You-Attend allows you to track student attendance through Brightspace. Setup is easy - once the tool is aware of your class start and end dates and the days of the week your course meets, it automatically creates the attendance register for you. Also, the tool can create a new column in the grade book to automatically update a student's attendance grade when a new entry is made in the register.
Important You-Attend can be used with any browser, however, your browser must be set to allow cookies or You-Attend will not open.
To enable Cookies in your browser please click here to access the guide to help you configure your settings regarding Cookies.
Select You-Attend from the Tools drop-down in the course Nav bar
![Tools drop down menu with You-Attend highlighted](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/002/734/373/original/b50dd28d-115a-4c9a-a182-59c02851f4bf.png)
Configure the Course Settings page
1. Start Date: Click on the Start Date field and select the first day of your class.
2. End Date: Click on the End Date field and select the last day of your class.
3. Record Type: There are three ways you can record attendance.
Manual: You will manually enter attendance codes into the register.
In-Class: Every meeting day, You-Attend will generate a pin code for students to enter using their phones to record their attendance for the day.
Online: An online entry method designed for online classes. Just by logging into their online class, a student's attendance will be recorded for the day.
4. Select the days of the week your class meets.
5. Add any excluded dates when your class will not meet.
![Course settings page](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/002/731/098/original/b461808f-82f2-40d4-81a3-77227c00229f.png)
6. Default attendance codes available (can be edited and new codes added):
P - Present - Value = 100
A - Absent - Value = 0
E - Excused - Value = 100
T - Tardy - Value = 75
![Attendance Codes page](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/002/731/092/original/eb58371b-3311-48a8-b0ce-84f325eccbc3.png)
7. Create Grade Book Entry (Optional): Check this box if you want to create a new grade column in the grade book. It is not necessary to create a grade column for You-Attend. You can use the tool and see the percentage each student has attended without sending the information to the Gradebook. If you do not want You-Attend to create a grade column, skip directly to Step 11 below.
8. Grade Book Entry Name: Change the Grade Book Entry Name from Attendance to You-Attend (or something similar) IF you already have a column with the name Attendance in the grade book. You-Attend cannot be connected to a column that already exists - it must create it's own.
9. Points per Entry: Enter the number of points for each entry.
10. Max Grade Book Points: First, check the box to Use Auto-adjusting Grade Item Denominator then click on the Calculate Max GB Points button and type in the result that appears under the button into the Max Grade Book Points box.
11. Entry Options: Do not select the check box for Use Simple Entry Method. Keeping this unchecked will allow you to add notes for individual students.
12. Click the SAVE button.
![Grade Book Integration page](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/002/904/434/original/cf55dce7-0245-48c2-a118-9fa7f2b133a8.png)
Important - Do not change the Grade Book Entry Name more than once. Doing so will create additional grade book columns.
Taking Attendance
Select You-Attend from the Tools drop-down Nav bar
![Tools drop down menu with You-Attend highlighted](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/002/734/365/original/8e4a9ea1-b883-470d-b7dc-87b9deb67a3a.png)
1. To mark all students present for a session date, click on the green group icon.
2. Conversely, to mark all students absent for a session date, click on the red group icon.
3. Use the trash can icon to delete all entries for a date.
4. To enter in an attendance code for a current session for an individual student, click on the (-) under the session date column in the row with the student's name.
5. Click on the Go to Previous Week and Go to Next Week arrows to navigate to the previous or next weeks' sessions.
6. Select the correct Status.
7. Optional: add notes
8. Click Add Entry
9. It is not necessary to click the Update Grades button as the grade is updated automatically. The Update Grades button can be clicked if there are grades that seem out of sync and you want to make sure the grade book is up to date with all entries.
![Enter Attendance page for a student](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/002/750/981/original/dff533e5-0167-4f85-ad41-2d1cec0b133c.png)
![Update grades button](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/002/750/982/original/440eb64e-6a22-445b-b9fb-76981047e75f.png)
Exportable Attendance Reports
1. From the You-Attend attendance register, click on the Export to Excel button. The file will automatically download to your computer.
2. The Excel file will contain a summary HOME tab as well as individual tabs for each student.
![Export to Excel buttons](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/002/734/370/original/10da4486-7939-42f2-a3fb-1bae88bd867f.png)
![Attendannce Spreadsheet for the class](https://media.screensteps.com/image_assets/assets/002/734/377/original/d56b5e5e-0807-446e-aef9-ba46c5d43063.png)