Exit Tickets Can Encourage Student Reflection

The idea for this post comes from Leanne Riordan, who teaches at Holabird Academy in Baltimore.  She shares some ideas for exit tickets that her colleagues use to include a level of self-monitoring and self-reflection. 

She writes:

I’d like to chime in to the exit ticket conversation with an idea to encourage student reflection and develop metacognition in conjunction with the exit ticket. In my school I’ve noticed some teachers have the students turn their exit tickets into bins, based on the students’ own perception of their understanding. One bin might be something like “I’ve got this!” while another is labeled “More practice please.” In between could be “I need some help” or “I’m almost there.”

In addition to helping the students be more mindful about their outcomes at the end of the lesson, I think these piles can also help with buy-in later when you pull a group for corrective teaching. The teacher should reference that the students in the small group did not answer correctly, and they also asked for help. Or, if most of the class said they needed help, the teacher could open the next lesson with a connection to this purpose.  Something like, “I noticed that most of the class asked for more help with __, so we are going to spend 10 minutes going over it again, in a different way that will help you understand it better.”

I also think it would be interesting to compare how the students rated their understanding vs. their actual performance.  Are some overconfident, or not confident enough?  Are the students able to correctly assess their level of knowledge or ability to problem solve? How do the student-created piles compare to the scored piles?

I am attaching a photo example from Erika Savage’s third grade classroom.

Exit tickets become a tool to help teachers foster conversations with their students and get a clear understanding between students' perceptions of their own mastery and what the exit tickets show. You can also follow up with process-oriented diagnostic questions for students who report they need more help (“WHY do you think you did not get it the first time? Were you actively listening? Did you take careful notes? Can I see them?” Etc.)

- See more at: http://teachlikeachampion.com/blog/exit-tickets-encourage-self-reflection/

Teaching with the Joy Factor

 Joy Factor is one of the most popular techniques in Teach Like a Champion.  Who doesn’t want to have fun while they (and their kids) work? Who doesn’t want to have their students feel the joy of learning?  But while it’s popular and positive, Joy Factor can be a surprisingly tricky thing to get just right. Here is an amazing video of North Star Academy’s Christina Fritz demonstrating Joy Factor with her second graders. - 

We’re calling the clip the “Skip Counting Pep Rally,” and in it, Christina nails three goals that are critical for bringing joy to the classroom:

1) It’s the servant:  Joy Factor is best when it “serves” the learning objectives of your lesson(s). That is, we can all think of lots of ways to have fun with a group of kids- the question is, how much can you make the fun serve the most important learning goals?  Christina’s “Skip Counting Pep Rally” is all about the math at the core of her lesson.

2) It needs a faucet: When the fun gets loud or silly, you gotta be able, as one teacher put it, to “turn it on and turn it off….” like a faucet.  Nothing is less fun than an activity that’s supposed to be fun but that quickly spirals out of control.  You saying something like, “Alright, heads down on desks.  If that’s how we have fun in this classroom we just won’t do it anymore…” is no way for your intended moment of joy to end.  So having systems to manage the energy level and to “turn it on and turn it off” is critical.  Notice how much fun Christina’s kids are having, AND how she has them “lock it up” and go briefly back to a learner’s position mid-way through to keep the necessary structure in place.

3) It’s whistling (while you work). Saying, “If we work hard we’ll play a game” (or have some free time, etc) sends the message that fun is the antidote to hard work.”  That’s a pretty mixed message. Much better is to message that we often have fun at our work and that work can be fun.  You don’t need the volume up to know that Christina’s kids got that message.  

By the way, it’s important to note that, as the text on the video implies, Christina’s kids work on their skip counting in the middle of a long and rigorous lesson with a ton of independent work and discussion…

Christina’s classroom isn’t all singing and chanting; it’s the change of pace that makes the skip counting fun.

…in other words, her whole class doesn’t look this way; it’s the exclamation mark at the end of a sentence, the fun little dance step half-way through your walk to school. There’s no time like the present for bringing the Joy Factor to your classroom, especially when you’ve got a model as sharp as Christina’s to show you how.

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh

http://teachlikeachampion.com/blog/joy-factor-christina-fritz-skip-counting-pep-rally/

Blog post by Doug Lemov (http://teachlikeachampion.com/blog/)

Every Kid Needs a Champion

We may not agree with everything that is happening in education but, “We Teach Anyway! That’s what we do. Teaching and learning should bring joy!"

"How powerful would our world be if we had kids who were not afraid to take risks, who were not afraid to think, and who had a champion? Every child deserves a champion. An adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connections, and insists that they become the best they can possibly be.”

Please take time to watch this video. You will hear the powerful words from the quote above.

Thank you for being a champion in your classrooms!

Conferencing with Jennifer Serravalo

Conferencing is the "heart" of your reading block and writer's workshop time. As we conference with students, we want to find what the students are doing well along with determining if their goals meet their needs. As you watch Jennifer Serravallo, look for these things.

• how she allows the student time to talk about the book
• how she gives a compliment to the student about something they are doing well
• how she teaches with examples and has the student practice with her
• how she links the teaching point to the future

An excerpt of Jen Serravallo's Digital Campus course Teaching Reading in Small Groups.
Watch this conference with author Jen Serravallo and fourth grader Julienne, who has just finished her book.