Katie Wafeiling

Azusa Campus
EB0C S26 Capstone Expeiience in Bigital Teaching anu Leaining
Bi. uilbieath
Exit Ticket Stiategy
21 0ctobei 2u1S
































Abstiact
The puipose of this stuuy is to evaluate the use of exit tickets at the enu of uaily lessons anu
concluue whethei oi not the implementation of this stiategy incieases stuuent ietention of
content mattei, impioving stuuents' scoies on weekly assessments. This stuuy will closely
examine the implementation of exit ticket piompts anu methous suggesteu by euucational
ieseaicheis Robeit }. Naizano, Nancy Fiey, anu Bouglas Fishei, anu ueteimine if the use of
such piompts anu methous is beneficial foi stuuents. The iesults of this stuuy will offei
uata fiom stuuents in my English 1u class ovei a thiee- week peiiou anu will offei uata to
aiu euucatois in ueciuing if exit tickets aie a beneficial use of instiuctional minutes.










"#$%&'()$*&#
Foi my Action Reseaich Repoit, I will be focusing on the topic of exit tickets linkeu
to uaily lessons. I feel the neeu to begin anu enu my class each uay with an intentional
activity each uay. I cuiiently have my stuuents begin class with a "Bo Now" oi anticipatoiy
set, which piepaies the stuuents foi what we will be uoing in class on the given uay. As a
new teachei, I have founu that I am still woiking on time management in my class on a
uaily basis, anu because of this I tenu to teach up until the bell most uays. This uoes not
allow my stuuents the necessaiy time to piocess oi ieflect on what they leain each uay. The
auministiation of my school highly value the "Exit Ticket" stiategy because they feel that it
is impoitant foi stuuents to ieflect on the infoimation coveieu in class each uay so have an
oppoitunity to ieflect on what they have leaineu, making piocess of leaining moie
meaningful to them.
I envision "exit tickets" being a foim of infoimal assessment in my classioom, taking
foim in shoit assignments, lasting no moie than five minutes, that iequiie stuuents to
apply oi synthesize infoimation piesenteu in class on a given uay. As I implement the "exit
ticket" into my class ioutine, I will be evaluating the ietention of infoimation among my
stuuents, as well as aieas of low compiehension. Ny action ieseaich question will be as
follows: Will implementing the exit ticket stiategy, at the enu of each uaily lesson, inciease
stuuent ietention of content infoimation.


