PERTS Elevate Resource Library

Analyzing Exit Tickets

Use exit tickets to adjust the next lesson and provide students an opportunity to revise their exit ticket based on what they learned.

Grades 6-8, 9-12 Math Video · 1:22

Overview

Analyzing Exit Tickets provides an opportunity for teachers to assess student understanding at the end of class and adjust the next day's lesson accordingly. Students then receive their uncorrected exit ticket back to revise, reinforcing learning. Exit ticket problems are purposefully chosen to guide instruction.

Through this practice you will be able to:

  • Identify common student misconceptions and use them to inform targeted reteaching.
  • Foster a classroom culture where mistakes are seen as valuable learning opportunities.
  • Support students in developing deeper conceptual understanding by revisiting and revising their thinking.

Materials

  • Purposefully designed exit ticket task that targets a key concept
  • Ungraded and uncorrected exit tickets to return the following day to students for revision
  • Answer keys or exemplar responses to guide evaluation and reteaching decisions

Day Before Prep (~50 min)

One Day Before:

  1. Select a task (10-15 minutes): Design or select a single math problem that targets the day's objective. It should be a task that students can complete in under 5 minutes.

    • Clarify learning goal: Identify the specific understanding or skill the exit ticket is intended to assess.
    • Explore the task yourself to ensure that you are familiar with methods for solving the problem. As you work through it, ask yourself:
      • What strategies might students use?
      • What ideas or mistakes might come up while students work on this?

  2. Prep the Exit Tickets (5-10 minutes): Print or prepare half-sheets of paper for exit tickets.

Two Days Before:

  1. Administer Exit Tickets (5-10 minutes): Have students complete the exit ticket at the end of class and hand it in.

  2. Review the Tickets (5-10 minutes): Before the next class session, review the exit tickets:

    • Don't grade or mark them.
    • Scan through student responses to identify how students have mastered the concept.
    • Notetake 2–3 examples that show common errors or misconceptions.

  3. Prepare for the Next Lesson (10-15 minutes):

    • Copy and organize ungraded exit tickets to return for student revision.
    • Adjust the next day's lesson to address misunderstandings (reteaching, focused mini-lessons, etc.). You may want to prepare a similar but new problem to the exit ticket to work through as a class so that students see an additional example.
    • Prepare revision prompts or reflection questions to guide student corrections and learning.

Conducting the Practice (~25 min)

  1. Frame the Purpose (5 minutes): Begin this time with a positive, supportive message that frames the activity as a time to learn from mistakes and not to embarrass the work of any classmates. Here is sample language to use:

    "Within our class, it's completely normal to have ideas that need adjusting as we learn more. In fact, making mistakes is part of how we grow our understanding. That's why today you'll get back your exit ticket from the day before, not grades, and you'll have a chance to revise your thinking. Remember, it's not about getting it perfect the first time; it's about getting better over time."

  2. Begin with a Class Review (5-10 minutes): Start by reviewing the key concept from the exit ticket. Go over the problem-solving methods used and provide an additional example if needed. Use this time to address common misconceptions or errors you observed in student work, clarifying misunderstandings before students begin revising.

  3. Return Exit Tickets Uncorrected (2 minutes): Distribute the students' exit tickets without grades or marks so they can focus on revising their thinking rather than on scores.

  4. Guide Students to Reflect on Their Original Work (2 minutes): Encourage students to carefully read their initial responses and identify areas where their reasoning may have been incomplete or incorrect.

  5. Facilitate the Revision Process (5 minutes): Instruct students to revise their answers based on what they learned during the review or through class discussion. Encourage them to correct mistakes and explain their updated thinking directly on the exit ticket or in the provided space.

  6. Collect Revised Exit Tickets (2 minutes): Collect the revised exit tickets to track student growth and inform future instruction.

Pitfalls to Avoid

  • Grading Too Soon: Avoid returning exit tickets with grades or corrections right away, as it shifts focus from learning to performance.
  • Skipping the Review: Don't skip the whole-class review. Students need misconceptions addressed before they can revise effectively.
  • Rushing the Process: Ensure students have enough time to reflect and revise; rushing leads to shallow thinking.
  • Ignoring the Data: Use exit ticket insights to guide your next lesson.
  • Overlooking Mindset: Promoting a growth mindset can help students see mistakes as learning opportunities.

What to Look For

  • Students thoughtfully engaged in reviewing and reconsidering their answers
  • Identification of errors made
  • Use of reasoning and resources to improve work
  • Willingness to revise their responses
  • Students articulate changes in their understanding

This practice was developed in collaboration with WestEd.