Exit Cards and Differentiated Instruction

Last week, I attended a training on Differentiated Assessment by LeAnn Nickelson.  Ms. Nickelson is an educational consultant who is working with Rowan-Salisbury Schools to transform student achievement.  As part of the district's initiatives, all schools will have a trained team who will utilize best practices for formative assessment.  As part of our requirements, teachers were asked to institute the use of exit cards.  Initially, I felt like this was simply another thing to add to already long list of requirements.

Yesterday, I instituted the use of exit cards in one of my science classes.  I passed out a simple square sheet of paper, about the size of a post it note, and asked the students to do a 3-2-1 activity.  I had them list three things that they learned today, two questions that they had, and one thing that they would do to prepare for the upcoming test.  Surprisingly, I learned quite a bit.  The majority of students indicated that they felt more prepared to make stoichiometric conversions as a result of our review.  Further, many indicated that they understood better when to use which conversion factors to solve problem.  As for the questions, a lot of students asked about the use of the Ideal Gas Law.  I included this type of problem as a preview for an upcoming unit.  Based on the questions that I received, I will reiterate that these types of problems will not be on the upcoming test.  However, it is important to note that without the exit cards, I would have not known about this concern.  I can now use this data to help relieve and reduce some of the stress of my students so that they have better focus on preparing for the test.  I also learned that students want more practice in solving problems with molarity.  As a result, I will design QR codes for the students to use with their iPads to provide practice.

As I finish blogging about exit cards, I am convinced that they serve as a valid purpose.  I learned more than I would have and can now better focus on meeting the stated needs of my students.  I look forward to continuing their use.  It is important to note that not all students were enthusiastic about using exit cards however.  Some even posed that it was a conspiracy of some sorts and this proved to be very amusing to me.  I hope that the conspiracy continues as we seek to educate and meet the needs of our students.