Exit Cards AKA Best Thing Ever

I absolutely LOVE exit cards. I really can’t stress enough how beneficial they have been for my students this year. I began using exit cards last year (off and on) but really implemented a working system this year. I couldn’t be happier. Exit cards are not cutesy, they are not fun, they are not for show, or busy work. Exit cards are a quick formative assessment that can be used as data and to see where your kids are on a particular skill. 

My school uses standards based grading. That means I assess students with a 1, 2, 3, or 4 and do not give letter grades. Along with teaching and grading from common core standards, I should be grading continuously and re-assessing to really see if students meet the standards or not. 

An exit card is a simple way to do this.

What is an Exit Card:

An exit card is a set of problems students have to solve before “exiting" or leaving the classroom. I don’t necessarily do them before "exiting" but still refer to them as exit cards. They show a quick snap shot of what the student can do right then. They provide quick feedback and provide the teacher with data.

How to Make an Exit Card:

I do my exit cards two ways. If I’m testing story problems or something where I want the students to have the information in front of them whilst working I create an exit card on the computer. It has 4 boxes with a problem in each box; like this.

If I am in a hurry or feel the students can do it themselves, I have them rip out a paper and fold into fourths. Then they copy down the problems and do it themselves.

How do you Grade an Exit Card

This is my favorite part! I saw this little guy on pinterest and decided to make it one morning for my own classroom. It is awesome! You can find the original link  here

 When students complete their exit card they do a self evaluation and decide which folder to turn it into (With the environment I’ve tried to cultivate in my class, I haven’t come across any embarrassment or teasing with this self evaluation). It immediately shows me just from looking where the majority of my students are on a concept or at least think they are. As you can see in the picture the majority of my students were at 3's and 4's for this particular concept. I then take them out and give each student a 1, 2, 3, or 4. From this point what I do varies. If my scores is mostly 1 or 2’s I hand them back the following day and as a class we work through each problem. I then have students correct their errors and re-assesss. If my stack is mostly 3 and 4’s I do some small group work with the few students who received 1’s and 2’s.

Why I Love Exit Cards.

-Exit cards are so quick to grade!

-The provide feedback quickly!

-I can use them to re-assess subjects or review concepts

-They help me give up to date grades

-Students are able to self evaluate

-It keeps me on top of small group intervention

-My team uses them before we do reteaching or intervention groups

-It assesses a specific skill

-It provides feedback to me on how I taught a certain lesson or concept

-It monitors students through out a unit and not just at the end.

Do you love exit tickets? Do you use them differently? I'd love to know!