There are several ways to use exit slips as formative assessment tools. One way is to simply have the students complete 2 or 3 questions based on the lesson that was done in class. I use exit slips in this manner to avoid giving homework. I believe that some practice in math class is necessary. There are certain things I need my students to be able to do, and some students need to practice these things. I do not, however, believe that students should be practicing these things at home. Home is for family, community soccer, dance class, piano lessons, and all the other important things that our schools are eliminating.
I’m going to tell you a secret now. The students who don’t need to practice math will go home and do every single question you assign. It’s a waste of their time. The students who need to practice math will go home and do none of the questions you assign. Then you will argue with them, call their parents, and devise elaborate schemes to collect and grade homework. It’s a waste of your time. If I am not going to assign homework, I need to build places into my lessons for students to practice a little.
I do not grade these exit slips. I do not put any marks on them. I look at them and get feedback about how my students did with today’s material. I sort them quickly into three piles: Students that got it, students that partially got it, and students that didn’t get it at all. Based on Dylan Wiliam’s 5 key strategies, I would classify this use of exit slips as providing feedback that moves learners forward. Based on how the students do on their exit slips, I can adjust my instruction as necessary. I start the next day’s class with activities that allow the students also receive feedback.
Here’s how the old John’s math classes usually looked (based on 80 minute block schedules).
- 20 Minutes – Go over homework questions on the board that a few students had tried. Some students listened and copied down the solutions.
- 40 Minutes – Teach new material.
- 20 Minutes – Students had time to work on questions. Those that didn’t finish were expected to take their math home and complete the questions.
- Wash, rinse, and repeat 80 times per semester.
The old John typically assigned 10-15 homework questions. Very few students ever did more than a couple of them.
Here’s how exit slips as practice can really activate students, involve far more students in the practice component, and frankly, be a much more efficient use of class time.
- 20 Minutes – Students are grouped based on the previous day’s exit slips. Those that got it are sitting in small groups working on a few extension and/or application questions. Those that partially got it are in small groups correcting the errors on their exit slips and then working on a few practice questions that build to the extension and/or application questions. Those that didn’t get it are in small groups working with me. We do some re-teaching as necessary, and some practice. I don’t make up those questions. I just assign them from the textbook like I would have before.
- 40 Minutes – Students learn something new. (Notice that the old John “taught” something new, but the new John gets students to “learn” something new.)
- 20 Minutes – Students complete an exit slip with 2 or 3 questions based on what they were supposed to have learned. These slips are sorted quickly and used to begin the next day’s class.
In a method like this, every student does between 3 and 8 practice questions. That’s far more practice than I used to get them to do when I assigned homework regularly.
Interesting. Have you considered mixing the groups instead of dividing the students into groups of got it, partially got it and didn’t get it and have each group discuss how to do and why?
Great question. I most often group them the way I described, because it frees me up to work with the strugglers and I’m a bit of a control freak. It is certainly a good thing to let those strugglers work with other students, too. You just have to be careful that the students who get it are helping the strugglers, and not just telling or doing their work for them. If they are actually helping and teaching, then everybody benefits.
[…] that the blogosphere likes me best when I’m in reflecto-panic-crisis mode. Well, thanks to a post from John Scammell over at Zero-Knowledge Proofs, I’m back at it. The subject this time: […]
Just found you…via Function of Time. Can’t wait to read through! Thanks for all this good stuff to ponder. Will you be at Twitter Math Camp this summer?
Ahhh. Twitter Math Camp… Household discussions are ongoing at this point. Would love to come. Philadelphia is far away from us, and the cost would be significant. Not sure I can come on my own, when my wife is a HS math teacher, too. If it becomes a family holiday, it costs even more.
Reblogged this on crystalthinker and commented:
I love this Formative assessment strategy
I passed along a very inspiring blog award to you http://crystalthinker.wordpress.com/2013/04/21/im-a-very-inspiring-blogger-or-so-ive-been-told/
Hi John,
I thought you might like to hear that I’ve adapted a lot of your methodologies into my own adult learning classroom. I’ve seen dramatic improvements in performance. The material I teach is very practical and requires significant practice to master. When I used to assign homework I would see results very like you described – the high performers would complete it, and the others would often not bother.
Now I build time into my lessons for practice. I assign exactly the same work, but wander through the room while they complete it. I get much better feedback about who is keeping up and who is falling behind – and it allows me to redirect them along the way.
In the past, some of our participants were inclined to hand in copies of others’ assignments – which got them (usually) a decent mark, but ultimately contributed to their poor long-term performance.
Anyway – when are you going to move to Ottawa and return to teaching long enough to get my son through high school?
Thanks for the feedback, Andrew. I do intend to get to Ottawa long enough to meet your family. It’s been too long to go without seeing an old friend.
I am interested in the subtle difference here:
“Students learn something new. (Notice that the old John “taught” something new, but the new John gets students to “learn” something new.)”
Have you changed the delivery here, or are students simply more inclined to participate in this part of the class because the exit slips build more accountability? Could you elaborate on how you are approaching this part of classtime?
I have changed my delivery as much as I can. Rather than stand at the board and writing notes all the time, I do my best to create activities that allow the students to learn on their own. The post before this one explains one of the ways I do that.
Very cool shifts you mentioned, John. May I ask how you go about assessing the “got it” and “sort of got it” groups after they work in their small groups at the start of class – i.e. how you confirm the the errors of the mid-group are fully corrected and how you close on the extension/application questions with the upper group? I’d love to incorporate some of these strategies, but not sure how to “sum up” the groups that I wouldn’t necessarily be working with myself.
Also, do you have any problems with students feeling stigmatized at all?
I just check in with them while they are working. I don’t have anything formal that I do after this part. You may have just identified a deficiency in my practice. I’m thinking about this.
Your second question is one I get a lot. I should have clarified in this post that I tend to use this more often in my academic classes. Those kids tend to care, and the ones who struggle really, really want to get through the course. They are appreciative of the smaller group attention from the teacher.
[…] of trying a differentiated lesson and blog about it. I had been reading John Scammell’s blog (I hope you all are reading his stuff!) where he discussed his methodology of no homework, giving […]
Do you use these slips as part of their garde?
No. They are only for feedback for me and for the students.
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Reblogged this on Renovating My Classroom and commented:
Great example of how a small change in practice can have a significant impact (positive) for students and for the teacher.
[…] both the teachers and their students. I highly recommend exploring other posts on these blogs. On exit slips as practice (and giving less homework) On using individual whiteboards (for individual work and group work) […]
Reblogged this on MathLab and commented:
I see John and I are on the same page about exit passes..
[…] I work more and more with my 8th graders, I am of the same mind as Jim Scammell. The students who are taking homework home and bringing it completed the next day are the ones […]