Tweet Me!

Tweet Me!

I had the opportunity to observe Rachel Harris at Irwin Academic Academy recently [see original post here].

One of the takeaways I had was her exit ticket chart. She utilized the exit tickets to form her small group instruction. I knew this was an easy implementation and adjustment to my classroom routine, so I began immediately.

Students have assigned numbers and they place their exit ticket post it on the corresponding number square. Here is the poster than hangs on my wall:

                     

Today’s’ lesson focused on how different cultures shape an individual’s personal values behaviors and decisions. We read the story Johnny Appleseed and came to a few conclusions about his pattern of behavior and personal motivations.

Once the lesson was over, I gave students the discussion forum hashtag #culture to respond to the following question on their post it:

How has the culture and lifestyle of Johnny Appleseed shaped his values decision and behaviors? Cite 2 examples from the text.

Students wrote their number in the corner of the post it, responded to the question in under 140 characters (hey Twitter!), and then used the appropriate hashtag. Although the hashtag is fun and keeps with the twitter theme, it really serves an organizational purpose for myself. When I have multiple classes providing exit tickets on multiple topics, it helps me categorize the responses under the correct discussion forum. Let’s be honest, there are those students who’s answers are not specific enough for you to know what topic they are discussing. Also, rest assured, if the post it’s get jumbled, I can easily resort them. (Yes you can use different colored post it’s to do that too).

Once all responses were up on the chart, and students left the classroom I was ready to begin grouping their responses based on mastery (got it, sorta got it, didn’t get it).

GOT IT                                                                         SORTA GOT IT                                                              DIDN’T GET IT

            

My mastery students don’t need to get pulled, so I trash their post its (unless its a formal assessment and then I attach a rubric to it and send it home). I place my post its on a sheet of lined paper so that I can keep them in my small group evidence binder once finished.

I generally start with my sorta got it group because they catch on quickly and generally just needed a bit of support to extend and connect their thinking. My “didn’t get it ” group receives a full 20-30 min small group lesson to reteach the skill in a new way.

Then I return their original response and allow them to make corrections on it. This shows them where they missed the mark but allows an opportunity to redeem themselves and still achieve mastery.

        

 

This system has worked out great for my class. The students love to TWEET and show off what they know. I enjoy it because it gives me a heart beat on my instruction and allows me to intervene immediately.

How do you informally assess students?