How can exit tickets be utilized to enhance teaching effectiveness and student learning?
How to Use Exit Tickets to Improve Lesson Delivery
In today’s classrooms, feedback is gold and exit tickets are one of the most simple yet powerful tools for collecting it. Whether you’re trying to gauge understanding, adjust tomorrow’s lesson, or check for misconceptions, exit tickets can turn the final minutes of class into a treasure trove of instructional insight.
But here’s the catch: exit tickets are easy to misuse, overlook, or overdo. When used thoughtfully, they inform, guide, and even transform your teaching. When used poorly, they become busywork.
This blog post breaks down what exit tickets are (and aren’t), how to use them effectively, and how they can help you teach smarter and reach every student more meaningfully.
What Is an Exit Ticket?
An exit ticket is a brief, low-stakes assessment or reflection activity given at the end of a lesson. Its purpose is to check for student understanding, gather feedback, or reinforce key concepts before students leave the classroom.
Typical formats include:
A short written response
A multiple-choice or scale question
A visual organizer or drawing
A digital submission (e.g., Google Form, Padlet, Jamboard)
Think of it as a learning snapshot, not a final judgment.
What Exit Tickets Are, And What They Aren’t
Exit Tickets Are... Formative assessments to guide instruction | Exit Tickets Are Not... Summative tests or quizzes
Exit Tickets Are... Quick (1-5 minutes) | Exit Tickets Are Not... Long, time-consuming tasks
Exit Tickets Are... Focused on a single skill or concept | Exit Tickets Are Not... A review of the entire day’s content
Exit Tickets Are... Opportunities for student voice and reflection | Exit Tickets Are Not... Always a question with a “right” answer
Exit Tickets Are... Optional for grading or participation | Exit Tickets Are Not... Automatically counted as high-stakes grades
The best exit tickets are intentional, not habitual.
Why Use Exit Tickets?
Exit tickets provide real-time insight into student understanding, allowing teachers to:
Adjust pacing or reteach before misconceptions deepen
Celebrate growth and identify where students are excelling
Group students for follow-up support or enrichment
Make learning visible, both for students and teachers
Improve lesson quality through reflection and data
Exit tickets turn the end of class into a formative moment, not just a wrap-up.
5 Effective Ways to Use Exit Tickets in Lesson Delivery
Let’s explore how to use exit tickets as part of a purposeful instructional cycle, before, during, and after planning.
1. Clarify Your Purpose First
Before assigning an exit ticket, ask yourself:
What do I want to know about student learning today?
How will this information guide my next steps?
Will students see value in this task?
Examples of clear purposes:
Check for understanding of a key concept
Gauge confidence or emotional response to learning
Identify common errors in a skill or process
Gather feedback about instructional clarity
Don’t assign an exit ticket just because it’s routine. Assign it because it’s useful.
2. Keep It Focused and Simple
Exit tickets should take no more than 3-5 minutes. Limit each ticket to one skill, one question, or one reflection prompt.
Examples:
“What’s one thing you understand well from today’s lesson?”
“What’s one question you still have?”
“Solve: 3/4 + 2/5 and explain your process.”
“Rate your confidence today from 1-5 and explain your number.”
The best responses are short but revealing.
3. Use a Variety of Formats
Vary your approach based on your students and goals.
Formats:
Written prompts: Index cards, post-its, or notebooks
Digital responses: Google Forms, Padlet
Drawing or visual models: Diagrams, comic strips, or flow charts
Movement-based: “Stand if you agree,” or “Thumbs up/down”
Different learners express understanding in different ways.
4. Review and Respond Promptly
Exit tickets only help if they inform action. After class, review responses and look for:
Patterns in misconceptions
Groups with similar needs
Gaps between content delivered and content understood
Then:
Re-teach in the next mini lesson
Regroup students for small-group support
Adjust pacing or clarify directions
Acknowledge and build on what students did grasp
Exit tickets are a feedback loop, not a filing system.
5. Don’t Overuse Them
If students complete an exit ticket every single day, they can become desensitized or disengaged.