Implementation
I maue the uecision to implement the exit ticket stiategy in my two English 1u
classes. They aie cuiiently ieauing !"# %&'( )* +',-./#0" so all of the exit tickets that they
completeu aie ielateu to this piece of ancient woilu liteiatuie.
Piioi to implementation of this stiategy, I uiu ieseaich to uiscovei what leaueis in
the fielu of euucation have founu about the exit ticket stiategy anu how they iecommenu
implementing this stiategy. I ueciueu to base my stuuy on the theoiy of euucational leauei
anu ieseaichei, Robeit }. Naizano. In an aiticle entitleu, "Ait anu Science of TeachingThe
Nany 0ses of Exit Tickets," Naizano iuentifies foui types of piompts that piouuce effective
exit tickets. The foui types of piompts aie as follows: Piompts that piouuce foimative
assessment uata, piompts that stimulate stuuent self-analysis, piompts that focus on
instiuctional stiategies, anu piompts that act as open communication to the teachei.
The fiist week of implementation, I implementeu the stiategies in the specific way
that Naizano suggests. Because I teach of my classes foui uays of the week, I useu one of
his foui piompts each uay. The fiist uay, I useu the foimative assessment:
Bow woulu you iate youi cuiient level of unueistanuing of what we uiu touay.
Scoie youiself a S if you unueistanu eveiything we uiu anu can even think of ways
to use this leaining. Scoie youiself a 2 if you unueistanu eveiything we uiu but can't
think of how you woulu use this infoimation iight now. Scoie youiself a 1 if you
unueistanu some of what we uiu touay but aie confuseu about some impoitant
paits. Put a u if you unueistanu veiy little of what we uiu touay oi aie completely
lost.
Stuuents iecoiueu theii numbei anu a shoit explanation on a SS caiu anu left it on my
uesk on theii way out of the classioom. This was quick anu gave me an iuea of how each
stuuent felt about the class peiiou on that given uay.
0n the seconu uay, I useu the stuuent self-analysis piompt, asking stuuent to
iesponu to the following question in a paiagiaph: Bow much effoit uo you feel that you put
into class woik touay. What coulu you uo in the futuie to help you leain bettei. Each
stuuent was able to complete this exit ticket, but stiength anu seiiousness of paiagiaphs
vaiieu among stuuents.
0n the thiiu uay, I useu the instiuctional stiategy piompt: Bow uiu the gioup woik
touay help you unueistanu the content. What aie some things you'u like to see uuiing
gioup woik in the futuie. Again, stuuents iesponueu to the piompt in a paiagiaph. I felt
this specific piompt was helpful to gage the stuuents who woikeu haiu veisus the stuuents
who floateu by in theii gioup, allowing otheis to complete the woik foi them.
0n the fouith uay, I useu Naizano's fouith type of piompt, which allows stuuents to
communicate with the teachei about instiuction. I useu the piompt he suggesteu in his
aiticle, "What is something I shoulu be uoing to impiove youi unueistanuing of the
content." Stuuents iesponueu to this piompt on a SS caiu anu left it on my uesk as they
exiteu the classioom. Though stuuents weie most exciteu about the oppoitunity to give me
feeuback, I founu this to be the least effective type of exit ticket piompt in teims of
constiuctive iesults.
In the two weeks that followeu, I ueciueu to aujust my implementation, focusing on
the ieseaich of Nancy Fiey anu Bouglas Fishei. Fiey anu Fishei aie also auvocates of the
exit ticket stiategy, but theii suggestions foi implementation aie moie focuseu on inviting
stuuents to ieflect on the content of lessons. All of theii exit ticket stiategies aie question
baseu anu iequiie stuuents to actively ieflect on theii leaining, which I feel bettei iesponus
to my ieseaich question.
0sing the ieseaich of Fiey anu Fishei as guiuelines, I ueciueu to uesign foui
question baseu exit tickets, focusing on the content my stuuents weie stuuying. 0n Nonuay
of weeks two anu thiee, I piojecteu foui multiple-choice questions baseu on content of the
tablet of uilgamesh that I hau uiscusseu with my stuuents uuiing the class peiiou. Stuuents
iecoiueu theii answeis using a scantion. This gave me an accuiate iuea of what my
stuuents absoibeu fiom the uiscussion anu ieauing, anu acteu as a foimative assessment.
0n Tuesuay of weeks two anu thiee I hau stuuents iesponu to thiee shoit answei
questions iegaiuing the class uiscussion anu ieauing. These questions iequiieu stuuents to
uemonstiate leaining. 0n WeunesuayThuisuay (block peiiou) of weeks two anu thiee, I
hau stuuents iesponu to a question in a stiong paiagiaph, which iequiieu them to
foimulate a claim about uilgamesh anu use eviuence fiom the text oi class uiscussion to
suppoit theii claim. 0n Fiiuay of weeks two anu thiee, I hau stuuents iecoiu thiee facts
that they leaineu about uilgamesh on a post it note anu stick on the uooi on theii way out
of the classioom. I felt that each stiategy implementeu uuiing the seconu anu thiiu week
iequiieu to stuuents to ieflect on leaining, while acting as a foimative assessment tool.



