Exit Slips...Some ideas

About two weeks ago, my friend and colleague Keith Ozsvath posted a great question on the Band Director's Facebook Group (a group I highly recommend you join if you are not already a member--provided you're a band director of course).  He posted a question about how directors use the last five minutes of class.  There were great answers given by dozens of teachers.  My answer centered around exit slips.  Though I don't use them daily or sometimes even weekly, I find that I get a great deal of valuable data when I use the exit slip.  This post will offer some ideas for possible exit slips you can use with your students.

Here's the disclaimer:  My primary podium (rehearsal) time is spent with sixth graders.  You'll notice that the questions/graphics reflect this age group.

Many of the screenshots will only show a portion of the page.  I have included links to the templates for the first two templates at the end of this post.  Feel free to make a copy and edit!

Self-Assessment Exit Slip Ideas

1.  Emoji Check-In

In this exit slip, the students write down a "strength", a "work in progress," and an area of trouble or confusion for them.  Though all of the answers are important, knowing what is still confusing my students (especially those who may not want to share that with the class) really helps my short and long-term planning.  This can be done with pencil/paper or can be done using google docs or google form (create this as a survey).

2.  Self-Assessment Rubric

We've all seen rubrics like this.  We may even use them when assessing our students.  How many times do the students assess themselves?  Self-assessment rubrics can be used to assess the full ensemble, the section (as this example shows), or the individual student.  By seeing the rubric, students begin to see what "makes it a great performance."  I think students gain a lot of insight on their progress and growth by doing these assessments from time to time.  We are a big Growth Mindset school so you will notice the word YET appears in the lowest column.

There can be a lot for a student to read on a rubric like this.  To simplify, you can ask students to only assess 2-3 categories on a larger rubric saving the rest of the categories for another day.

3. Theory Terms/Symbols Check-Ins

The end-of-class is a great time to find out what your students remember about a particular concept that was recently taught in class.  These short assessments can be customized to your needs.

4. Journal Entries

As I became more involved with CMP, I began having my students journal their thoughts on specific topics that relate to the music.  I use both paper journal cards or sheets and online journals.  Since our school is 1-1, students can easily pull out the Chromebook during the last few minutes to answer a question.  I will often have the students fill out journals to reflect on what they like about the difference concert pieces.  I then will pick some of the answers to include in my program notes.  If you do the journal online, it's as simple as Copy-Paste!

When I first started having the students journal, I made the mistake of asking deeper questions right away.  Students were not ready for the deeper questions and struggled to answer them.  The solution to this problem is to start with simple journal questions (see first example above).  Once students are comfortable sharing their thoughts, you can add rigor to the questions.  

I hope that one or more of these Exit Slip ideas can be used in your classroom.  If you have a great idea for an exit slip, please feel free to share it in the comments!

Here are the full templates for the first two exit slip ideas.

Emoji

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CW6bn_CSSDIxJTGkP3BkQSbQBFPe4HBayuUdjegUlxQ/edit?usp=sharing

Self-Reflection Rubric

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1T9yFj-AIRy__58zE3Vg4UFXm7KS3bpJhy19u5n-VZes/edit?usp=sharing