Exit Slip, Exit Ticket, Ticket out the Door

No matter what you call it, the exit slip is a super, quick, little assessment.

I had to come up with a plan for how to administer and check the exit slips in my science classes.

So, I designed a bulletin board to house the materials. I'm actually not finished. It seems that everything I do needs some revision.  I always come up with a new idea and have to change things. OK...I don't have to change things, but my compulsive personality makes me do it!

Currently, I pass out the slips and the students place them in the red folders.  Each student will be responsible for some meta-cognitive thinking.  Do they know what they know?  The 4,3,2,1 folders would assume that they do.  

After answering two questions that appear on the smart board at the conclusion of a lesson, each student will place his/her exit slip into the appropriate folder. I love looking on as they place their slips. It's really a quick way to evaluate my lesson.  Did most students understand the concepts?

Or I should ask, did they think they understood the concepts? If there is a large portion of the students putting their slips into the "1" or "2" folder, I'm in trouble. That's a sure indicator that it's time for me to design a new lesson and present the material again. If it's early on in a unit, I try not to get too excited over a lot of 1 and 2 responses.  We will be working on the same skills and concepts for many days to follow.  At the end of a unit, the 1 and 2 responses are somewhat alarming.

That being said, it has been a very enlightening experience to evaluate the exit slips.  Only two students in my first period class missed both questions.  Twelve of the students missed one question and eight of the students answered both questions correctly. This does set the tone for my next lesson. Enough of the students missed at least one question that I feel a review lesson is warranted.

As far as the display is concerned, I am going to add another folder to hold the blank exit slips. The procedure for students will be to grab a slip on the way to your seat at the beginning of class.  Then, I don't have to waste time passing out fresh slips each period. The students can just pull them out when I display the questions on the smart board. Currently, I have a folder on my computer with exit slip questions that I can pull up quickly and save for next year.

Cheers!

My Teacher Space

I love green!

When creating my new teacher cabinets at school (I dubbed these the "teacher cabinets" because they house my everyday items that I need at a moment's notice) I tried to incorporate some other colors to delineate the space.  I want the students to kind of see this space as "separate" from the rest of the room, which is fully theirs!

My black and white theme is going great throughout the whole room.  I added some splashes of red for the student areas.  My favorite color is green so I thought why not black, white, and some splashes of green...lime green to be exact.  

It came out so cute and functional.  Let's hope it's not wrecked by the second week of school...that's my luck! (haha)

The first item I incorporated was my Hang Up Room Organizer from Thirty-One.

I had my name embroidered on top for some extra flair.  It neatly holds mail coming in (office stuff) and mail that needs to go out.  Also, there is a great spot for folders at the bottom.  Two of the most important folders are class lists and building schedule.  I always need to grab those quickly!  The folders are from Staples.  They carry many black and white items that blend well with my theme. 

The other side of the cabinet houses a spot to keep the many tremendously overwhelming amount of papers that come my way.  The clerical paperwork is out of control lately! So, I need to keep it in control with a very organized system.  The paper holder is from Staples as well, specifically, The Martha Stewart Collection.  A district calendar is a must and a display of the class schedule.

Next to the bulletin board is a shelf that I purchased at Christmas Tree Shop for only $20!  It was quite easy to put together...well I guess I would have to ask my husband, since he put it together.  But, it was easy for me!

There are many uses for these great folder keepers and I love the green color.  Again...being organized and having everything in a home will help enormously throughout the school year.  Getting set up now is the key.  I don't want late nights at school when I could be with my own kids or creating quality lessons for my students.

This is the final project.  The bottom of the cabinet doors may change as office items start to roll in over the next few weeks.

The colors look amazing together and it's very user-friendly.  The time spent was very worth while.

Remember to check out on of my favorite blogs, 
A Bowl Full of Lemons.

Cheers!