Use Technology to Make Exit Tickets Easier

If you’re like me, closure activities can easily fall by the wayside. I believe wholeheartedly in the power of debriefing. I know exit tickets can provide important reflection for students as well valuable feedback for my own teaching. All the research points to the importance of this part of the lesson cycle, but it also my own area of weakness. The three biggest roadblocks for me can easily be solved with technology:

Roadblock #1: We Forget!

I tend to teach until the bell interrupts me. Why not set an alarm 4 minutes prior to each bell to give students a chance to do the exit ticket? Set alarms on Outlook, cell phone or even your FitBit! FitBit vibrates on your wrist which lets you know you need to wrap up without the students thinking an alarm is the thing ending the lesson.

Roadblock #2: The Mountain of Paper!

With over 180 students, giving each student a Post-It creates a mountain that – admittedly – I usually hardly even read. Why not take advantage of a BYOD classroom? Use Padlet for groups or partners to post the exit ticket. Use the QR code already created within Padlet to share, create a shortened URL with a Chrome extension like bit.ly, or post a link to the class Edmodo or similar service. Keep exit tickets open like:

•           Each group posts the thing they feel they most understand and then the least
•           Post a picture - pile of rocks, a leaf, a bunch of puppies - and ask students to relate it to the day’s lesson.
•         Groups post their own question and answer. For example, working on character traits? Students create a character trait of a common text all the group members know (class novel, Disney movie, etc) and write the character’s name, a trait, and a piece of evidence.

 

Left side: My exit ticket prompt of a logical fallacy with various groups responding.
Right side: Setting to "lock" the padlet to "Can View" so people can't add to finished Padlet.

Roadblock #3: Accountability for students AND teacher

Nothing holds me more accountable than having an outside audience. Create a class Twitter account, encourage parents to follow - even for parents who do not have Twitter accounts, knowing that you are inviting people into your classroom digitally is a great way to leave a strong impression on parents! - and at the end of the school day Tweet out a selected response to your closure activity or the Padlet but make sure to CHANGE THE PRIVACY SETTING TO VIEW! Hashtag your school district when you have a particularly strong example, especially if there is a cute picture with it. Just be aware of privacy laws and don’t use students’ faces.