Our instructor modeled the "ticket to leave" as an opportunity for a teacher (and we fledgling student teachers to be) to obtain feedback about the class session that just ended, to clear up misconceptions that might have been generated as well as putting to rest any lingering questions about the material that was covered. These final two objectives were met via a large-group discussion that launched the next class session.
The authors of my book describe the exact same WTL for use with secondary school students. They advocate using the last five minutes of class to have students jot down their thoughts about the class. The media should be a pen or pencil and a three by five or four by six inch ruled index card. The "tickets to leave" are handed in anonymously as students leave class. The teacher then uses them as part of the planning process for the next time the class meets.
When read back to the students discussion is generated and the distinction is made between "skinny" factual recall and "fat" inferential questions.
Implementation of this WTL is simple. Just remember to end the class with enough time for the students to participate in the WTL. The start should happen before they have an opportunity to start packing up and eyeballing the clock. The next thing that must happen is making a choice about the prompt to be handed out. It could be open ended or specific.
The authors provide a laundrey list of prompts. A few are noted below.
1. What did youn today?
2. How is this unit going for you?
3. What was the most confusing or difficult idea you encountered today?
4. Pick one quote from today's class discussion or readings and comment on it.
5. What are some of the questions you have about today's lesson? Where do you think you can get the answers to these questions.
6. Predict what we will need to learn next in this unit today and why?
7. What would you like me to review in class tomorrow and why?
8. If you were going to teach this to someone else, what would be in your notes? Show me.
9. If you were going to make up an essay question based on today's class what would it be? The teacher must make a commitment to using a few of these questions, if appropriate as part of a later assessment.
10. What can I help you do to learn better in the next class? Be specific.
Finally-to grade or not to grade. The authors recommend sustaining from grading these WTLs. However, a ten point participation grade (for those who participate) may be used as an incentive (for participation).
This like the other WTLs that have been considered in the previous posts are tools to help students gain and retain knowledge through the WTL's ability to help them to improvise, adapt and overcome obstacles to learning through writing (thank you Gomer Pyle). OOOOO-Rah.
Great post! Thank you for sharing all of that helpful information. I have just begun discussing "exit tickets" in my classes. I really like the list of possible questions to ask. They seem like deep questions rather than simple yes or no. I also really like that the teacher bases her next lesson off of the exit tickets. What a great way to access student's learning.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Thank you for sharing all of that helpful information. I have just begun discussing "exit tickets" in my classes. I really like the list of possible questions to ask. They seem like deep questions rather than simple yes or no. I also really like that the teacher bases her next lesson off of the exit tickets. What a great way to access student's learning.
ReplyDeleteOK now you really have me wanting in and out burger! No Fair because i still cant eat much! When i read your "out ticket" comment i made a connection from what i observed an a high school physical education class. It may be a little different from what you were talking about but still had many similarities! What this teacher did was ask certain questions about the content being taught and if a students was able to answer the question correctly they were able to leave to go change out. But this is a great feedback to teachers to see what our students are learning and maintaining from the content we are teaching.
ReplyDeleteYep, the title reeled me in. . .the content kept me going. Will every class have time go over the questions you posed? Probably not, but even doing this once or twice a week is a great teaching strategy. Thanks for the information, I am confident I am learning more from everyones blogs than my book.
ReplyDeleteHow interesting this idea is. I've never had a class do this and I think I'd like it. I wrote in my blog today about having a feedback box in the classroom so that my students can anonymously make suggestions and speak freely. Now that I read your post, I think it might be useful maybe once a week or so, to do this WTL
ReplyDeleteI can see this being very useful in art class. A lot of times, it's hit or miss as to whether you connected with students, especially at the beginning of a new unit. This could be a great way to assess whether I explained the ideas well, etc. Great tool!
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