I like the idea of entrance and exit slips (or tickets, as they're sometimes called) - they're quick (for both the student to complete and for the teacher to assess), and they provide a great at-a-glance check for whether or not the student understands the material, again for both the teacher and the student.
They're also part of a solid strategy to reinforce the learning goals of the course (I wrote more on how I design my learning goals and exit slips in a post on Using Learning Goals to Focus BYOD).
In a traditional class, students do the entrance slip on the way into class (or to start the class), while exit slips are done at the end of class. Last year, though, in my BYOD, independent learning classes, I couldn't stick to a before-class, end-of-class schedule, since everyone was always at a different place in the unit (which brought its own set of challenges). We did away with entrance slips, and approached exit slips in a different way.
Throughout the unit, students were expected to learn the material for a given learning goal (in whatever way they liked), and then would test themselves on the "exit slip" to show both me and themselves that they knew the material before moving on. If they got it, great! If not, feedback was prompt and they would go back and practice more before trying again.
Getting ready to hand back exit slips at the end of a unit. Yes, that's a LOT of paper to keep track of - something I'd like to change this year. |
I'd like to do the same thing this year, but with possibly a couple of changes.
What to call it?
I've struggled with what to call these exit slips, since they're not really used to "exit" the class. Check-ins? (I envision having the check-ins with little cartoon chickens on them hehe) Checkpoints? Learning Goal Checks (or, LGCs for short)? Progress checks? Stoplights?
Paperless?
In the larger of my two BYOD classes last year, there were days when the sheer amount of paper slips was overwhelming. I would love to reduce the amount of paper clutter from these slips but am not sure of the best way. Socrative? Google form? Quiz tool within our vLE?
I like the idea of the latter, especially if it can self-mark AND I can actually randomize the question the student gets. Last year I had an issue of students helping each other with the exit slips. While I have no problem with students helping each other learn, I would like the exit slips to be more indicative of what each student is capable of.
Learning goals, then project? Or project with learning goals embedded?
This year, I had the students go through the learning goals/exit slips in a linear fashion, and then attack a larger unit project at the end of the unit. Might it be better for me to assign the project first, and then they can complete the learning goals and exit slips as they complete the project?
The journey continues...