Classroom Management Strategies to Address Latecomers & Poor Punctuality

1. Give latecomers as little attention as possible. Calmly, and without fuss, take their name (assuming you don’t already know it) and confirm that they are late: 

“John, you’re ten minutes late.” 

2. Direct them to their seat.  Quickly direct them to a seat and give them something to occupy them – they could watch the remainder of an explanation/demonstration or get on with a worksheet or written task while you concentrate on the other learners.  Don’t ask them why they’re late at this stage because this will cause disruption to the lesson flow and shift focus where you don’t want it. They will be given opportunity to explain their reason for being late in the ‘two-minute follow-up’ after the lesson, explained below. 

“Sit there please and get on with (insert task); you can explain why you’re late after the lesson.” 

3. Praise those who are working. Take the focus off the latecomer by giving positive attention to those who are working. 

“Excellent work you two, nice to see you getting on with that.” 

4. Address latecomers separately once other students are settled.  Once the majority of the students are working the next step is to get the latecomer/s engaged properly in the lesson task.  This can be done by either gathering them as one group and giving them the full demonstration/lesson introduction again or (better) pair them up with other students who can teach them or explain the task to them. 

5. Follow up with latecomers at the end of the lesson. Students who were on time can, if feasible and appropriate, be given a slightly early finish to enable you to follow up for no more than two minutes with those who were late (see the ‘two-minute follow-up’ below). 

6. Keep thorough records. Get latecomers to fill in a form giving reason for late arrival and the time they arrived.  Send copies home with notification of consequences if it continues.

7. If students are absent. When work sheets are distributed, place copies in folders for absentees. At the end of the day, simply label each folder with the absent students' names so that missed work is ready for their return. 

8. Have clear rules and consequences in place. Having students wander into class late as though they have all the time in the world is a common problem, particularly as they get older (when social engagements outrank all else), but you can do much to prevent this by having clear, consistent rules on punctuality backed up by cast-iron consequences. Students need to know exactly what will happen if they are late and that consequences will be applied every time, regardless of the excuse the student uses. 

Consequences can form part of a hierarchical plan, from the two minute follow-up (explained below) to time made up after school and contact with parents for more serious cases.  Depending on circumstance you can introduce humour too – perhaps invite students who are not in their seats when the bell rings to go to the front of the room and sing a song. As a colleague who favoured the humorous approach once told me: 

"Sometimes there are two students wandering in late so we have a duet and occasionally even a choir.  It puts a smile on everyone's face and starts the class in an upbeat way.  And surprisingly, punctuality is not the issue it used to be since I started using this strategy!” 

9. Reward those who are on time. Students like to do well and good attendance is something that all students can achieve, regardless of ability; it should be acknowledged like any other social skill. 

Recognition can take the form of verbal or written praise, a special award or more formal rewards such as free time.  Explain to students that you will allocate them 3 minutes of ‘wasted time’ each day.  They can use up that time each day or save it up and use it for something special. 

Agree on something students could do with the ‘wasted’ time such as watching a video, playing a game or having a popcorn party and decide how much time they will need to save for that special event.  Tell students that as soon as they've saved the required amount of time, they will be able to hold their special event.

When they waste time during the day, start a stopwatch, time the amount of time wasted, and subtract it from the three minutes. Inter-class competition between groups on this issue is also a  good motivator. 

10. Surprise, surprise! Punctuality and attendance  can be encouraged in a fun way by randomly choosing one student's desk or chair each day and placing a sticker or note beneath it.  The student  who arrives (on time) to find the sticker under his or her seat gets to choose a small prize. If the student is absent or late, the prize is forfeited or cancelled (or perhaps it’s “clean the toilets – with a toothbrush!”).   

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