8 Reasons Why we use Exit Tickets in the Classroom

Teaching, like a lot of things in life, fades in and out of fads. Exit tickets popped up in a staff meeting I was attending about 6 years ago. Back then, I had no idea what they were, but this young, incredibly talented teacher at my school knew all about it. She set up an exit ticket system with her Grade 6 class and raved about how the students responded to it.

Years on, I have not only done my own research but I have also implemented the use of exit tickets in my classroom with just as much success as my awesome colleague. It is no longer a ‘fad’ in my eyes, but a wonderful way to seek quality feedback in your classroom.

Do you need convincing? Here are my top 8 reasons why you should give them a try…

1. Great plenary activity (closure of lesson).
2. Quick and easy way to check for student understanding.
3. Allows students to ask questions or identify problems in a non-threatening way.
4. The feedback can help guide your future teaching.
5. They are another way to assist in organising needs based groups.
6. An excellent way for teacher/personal reflection.
7. They prompt students to take an active role in their own learning and reflection.
8. Involves high student engagement and commitment in the reflection process.

Exit tickets can be completely generic OR specific by asking the students to answer an academic series of questions linked to the lesson you just taught.

Some great generic questions you can ask your students as an ‘exit ticket’ include:

1.     What have you learned today?

2.     How did you feel about today’s lesson?

3.     What do you need more help with?

4.     Something I enjoyed in today’s lesson was…

Students can record their responses in their workbooks or even on post-it notes (just make sure they put their names on them).

Examples of more academic based exit tickets include:

1.     Record a pattern that counts forwards or backwards by 8

2.     Write down 3 adjectives to describe our school principal

3.     List all the combinations of numbers that you know that add to ten

When I first started using exit tickets, I had a small container at the door with the word ‘EXIT’ marked on it, and the students placed their tickets in it before they went out for a break. Alternatively, I have seen a mailbox used where students post their exit tickets in the mailbox for it to be checked later in the day.

Also, I have played with having an exit ticket wall, where each student has a peg labelled with their name and they need to peg their response in order to finish the lesson (you might want to ask students to turn their work backwards if they wish for their answers to remain private for this one).

Additionally, I have found it very handy for the exit ticket to be glued into student workbooks under the day’s work. This is particularly helpful if you want to reference back for report writing time.

I know there are so many things to try in classrooms these days, but I recommend you give exit tickets a go. They are such a great form of feedback and can be put together on the spot.

If you would prefer to save yourself some time, grab our generic exit ticket resource. It includes 16 different exit ticket templates, including exit tickets in the form of social media posts which can be really engaging for students.

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