Results
The iesults of the implementation of the fiist week gave me an iuea of how my
stuuents feel about theii leaining in my class anu how they feel about my instiuctional
stiategies. 0n the fiist uay of week one, stuuents iesponueu to a piompt that askeu them to
consiuei theii level of unueistanuing at the enu of the lesson. 0n this uay, we weie
uiscussing Tablet I of uilgamesh anu the iole of uieams in the text. When wiiting about
how they felt about theii leaining, most stuuents wiote about the similaiity of the uieams
in uilgamesh anu the uieams in the 0lu Testament of the Bible, but hau tiouble aiticulating
how they woulu use this infoimation. 0f my 2S stuuents in peiiou 1, 6 stuuents iecoiueu a
scoie of S anu gave valiu explanations of how they woulu use the infoimation leaineu in
class. 1u stuuents gave themselves a scoie of 2 anu expiesseu that they unueistoou the
infoimation, but weie not suie how they woulu put this infoimation to use. S stuuents
gave themselves a 1 anu explaineu what they still felt a bit confuseu about. 4 stuuents gave
themselves a scoie of u, inuicating that they unueistoou veiy little of what was uiscusseu in
class.
0f my 2u stuuents in peiiou 4, S stuuents iecoiueu a scoie of S anu gave valiu
explanations of how they woulu use the infoimation leaineu in class. 11 stuuents gave
themselves a scoie of 2 anu expiesseu that they unueistoou the infoimation, but weie not
suie how they woulu put this infoimation to use. 2 stuuents gave themselves a 1 anu
explaineu what they still felt a bit confuseu about. 2 stuuents gave themselves a scoie of u,
inuicating that they unueistoou veiy little of what was uiscusseu in class.
At the enu of week one of implementation, I gave a quiz ovei content of uilgamesh
Tablets I-III. The giaph below uemonstiates stuuent scoies fiom this quiz. Stuuents uiu not
scoie much uiffeiently than piioi weeks. I feel this can be attiibuteu to the fact that the fiist
week of implementation of exit tickets uiu not focus specifically on content mattei.
The iesults of uay one uiu not suipiise me much because I felt that the iesponses
accuiately uisplayeu the ieauing anu concentiation of stuuents. Stuuents who hau uone the
ieauing anu iemaineu on task in class geneially gave themelves a highei scoie than the
stuuents who hau not uone the ieauing anu who hau not iemaineu on task in class.
0n the seconu uay of week one, stuuents ieflecteu on the amount of woik that they
felt they hau contiibuteu to theii leaining on the given uay. Though I felt stuuents
accomplisheu what I askeu of them anu took time foi self-ieflection, they uiu not ieflect on
content mattei, thus not auuiessing my ieseaich question.
0n the thiiu uay of week one, stuuents ieflecteu on theii gioup activity foi the uay,
which was to analyze a pile of aitifacts anu ueciue what people in the futuie woulu think of
oui cuiient society baseu on the aitifacts founu. I thought stuuent iesponses weie
thoughtful, but again the piompt encouiageu them to consiuei the stiuctuie of the activity
moie than the content of the activity.
0n the fouith uay of week one stuuents iesponueu to a piompt that alloweu them
the oppoitunity to give me feeuback on my instiuctional stiategies. Some stuuents took
this piompt seiiously anu iesponueu by telling me that I shoulu allow them moie time to
consiuei questions befoie moving foiwaiu, while the majoiity uiu not take it seiiously anu
suggesteu that pioviuing them with coffee oi eliminating homewoik woulu impiove theii
leaining. Though these iesponses pioviueu me with a few laughs, I uiu not feel that this
piompt encouiageu stuuents to ieflect on content.
I give a content quiz each Fiiuay. Below is a giaph of stuuent scoies on the quiz ovei
Tablet I-II of uilgamesh, as well as backgiounu infoimation about Nesopotamia.

Aftei week one, I ueciueu to aujust methou of exit ticketing. Noving away fiom
Naizano's piompts anu auopting Fiey anu Fishei's questing stiategy, focusing stiictly on
content. 0n Nonuay of week two, I piojecteu foui multiple-choice questions anu gave
stuuents scantions to iecoiu answeis. This was quick anu pioviueu me with accuiate
infoimation that ieflecteu stuuent unueistanuing of content. The following giaphs uisplay
the iesults of this scantion exit ticket foi peiious 1 anu 4.


