Making Exit Tickets Useful

Wow, it's been way too long since I last blogged!  March was a crazy month.... hubby was out of town much of the month, the kiddos and I were all sick at least once, and we actually had a full month of school after a winter plagued with snow days so I've been playing catch-up at school trying to get us where we need to be before the dreaded standardized tests coming up soon.

Anyway... :)

Recently I used an exit ticket with my 8th graders.  I know, nothing new, right? I use exit tickets - and entrance tickets - on a somewhat regular basis.  BUT this exit ticket was a bit different than the ones I typically use, and I REALLY liked the feedback I got from it!  Rather than just asking my students to answer a few questions about what they learned in that day's lesson, or having them tell me what they feel confused about, this is what I gave them:

We're studying genetics, so I gave them four genetics-related questions to answer.  Those gave me valuable information, but question #5 is what really took this to the next level.  What I found is that many students were getting the questions correct and yet they weren't very confident in themselves, or vice versa - some students were really confident and yet they got most of the questions wrong.

This student was feeling like he understood the chapter very well, but he got several questions incorrect.  I love his confidence, but this showed me that he actually needed some additional instruction.

This student was only feeling so-so about the chapter, but he got all the questions correct!

So what did I do with this data? I paired the students up and had them teach each other!  I paired a student who got the questions all correct with a student or two who needed additional help with the chapter.  Students like the 2nd one above who knew how to do the work but weren't very sure of themselves got a quick confidence boost when they were asked to teach their peers!  It was wonderful!  In talking to the kids towards the end of the period, many of them felt like the activity helped them.  (And their test scores the next week validated that!) :)

After this success, I'll definitely be looking for more opportunities to incorporate similar exit tickets into my lessons!

Rachel