1. Go to the Take Attendance screen. 

2. Click the (x) by the current date to expand the summary of the previous days’ attendance. This is in List view only.

To the left will display all previous attendance records that the teacher has permission to view and or modify.

3. If able to modify, click in the code dropdown field to select a code for the student.

4. Click Save.

5. Click Return to viewing today’s attendance to collapse the previous day's attendance.

Refresh: The Refresh icon allows teachers to refresh their attendance prior to clicking the Save button.

Student Photos: Teachers can hover over the photo icon to see an image of the student and access a menu of student information.

• Images are only available if they have been imported into Focus.
• These images are visible even if the teacher selected not to view student photos in their Preferences.
• Clicking on any of the student menu options will display that screen for the selected student.

• Click on a Portal Alert to take attendance for a class.
• Mark 2 students absent and 2 students tardy.
• Enter a comment about the tardy students (if allowed).
• Save the attendance.
• Repeat the process by selecting a class from the dropdown menu and accessing via the Take Attendance Menu.

Click on Seating Chart in the menu bar.

If a seating chart has yet to be set up for a class you will be taken to the setup screen.  

1. Link Existing Chart - Click to link a created chart to the chosen class.  

2. Chart Name - Enter a name for the seating chart; it is helpful to include the room number if not in the same room every period.

3. Starting Point - Define the desk layout.

a. Grid - Places the student seats in rows and columns.

b. Freeform - Options include grid, horseshoe, round table, square table and freeform.

c. Copy Previous Layout - copy a seating chart from another section or previous chart.

4. Front of Class - Desks will automatically orientate to the front of the classroom.

5. Rows/Columns - Required for Grid layout.

6. Link Additional Periods - Select all periods that apply to this seating chart.

7. Click Create.

Once the Create button has been clicked, the screen will default to a gridded layout for setting up the seating chart with furniture items. The Layout tab will be selected by default.

1. Click the Furniture tab.

Mass Add Seats:

• If Grid was selected for layout on the Create Chart screen, the desks will display with the number of rows and columns selected. 
• If Freeform was selected for the layout on the Create Chart screen, use the pull-down to select a seating arrangement (Grid, Horseshoe, Square Table, Round Table) and click Generate to place the seats. 
  • Adjust as needed and click Save.

Individually Add Seats:

• Single Add - To add individual pieces of furniture, click on the object from the list on the right and then click on the screen where the item should be placed.

• Single Delete - to delete a single piece of furniture, click on the object until it highlights with an orange line around it. Click Delete and then click Save.

• Group Delete - to delete a group of furniture, click and drag the cursor over the items to be deleted. Click Delete and then click Save.

• Clone - click and drag the cursor over the items to be cloned and click Clone. Drag items to a new location. Click Save.

Once the classroom layout is complete, students can be placed. There are five ways of seating students: Smart Shuffle, Last Name, First Name, Random, and Manual.

• Before seating students, the Talkative and Front of Class flags should be applied to students who may need to be seated away from each other and/or near the front of the room.

1. From the Layout tab, select Students.

2. Select the student(s) and click Talkative and/or Front of Class.

3. Click the Smart Shuffle pull-down to select one of four seating options.

a. Smart Shuffle - takes into account the two optional student flags: 

i. Front of Class: students will be placed in the front of classroom

ii. Talkative: students will not be placed near other students with talkative flag.

b. Last Name - places students by last name in ascending order starting in the front of the classroom.

c. First Name - places students by first name in ascending order starting in the front of the classroom.

d. Random - places students randomly.

4. Click Quick Seat to place students by the selected seating option.

5. Click Save after all students have been seated.

• To Unseat a student, click on the student then click Unseat. The student will be moved back to the Student list on the right.

1. For a selected section, go to the Seating Chart option  on the main menu.

2. Select the Assign tab and click the Attendance tab (both are usually selected by default).

a. If attendance has NOT been taken, a red x with a message will display.

b. Students will all be assigned the district default attendance code.

3. To assign a different code, select the attendance code from the list on the left.

4. Place the cursor over the student and click to assign new code.

• Code - click to hide the student attendance code on screen, the code color remains.

5. Click Save. 

A green check mark and message stating, “You have taken attendance today for this period,” will display.

• Set up the Attendance Seating Chart then take attendance for a class.
• Create a Seating Chart Layout
• Seat Students
• Unseat and Reseat Students
• Save Changes

The Absence Summary displays all district-defined attendance codes and how many periods those codes were assigned to students from the first day of the school year to the current date. This is a view-only report; attendance cannot be updated from this report.

