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 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 summarize key concepts, exit tickets can help students identify areas where they need additional support and clarify any misconceptions they may have.
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. This is the perfect combination of questions to get a quick idea of how your students are 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 verbs!
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 the cafeteria or specials.
Teach Starter Teacher Tip: Print your ticket out 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 for 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 mixed groups will empower students to help one another and 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 of 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 it 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!
Explore dozens of exit ticket templates curated by a team of expert teachers for your classroom!
Banner image via Shutterstock/Impact Photography
What great ideas! I was just putting together Exit Ticket ideas today! I am going to keep using an LMS this year, so I am thinking about posting the Exit Ticket on the LMS as a way to "expand the classroom walls." Students can complete during worktime or with caregivers
That's a great idea, Donna!