The multiple choice exit ticket was piobably the easiest to analyze uata fiom because it
offeieu instant iesults that I uiu not have to ieau thiough to uistinguish whethei oi not
stuuents unueistoou content. I am not a fan of multiple-choice questions, but I think as an
exit ticket stiategy, I founu it to be the most effective. Looking at the giaphs fiom peiiou 1
anu 4, the iesult aie similai, stuuents seemeu to stiuggle with one anu thiee in both
classes, though oveiall, scoie weie high. Question one was "What uose Bumbaba symbolize
in Tablet III." anu question thiee was " Iuentify the function of Bumbaba's cuise."
Analyzing the uata, I concluueu that stuuents seemeu to have stiuggleu inteipieting the
battle of uilgamesh anu Enkiuu against Bumbaba, which gave me a place to stait in my
lectuie the following uay.
0n Tuesuay of week two, stuuents enueu class by answeiing thiee shoit answei
questions analyzing the iejection of Ishtai anu the battle with the Bull of Beaven. Fiom
theii iesponses, I was able to gage theii unueistanuing of Tablet v anu oui uiscussion of
the Ishtai's iole in the epic, but it was a long piocess of soiting thiough anu ieauing
answeis. I felt that this piocess took much longei than it was woith.
0n Weunesuay anu Thuisuay (block peiiou) of week two, Stuuents wiote a
paiagiaph in which they maue a claim about uilgamesh anu pioviueu eviuence fiom Tablet
v anu Tablet vI as suppoit. Nost stuuents weie able to make a claim anu suppoit it with
valiu eviuence fiom the text. I likeu this exit ticket, but it took moie time than I hau
anticipateu. In the futuie, I plan to use this type of activity as a giaueu assignment.
0n Fiiuay of week two, I askeu stuuents to take the last five minutes of class to wiite
uown thiee things that they hau leaineu fiom class that uay on a post it note anu stick it to
my uooi on theii way out of the classioom. We hau uiscusseu Tablet vII on this uay anu
most stuuents weie able to pull out significant facts fiom the uiscussion, but theie weie
also some silly answeis such as "Niss Wafeiling's favoiite movie is Nean uils," which
though tiue was not ielevant to leaining. I thought the post it notes was a fun iuea, though
stuuents uiu not move past iecalling infoimation.
The following giaph uemonstiates stuuent scoies on the quiz given at the enu of the
seconu week of implementation. Stuuent scoies aie slightly impioveu fiom the pievious
week in both of my classes, which I woulu like to think is attiibuteu to the implementation
of the exit ticket stiategy. Stuuents in both of my classes seem to be at the same level in
teims of content ietention, though Peiiou 1 appeais highei because I have thiee moie
stuuents in that class. This giaph suggests that stuuent ietention uiu inueeu impiove fiom
the pievious week.


0n Nonuay of week thiee, I piojecteu foui multiple-choice questions ovei Tablet
vIII of uilgamesh anu gave stuuents scantions to iecoiu answeis. The following giaphs
uisplay the iesults of this scantion exit ticket foi peiious 1 anu 4.


Fiom the uiscussion in class on this uay, I felt that stuuents hau a soliu unueistanuing of
the infoimation, though the giaphs uemonstiate scoies that aie veiy similai to quiz giaues
fiom week two. I founu it inteiesting that stuuents fiom peiious 1 anu 4 seemeu to stiuggle
with a uiffeient question this week, wheie as they stiuggleu with the same question the
pievious week. Peiiou 1 stiuggleu with the following question: Bow uoes uilgamesh
change his appeaiance aftei the ueath of Enkiuu." Peiiou 4 stiuggleu with the following
question: "What is the function of the ueath of Enkiuu." Baseu on the uiscussions in my
uiffeient classes on this given uay, I was not suipiiseu that stuuents stiuggleu with these
questions. Stuuents in peiiou 4 pay closei attention to uetail than stuuents in peiiou 1, anu
usually scoie bettei on unit exams. The change in appeaiance of uilgamesh is a small uetail
of the tablet that stuuents in peiiou 1 piobably oveilookeu. The function of Enkiuu's ueath
is something I talkeu in uetail about in peiiou 1 because it was one of my final points anu
this class tenus to iush thiough uiscussion so I hau moie time to hone in on this point.
Peiiou 4 geneially talks much moie than peiiou 1, anu on this uay we uiu not talk in much
uetail about the function of Enkiuu's ueath.
0n Tuesuay of week thiee, stuuents enueu class by answeiing thiee shoit answei
questions analyzing the ueath of Enkiuu anu the iealization of moitality of uilgamesh. Fiom
theii iesponses, I was able to gage theii unueistanuing of Tablet vIII-IX anu oui uiscussion
uiscussing the new quest of uilgamesh. Again, I founu it was a long piocess of soiting
thiough anu ieauing answeis. This is uefinitely not a stiategy that I coulu use eveiyuay.
0n WeunesuayThuisuay (block) of week thiee, stuuents maue a claim about
uilgamesh's quest foi immoitality anu pioviueu eviuence fiom the text to suppoit theii
claim. I founu that this is a gieat activity, as stuuents neeu constant piactice at foiming
claims anu extiacting eviuence fiom the text. This is only an exit ticket that can be useu on
a block uay because of the time that it takes. Fiom my obseivations, stuuents seemeu to uo
well at completing this activity, making valiu claims anu pioviuing eviuence.
0n Fiiuay, stuuents wiote uown thiee facts that they hau leaineu fiom class
uiscussion anu ieauing of Tablet X. I was much moie impiesseu with theii ability to state
valiu facts this week. Nuch impioveu fiom the pievious week anu they seemeu to enjoy the
piocess.
The following giaph uemonstiates stuuent scoies in peiious 1 anu 4 on the enu of
the week content quiz. Stuuent scoie aie impioveu fiom the pievious week in both of my
classes. Theie is not way to uiiectly link this inciease in quiz scoies oi content ietention to
the use of exit tickets in my classioom ioutine, but it is the only change that I have maue
ovei the past few weeks.

