At the end of each lesson, do you often ask yourself if your students understood the lesson? What ways and how often do you check for understanding? One of the most popular strategies for many teachers is Exit Slips or Tickets-Out-The-Door. This strategy is used to help students process the information and reflect on what they learned. They also incorporate writing and make quick formative assessments.
Exit slip questions may fall into these specific categories:
1. Prompts that demonstrate knowledge of a topic.
*Ex. Write three things you learned from today's lesson.
*Ex. Explain one idea that you found the most interesting.
2. Prompts that make students critically think about the lesson.
*Ex. One idea I need clarified is...
*Ex. One question I have about the topic is...
Other questions you may ask:
*What made learning easy for you today?
*What made learning difficult for you today?
*What do you still need to know before we move on?
*What did you learn today?
*What should our next step be?
How to use this strategy:
1. At the end of the lesson or a few minutes before class ends, ask students to respond to a prompt you created beforehand.
2. Distribute small pieces of scratch paper or sticky notes, or have students complete a digital version if your classroom is paperless. Be sure they include their name.
3. To exit the class or to be excused, students must turn in their Exit Slip. I usually stand by the door and quickly review each slip. I then place the papers in two piles; "they got it" or "they need more clarification." If I see that many students did not understand the topic or have more questions, I spend a few minutes the next day to reteach. If students use a digital version, I give students a point from 1-5. One means they did not understand the lesson, Five means they understood the major concepts, and reteaching is unnecessary.
If you are looking for some fun formative assessments, click HERE.
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Happy Teaching,
