7 Clever Exit Ticket Ideas to Make This Assessment Tool Truly Effective

Written by Holly (Teach Starter)

Updated 2 years ago | 4 min read

When it comes to assessing what your students have learned in a lesson, exit tickets are a trick every teacher should have up their sleeve. If you’re not using this tool in your classroom yet, prepare to be surprised by just how effective it can be.

Our teacher team here at Teach Starter has put together fun exit ticket ideas, exit ticket examples and just about everything you need to know to start using this tool to get effective feedback on lessons and improve retention.

Are Exit Tickets Effective?

This is a question we hear a lot. Is the exit ticket really worth it? Educational research gives it a decided thumbs up! Studies have shown that exit tickets can help students consolidate and retain information by encouraging them to actively engage with the material they have learned. By requiring students to reflect on what they have learned and summarise key concepts, exit tickets can help students identify areas where they need additional support and clarify any misconceptions they may have.

Of course, how effective this formative assessment tool really is for your classroom comes down to how you use them. Here are some of the Teach Starter teacher team’s best tricks for getting the most out of your exit tickets!

Exit Ticket Ideas

Change Up Your Exit Ticket Questions

Using the same old exit tickets can get repetitive, and you might find students begin to quickly write ‘something’ down just so they can be done and do a preferred activity! This sometimes means that the purpose of exit tickets becomes distant and they quickly become a bit of a time-waster.

That’s why we’ve created printable exit tickets that are editable, so you can keep your students guessing, and keep getting that valuable assessment data you really need as a teacher!

Each exit ticket contains a goal, simple activity and a confidence scale for your students to complete. It creates the perfect combination of questions to get a quick idea of how each of your students is progressing on their learning journey!

Line Your Exit Ticket Up Directly With the Lesson

Tickets that are generic are fabulous tools that can be used all day long, but sometimes you will want to be a little more precise. Try editing your exit tickets to address specific elements of the lesson — like we did with this exit ticket that’s all about natural resources!

Make Exit Tickets a Partner Project

Direct your students to fill out their exit tickets, then pair them up with a classmate to discuss their answers together! This can be a great way to get your students talking and thinking differently about the lesson, empowering students to help one another, and it may make things clearer for students who still have questions … or open up brand-new questions!

You may opt to have the pairs create a new ticket together.

Create an Exit Ticket Collection Spot

Create an exit ticket visual display where students have their very own pockets on the wall. Then, when they have completed their exit ticket, they can go and pop it in their pocket for the teacher to check when the lesson is finished. This will make filling out exit tickets less of an afterthought and more of a routine.

Alternately, you can use sticky notes as exit tickets with a designated spot on your whiteboard or wall where students can post their ‘ticket’ on the way out of the room to PE or the playground.

Teach Starter Teacher Tip: Print your own exit tickets on a sticky note they can fill out!

Use Your Exit Tickets to Inform Group Work Planning

Knowing which students have fully grasped a lesson and which students could use a little more help can be a powerful tool when you’re putting together groups. You certainly don’t want to put together a group of the latter as it can be frustrating for them and won’t lead to productive group work. Setting up groups that are mixed will empower students to help one another and truly help them move forward.

Use Self-Assessment Cards for Exit Tickets

What child doesn’t love emoji? With four different emoji faces, these self-assessment cards will make kids smile and are a great way for them to communicate how they’re feeling about their grasp on their lesson. Print and hand out a self-assessment pack to each student, and when it’s time to close a lesson out, each student can pop one on their desk or drop on YOUR desk on their way out of the classroom.

Teach Starter Teacher Tip: Make sure students put their names on their emoji exit tickets so you know which one is which and can also hand them back to be used again in the future.

Make a Verbal Exit Ticket Process

You don’t always have to print out your exit tickets. Try posting a question based on the lesson on your whiteboard. On the way out of the classroom, each student can give you what they think is the answer. This will give you a sense of how well the lesson hit!