Conclusions
The exit ticket stiategy is something that I chose to implement in my classioom
because theie is a push fiom auministiation at my school to begin anu enu class in a
meaningful way. I ueciueu to test the stiategy myself anu uiaw my own conclusions. As a
iesult of implementing this stiategy in my classioom, I founu that some methous of
implementing this stiategy aie much moie effective than otheis. Foi the fiist week of my
implementation, I useu piompts suggesteu by Robeit }. Naizano. I uiu not finu these
piompts to be effective in encouiaging stuuents to ieflect on theii leaining. I also uiu not
see impiovement in stuuent ietention of content infoimation. Because of this, I aujusteu
my stuuy foi the final two weeks of implementation, using a questioning stiategy of Fiey
anu Fishei. Aftei scanning Pinteiest to see what otheis aie uoing, I uesigneu my own
activities to ask highei level questions of my stuuents to help them ieflect on theii leaining
anu to gage theii unueistanuing of content. 0f the questioning stiategies that useu as exit
tickets, I founu multiple- choice questions on a scantion to be the most effective piactice. It
gave me specific anu instant uata. When my stuuents have tablets, this is something I will
be able to easily uo with a suivey. I also ieally likeu the iesults of having stuuents foim a
claim anu suppoit the claim with eviuence, but I think this woulu be a moie appiopiiate
giaueu assignment. Aftei the two weeks aujusteu implementation, I saw giauual inciease
in stuuent scoies on Fiiuay quizzes. Though I cannot be suie that this is a iesult of the
implementation of exit tickets, I believe that theie is ceitain amount of coiielation.
In the futuie, I woulu be moie intentional about ensuiing that exit tickets aie limiteu
to the final five minutes of class. I like the concept of exit tickets, but because all stuuents
woik at veiy uiffeient pace, it is haiu to ensuie each stuuent enough time.
Exit tickets is something that I will continue to use, but piobably not on a uaily basis
because I founu them to be time consuming anu ineffective when stuuents uo them take
them seiiously. Though some stiategies aie bettei than otheis, I believe the infoimation
collecteu fiom exit tickets coulu be collecteu thiough homewoik. I also spent a goou
amount of time cieating the exit tickets, which is time that coulu be bettei spent giauing oi
planning the laigei poitions of lessons.
The laigest uiawback in this stuuy is that my class peiious aie geneially 4S minutes,
asiue fiom one block peiiou a week. Because class peiious aie so shoit, giving up S-1u
minutes at the enu of class to use the exit ticket stiategy just isn't piactical. I feel that I
coulu be using the final few minutes of class moie effectively by ueepening uiscussions oi
having stuuents complete moie in uepth close ieauing activities.
ueneial Comments
I ieally enjoyeu the piocess of the action ieseaich piocess. It was inteiesting to
watch my stuuents auapt to a new stiategy in my classioom anu to evaluate the iesults.
Even if it is not something I plan to continue uoing on a uaily basis, I can see the value of it
in othei content aieas oi in lowei giaue levels.
What I enjoyeu most about this assignment anu the ieseaich aspect in geneial was
tiying something new anu watching it both fail anu succeeu. I think sometimes I get stuck
in a ioutine in my classioom anu it was a goou ieminuei that I can anu shoulu be
implementing new stiategies on a iegulai basis to keep leaining fiesh anu exciting foi my
stuuents.
What I leaineu is that theie aie many uiffeient ways to implement any given
stiategy anu some aie moie effective than otheis. I also leaineu that I have to weigh the
pios anu cons of stiategies because I neeu to be spenuing my time uoing what is most
beneficial foi my stuuents.