Wiki Page, HEALTHCARE FOUNDATIONS A: Attendance Policy

Wiki Page
2025-12-02T09:35:24-08:00

Attendance requires two critical elements: physical presence (digital during remote learning) and attention / focus.

In-class phone usage has become a massive problem at Hazen with students unmilling to break away form their screens and unable to engage with peers and their teachers in instructional settings.

Attendance for this class requires the following:

Students must be in-class before the bell, ready to learn

Entering the room after the bell is recorded as a Tardy

Being in one's assigned seat at the bell is not required, but continuing their conversation / preventing themselves engaging in the class lesson after the bell is required and will also be recorded as Tardy

Students must put their phones in the assigned pocket on the wall-mounted holder

The presence of the phone is used for attendance purposes

Student behavior has shown that if "the phone is absent" (from the pouch), the student's attention & focus is also absent

Students without phones are assigned Sim phones to put in their assigned pocket

Phones can be picked up again no earlier than 5 minutes before the end of class

Phones may be directed to be used in class activities

In limited individual situations additional exceptions may be allowed

Unpermitted use of a phone during class will be documented as an absence

Phones may not be picked up to be taken for bathroom or water breaks

If a student makes use of a second phone it will still be treated as being absent

In an effort to keep emphasis on instruction, disciplinary action for phones are limited to the following:

Arguing about the policy in class

Ignoring direct teacher instructions to put away / put up phone and get to work

Additional critical information:

The phone policy is a coordinated effort

The phone policy described above will sound new to many families, and it is

Self-distraction through personal electronics has been problematic for many years, but increased exponentially during COVID

Several teachers have been using this policy with great success for many months

Parents can still contact their students by calling or emailing the attendance office, main office, or the teacher as well as leaving a text or voicemail for the student to get at the end of the period

This does limit your access to them, but students were engaging with many, many other things than their families during class

Missed assignments can be made up

Both excused & unexcused absences have opportunities to make up work, however

There may be time limits on specific assignments

Some work may be required to be completed before the student can participate in hands-on activities, even if failure to participate may be difficult to make up

Due to the number and length of student absences at this time it must be the student's responsibility to initiate communication with the teacher about missed work:

Check Canvas

Email teacher the day of each absence

Personally talk to the teacher upon their return

Document individualized due dates through email, Canvas messages, phone reminders, or written planners / journals / composition books

Attendance is not graded

Being marked Tardy or Absent has no effect on the student's grade if they are getting work completed

The Tardy or Absence report to a parent should simply be an opportunity to ask what was going on during class