“Formative feedback – on what students know, what they understand, where they make errors, when they have misconceptions – is one of the most powerful influences on achievement.” – Hattie 2012

Today we are bringing you six great tools for implementing exit tickets in your classroom.  

These can be used for any kind of formative assessment–not just at the end of class.  You could use these for a bell ringer activity at the start of class, or a check for understanding in the middle of a lesson.

You might ask students to summarize the most important points of the lesson, solve a problem that requires application of skills from the day’s lesson, or prompt students to ask their own questions about the lesson.

In addition to checking for mastery, exit tickets allow the teacher to Identify students’ more specific misunderstandings and adjust future instruction to meet these needs.

Exit tickets should be:

• aligned to the standard and objective
• brief
• identifiable (include student’s name)
• able to identify mastery
• able to identify misconceptions the student may have
• used to inform instruction–not for a grade

On to the tools!

1. Socrative

This program has an exit ticket function built in, but you could use the “quick question” features for this as well.  There is virtually no prep required ahead of time, as the exit ticket questions are built into the program, and the “quick question” feature allows you to ask a short-answer or multiple choice question on the fly.  With Socrative you can also share out responses anonymously with the class, providing an excellent way to share and discuss student work.

2. Google Forms

While you can craft questions specific to your lesson, you can also create a generic Google Form that students complete after each lesson.  In addition to saving time, you can then track students’ responses over time on the same spreadsheet.

3. Flipgrid

Flipgrid is an easy-to-use platform for students to record and share short videos.  Students create a video response to a topic posed by the teacher. Students and teachers can then view each others’ videos and even leave video replies.  Students and teachers alike love this tool, and it’s a great way to build some variety in formative assessments and provide an opportunity for students to practice oral skills.

4. Plickers

If you don’t have a classroom set of devices, Plickers is a great way to quickly assess your students.  You just need a tablet or phone to download the teacher app. Students hold up pre-printed cards to answer, and the app scans the room, recording each students’ answer.  As the teacher, you don’t have to assess or organize responses, the app does it all for you!

5. SeeSaw

Seesaw is a favorite “show what you know” tool!  Students of all ages can draw, type, take a picture, record audio, make a video, or a combination of these options!  Students’ posts are shared with classmates, with the option to invite parents to see their child’s work as well. Students can complete an activity assigned by the teacher, but this isn’t necessary, making SeeSaw a great low to no-prep tool for exit tickets.

6. We can’t leave out the trusty standby–paper and pencil!

Note cards or sticky-notes work especially well for this because they can be easily sorted.  Students can also place their note/paper in a category according to their confidence. (For example, I need more help, I understand, or I could teach someone else.)  Note cards or sticky notes can also be easily sorted by the teacher based on student responses. You might see that several students missed a key idea or made similar mistakes and put those students’ responses in one pile.  You might notice that a few others have a different misconception. Organizing the note cards or papers this way will allow you to easily group students the following day to best differentiate according to specific needs.

BONUS! – Post-It Plus App

If you want to use sticky notes but also don’t want to look like this by the end of the day, the Post-It Plus app will be your new best friend!  This is a free app available for Apple that allows you to digitize and organize sticky notes.   Take a picture of the notes with the app, and you can then move them around, arranging them into various groups and boards.  This would also be a great tool for students with iPads to organize their ideas or categorize information. You can download the app here.

Of course, there are plenty of other tools for exit tickets and formative assessments.  Let us know your favorites by leaving a reply below!