Use them:
2-3 times per week, not necessarily every day
After key concepts, not filler lessons
In combination with other formative checks
Less is more when it comes to quality feedback.
Can Exit Tickets Be Graded?
This is a common question, and the answer is: it depends.
When it makes sense to grade:
Participation grades for effort, completion, or reflection
Quick skill checks to assign small point values
Rubric-based assessments for more complex responses
When to avoid grading:
When the goal is pure understanding, not accuracy
When students are practicing or grappling with new content
When students are reflecting or giving feedback
Grading exit tickets should support learning, not penalize confusion.
What Students Say About Exit Tickets
“They help me remember what I learned.”
“Sometimes I don’t get it until I have to explain it in writing.”
“I like when my teacher reads them and changes stuff. It shows my teacher listens.”
“It’s better than just sitting and zoning out at the end.”
When students know their responses matter, they take them more seriously.
Exit tickets give teachers quick insights into student understanding, helping refine lesson delivery and instruction.
Examples of Exit Tickets by Grade Level
Exit tickets can, and should, look different depending on the developmental stage of your students. Here’s how to adapt them meaningfully across grade bands:
Elementary School (Grades K-5)
At the elementary level, exit tickets should be simple, visual, and often scaffolded.
Examples:
Draw It: “Draw one thing you learned about plants today.”
Emoji Check-In: “Circle the face that shows how you felt about math today 😊 😐 😕.”
Sentence Stem: “Today I learned ________.”
Quick Solve: “Solve: 7 + 8 = ___. Then explain how you got your answer.”
Yes/No and Why: “Can all animals fly? ___ Why or why not?”
Tip: Allow students to write, draw, or dictate their responses when possible.
Middle School (Grades 6-8)
Middle schoolers benefit from brief written responses that promote metacognition and support academic vocabulary.
Examples:
Concept Check: “What’s one thing you still don’t understand about photosynthesis?”
Vocabulary in Context: “Use the word density in a sentence that shows you understand it.”
Reflect and Predict: “What would you do differently if we did this lab again?”
Rating Scale + Justify: “Rate your confidence with today’s skill (1-5). Why did you choose that number?”
Support with Evidence: “Do you agree with the character’s decision? Why or why not?”
Tip: Provide optional prompts or sentence starters to support struggling writers.
High School (Grades 9-12)
Older students can handle more abstract and analytical prompts. Exit tickets at this level can help build college- and career-ready thinking.
Examples:
Short Analysis: “How does today’s topic connect to a real-world issue?”
Argument Check: “In 1-2 sentences, state your opinion on today’s discussion and support it with one piece of evidence.”
Synthesis Prompt: “How do Newton’s Laws connect to what we observed in the lab?”
Misconception Alert: “What’s one thing you thought you understood, but realized you didn’t?”
Next Steps: “What should we review or clarify tomorrow? Suggest one improvement to today’s lesson.”
Tip: High schoolers value autonomy. Invite them to choose from a few prompt options.
Final Thoughts: Small Tool, Big Impact
Exit tickets may be small, but their impact can be enormous. When used thoughtfully, they:
Help teachers adjust instruction in real time
Give students a voice in the learning process
Reinforce a culture of reflection and feedback
Build a stronger bridge between teaching and learning
It’s not about collecting more papers; it’s about collecting more insight. So ask the right question. Listen to the answers. And let those answers guide what comes next.
Recap: How to Use Exit Tickets to Improve Teaching and Learning
Strategy: Clarify your purpose | Purpose and Benefit: Keep exit tickets intentional, not automatic
Strategy: Keep it short and focused | Purpose and Benefit: Save time and increase relevance
Strategy: Use varied formats | Purpose and Benefit: Reach diverse learners and maintain interest
Strategy: Review and respond | Purpose and Benefit: Make tickets actionable, not just collected
Strategy: Avoid overuse | Purpose and Benefit: Prevent burnout and maintain engagement
Strategy: Grade only when meaningful | Purpose and Benefit: Keep stakes low unless assessment is the goal
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