To Display the Absence Summary for a Class

1. Go to the Reports menu.

2. Click on Attendance to expand the list and select Absence Summary.

3. Click on Search without entering any criteria to return the students for the section appearing in the course pull-down.

• The Absence Summary report includes a Report Timeframe pull-down at the top of the report. Only Attendance data within this Timeframe will populate the report. You can select the entire School Year, the current marking period i.e. 3rd 9 Weeks, Month to date, This week, Last week, Last 30-90 days, Last 2-4 School Years, or create a Custom Timeframe.

• The attendance codes display in the column header and each column displays the number of periods for which the students received the specific attendance code.

To Display the Absence Summary for an Individual Student

• Click on a student’s name from the class list to display the individual student’s Absence Summary. 
• This will display how many periods the student has received each attendance code, total number of absences, total instructional minutes missed due to absences, late check-ins and early releases (if this System Preference is enabled) and the exact days that any attendance code other than Present occurred.

• Teachers only see the students assigned to their courses. 
• Teachers can only update the attendance if the district has set the system preferences to Allow teachers to modify attendance after pressing save/or Allow teachers to modify previous days’ attendance. In the latter case, the date range selected must be within the timeframe that the district has set for modifying attendance.

To view an entire class

1. Go to the Reports menu and select Attendance then Attendance Chart.

2. Click on Search without entering any criteria to return the students for the section appearing in the course pull-down.

1. Report Timeframe - Defaults to the current month; change the date range by clicking in to the date fields or using the calendar icons. Click Update to refresh the report.

2. Class Period - Displays the period the students are scheduled with the teacher. 

3. Click Update after making changes to the Period selection and/or the Report Timeframe.

4. Attendance codes with dotted lines can be updated for the scheduled period only. 

5. Audit Trail - Hover over any attendance mark to display details about how the student was marked for attendance for that day, by whom, what date and time.

• If the field does not have the dotted line, the code was entered by the office, the district-defined time period to change attendance has expired, or the student is not scheduled with the teacher that period.
• Click Save to record changes.
• Use the Export button to print or download the report.

To view an individual student

• Click on a student’s name from the class list to view the student’s individual Attendance Chart. The first row shows the Daily Attendance code for each day and cannot be changed.
• If allowed by the district, any date field with a dotted line can be updated.
• The time frame can be updated if needed.
• Click Summary to switch to the Absence Summary screen.

1. Go to the Reports menu and select Attendance then Attendance Verification/Sub Rosters.

*  - Fill in these fields. All other fields are optional or applicable only to Sub Rosters.

• *Report Time Frame - By default this displays the current month. Use the date fields or the calendar icons to change the date range. For Florida state reporting, these dates will be the FTE attendance window.
• *Period - By default, all periods on the school bell schedule are selected. Deselect any periods not scheduled with students.
• *Page breaks between each section - Each section will print on different pages if selected. 
• *Print teacher signature lines - Prints a line for teacher signature below each section’s attendance records. 
• Hide Empty Classes - If there are periods without students assigned, these sections can be hidden. 
• Sub Rosters  - Select to generate and print student rosters for the substitute.
• Do Not Display ID’s - Will not display the student ID’s when printing.
• Print Student Alert Icons - Will display the alert icons on the printed document.
• Date columns per course period defaults to 14 date columns to print.  Enter a different number to designate any number of date columns to include on the sheet/roster.

2. Print / Preview  - Select to print or preview Verification Sheet.

1. Go to the Reports menu and select Attendance then Attendance Verification/Sub Rosters.

*  - Fill in these fields. All other fields are optional or applicable to Verification Sheets only.

• *Report Time Frame - By default this displays the current month, adjust to set the date(s) the Sub will be taking attendance. If multiple days are selected, each day will print on a separate sheet.
• *Period - By default, all periods on the school bell schedule are selected; uncheck any periods that do not take attendance or where no students are scheduled.
• Page breaks between each section  - Each section will print on a different page if selected. 
• *Print teacher signature lines  - Prints a line for the Sub’s signature.
• Hide Empty Classes - If there are periods without students assigned, these sections can be hidden (can leave unchecked if Periods were de-selected).
• *Sub Rosters - Check the box to generate the Sub roster upon printing.
• Do Not Display ID’s - Will not display the student ID’s when printing.
• Print Student Alert Icons - Will display the alert icons on the printed document.
• Date columns per course period defaults to 14 date columns to print.  Enter a different number to designate any number of date columns to include on the sheet/roster.
• Print / Preview - Select to print or preview the Sub Rosters.