Exit Slips Freebie!

My school is on a MAJOR paper restriction.  Each teacher was giving 1 ream of paper (500 sheets) to last the rest of the year.  We are allowed to send our copies out to the BOCES print shop (those pages won't count towards our 500 sheets) but the print shop was flooded and they are operating from a remote location.  They are about 3 weeks behind.  That means that you would need to plan a month ahead to have your copies back in time.  That's just not going to happen for me.  I might have an idea of what I want to do in a month but it will probably change.  My solution to this problem is to come up with some generic worksheets that I can use for a variety of different books or topics.  I'm sending those items to BOCES so I know I will always have something in a pinch.  

On a slightly unrelated note, the principals went to a training on what to look for in lessons when observing teachers.  They bought copies for every teacher so we know what they are looking for.  They didn't pass them out yet but said we could pick up our copy if we wanted it early.  I wanted mine early.  I want to know what they will be expecting so I can be ready!  The book talks a lot about closures and assessments.  They HIGHLY recommend exit slips.  So I made a generic exit slip or ticket out to be sent off to BOCES.  Now I will always have a closure & assessment ready!  

This side of the ticket is lined for questions that require a written response.

This side of the ticket is blank for solving math problems or drawing a quick picture (Draw what you visualized while reading today). 

I printed them double sided so I didn't have two different sets.  Grab your free copy from my Teachers Notebook store by clicking the picture.  

Closure, Assessments, and Management Oh My!

This year, my principals have made it clear that our lesson plans must have:

1. A clear objective

2. Details on how the students will reach that objective and

3. An assessment that matches the objective

When observing lessons they want to see:

1. A hook

2. Modeling

3. Guided Practice

4. Independent Practice

5. Closure

6. Assessment

and obviously, a caring learning environment with good classroom management. 

Personally, I don't think this is too much to ask for but with that being said I often do not have a closure to my lessons.  My "closure" sounds like "Okay, throw any finished work into the finished work bin, if you are still working put your work in your cubbie, put pencils away and quietly go back to your class - and please hurry because your late!"  There is never enough time to fit everything into a 30 minute block of time.  Add in fire drills, late students, and ADHD and we are down to about 20 minutes each day.  I also have NO time between groups (one leaves at 12:30, the next one starts at 12:30) which means groups of 4 - 5 chatty children get to walk the halls unsupervised to and from class.  This drives me nuts! 

Yesterday, I tried something new and I love it!  While students were cleaning up, I walked to the door.  Each student had to answer a different yet similar question about the lesson before he or she could go back to class.  It took 60 seconds and covered my closure, assessment, and the hallway management problem!  That is definitely going to become a tradition in my room. 

Feel free to share your closure & assessment tips with me!

-Becky

PS. I love fall but not when it is 35 degrees in the morning!