback.

CHECK FOR UNDERSTANDING:

 Technology Use: Create a survey, poll, or questionnaire to send to the students that will give you immediate feedback about the student’s level of understanding. You can use Survey Monkey, Google Forms, or any other survey platform you prefer.

 Non-Technology: Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down: Students will demonstrate their level of understanding by giving a thumbs up or thumbs down. Students with thumbs down will need more clarification.

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ETHICAL SCENARIO--Optional (if not using, skip  to "review and closing")

The Ethical Choice Scenarios have been developed to provide teachers with the ability to make the material applicable to real-life and relevant to the students. Within this guide, directions and prompts for the teacher will be in BLUE for ease of facilitation.

 

READ THE FOLLOWING SCENARIO OUT LOUD TO THE STUDENTS: 

ONE BIG LIE

You’ve been working as the front desk receptionist for one of the local country clubs for three months and you really enjoy your job because you get to meet a lot of new and interesting people. When you were first hired, you told your supervisor that every July, you go with your parents to a big family reunion because your family counts on you being there and being able to spend time with relatives. Your supervisor told you it was no big deal but to make sure you requested that time off as soon as possible. The country club has a huge event coming up this weekend, which is the same weekend that you are supposed to be going with your parents. Your supervisor must have completely forgotten about your family reunion because he has asked you to help with the event. Since it is such a big deal to the community, you reluctantly agree to help. You are confused about why he would ask you to work – he should have known you will be out of town. You log into the online system where you request absences and you realize that you never requested the time off! That’s why your supervisor forgot – because you didn’t request your time off. You don’t know what to do – on one hand, you don’t want to remind your supervisor about your trip since you forgot to do what he asked and request time off but on the other hand, you CANNOT miss your family reunion. As you start to pack up for the day, you have an idea. Since your parents are leaving early tomorrow morning, you will email your supervisor before you take off informing him that you are home sick and you will no longer be able to help with the event. That way, you will be able to go to the family reunion and you won’t have to bring it up to your supervisor. But you also don’t want to be caught up in such a big lie because someone will be bound to find out about your trip when you were supposed to be helping with the event. What do you do?

ASK THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS: (display them to the class if necessary)

1. How many of you have already been faced with this scenario in real life?

2. What are the possible courses of action you could take?

3. What are possible positive or negative consequences for you, depending on your decision?

GUIDED DISCUSSION: ASK STUDENTS TO SHARE THEIR THOUGHTS ON THE SITUATION AND HOW THEY ANSWERED THE QUESTIONS.

NOTE 1 : To help facilitate discussion, share any personal experiences you may have encountered with this same sort of issue.

NOTE 2 : Another option to foster further critical thinking is to then ask students, “How could this scenario negatively impact your reputation with your family and your reputation at work?”

NOTE 3 : Another option to foster further critical thinking is to then ask students , “ What values do you think are in tension here, why is it an ethical dilemma?”

CLOSING DISCUSSION: ASK THE STUDENTS, “WHAT ARE THE APPROPRIATE WAYS TO COMMUNICATE ABSENCES AT WORK?”

REVIEW AND CLOSING:

 When students have finished sharing their answers from the worksheet, have a short class discussion using the following questions:

     o Why is it important to set yourself up for success in order to be punctual and have good attendance?

     o Why are these two employability skills so important to develop as you enter the workforce?

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CORRELATION TO OBSERVATION TOOL: The Frequency Observation Tool (FOT) has a category where students will be observed and rated on their punctuality and attendance. This lesson will help them realize that setting themselves up for success in establishing a good attendance record as well as always being punctual are important and necessary.

DIFFERENTIATED INSTRUCTION IDEAS:

-Visual: Visual learners will benefit from having any important information written on the whiteboard and from having a printed copy of the worksheet.

-Auditory: Auditory learners will benefit from the partner and the class discussions.

-Kinesthetic: Kinesthetic learners could benefit by writing down any important information.

-ESL: ESL students would benefit from having a partner to assist them in the writing activity in case they have questions or need clarification.

-At-risk: At -risk students will benefit from the interaction they have with their group to help keep them focused and on task.

-Advanced: Advanced learners could benefit from helping other students write down their schedules, or by assisting ESL or At -risk students who may need additional help .