While my school does all their attendance records online (on Infinite Campus), I still print out my own attendance sheets, which also double as a place to record grades. They are, of course, color-coded by instrument, and then student names are in order based on their small group. That way, whenever we are doing a quick playing check-up in class, I don't have to hunt for each student's name on my sheet--everyone in that particular small group are located next to each other on the grade sheet. I can also see at a glance how many students in each small group might have forgotten to bring their instrument to school that day. I also include a column with the initial of each student's teacher with an asterisk if they are in advanced math, since that impacts my schedule and is helpful information to have handy.
Each orchestra's grade sheet is printed on whichever color paper is that orchestra's color. My binder has a colored divider for each of the four orchestras I teach, and then behind each divider is the small group schedule, grade/attendance sheet, and full orchestra seating chart, all printed on paper that matches that orchestra's color. (I don't use the color printer, but the different colored background prints in various shades of gray that makes the different instruments look slightly different).
When I create a new small group schedule and small groups get changed, I reorder the names on my attendance sheet document and print out a new one. I can edit the weight of the border to make thicker lines between each small group. Each orchestra is a different sheet within the same Google Sheet, so I can easily move between tabs at the bottom.
Along the top of the paper copy, I can write in the date or the name of an assignment and what it is I'm grading.
With attendance, I use different markings to code different things I want to keep track of. The slash in the upper left for Johannes Brahms in the screenshot above above means there is no instrument in that student's spot on the instrument rack so I need to check attendance on Infinite Campus to see if Johannes is absent that day or if he forgot to bring his instrument that day and will need to borrow a spare. The slash in the lower left means a student forgot to bring their orchestra folder/book. Poor Clara Schumann is missing both her instrument and music the second week of this attendance sheet. If I arrive to school in the morning and see that someone's instrument has been left at school all week, I write a little dot in the box (see J.S. Bach above) and then check attendance to see if they're in school that day. If someone is absent, I draw a circle and am sure to write that student a quick email to let them know what they missed at orchestra that week. For students who are present and have brought their instrument/music, I don't write anything. At the end of the semester when I am entering disposition grades for Responsibility, I can look back and count exactly how many times a student hasn't brought their instrument or music to school so I am not just relying on my memory.
For grading, my district uses numbers (4=exceeds expectations, 3=meets expectations, 2=basic), and I will record grades onto this sheet and then enter them into Infinite Campus. With playing checkup rubrics/comment sheets, I take a picture of those before handing them back to students and then transfer the numbers onto the attendance/grade sheet so it's easier to enter into IC later. In this case, I write the headings small enough so I can fit three grades in each box to save space.
Feel free to make a copy and edit in a way that works for you!
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