Using Exit Cards in Math

Using exit cards in my math classes has been very beneficial for both the students and myself. They help me become aware of my students understanding of concepts, and act as quick assessment tools after a lesson. Most importantly, they help guide my instruction because I get a quick glimpse of where the students are excelling, and what needs review, or perhaps, to be presented in a different light. For many, exit cards stop there. I like to take them a step further. I have a variety of phrases on the cards, all of great value, but the two I really focus on are “Something I learned to do very well is..”, and “Something that gives me difficulty is…” After I collect them, I photocopy them and I organize them on a chart paper. At the top of the chart paper I group all of the “Something I learned to do very well” cards. I then sub-group them according to the specific concept grasped, highlighting the key concept. At the bottom of the chart, I display all the “Something that gives me difficulty” cards, again highlighting the key concepts and grouping the like ones together. Now, that these are displayed, they serve as assessment tools for myself, and reference cards for the students. Students can see who in the class clearly understood a key concept that they themselves may have struggled with, and ask for peer assistance. I too can take a small group of students who struggled with a particular concept and review it with them. One example of this was when I taught a unit on Surface Area and Volume. Through the exit cards I found that students  felt they were successfully able to substitute values to determine volume of rectangular prisms. A number of them found difficulty working backwards to determine the height of a prism when given the volume, length and width. A handful of students stated that found difficulty finding the surface area of irregular shaped prisms. By grouping their exit cards I was able to work with small groups based on their needs. Some of the students who did not want to join the group simply looked at the chart to find an exit card of a peer that they felt comfortable working with who understood the concept they struggled with.

 

The exit cards can be used across all math strands, and grade curriculum expectations. Teachers and students have complementary responsibilities. It is important for teachers to use a variety of instruction, assessment, and evaluation strategies in order to provide students opportunities to develop their ability to solve problems, reason mathematically and connect math to the world around them. Students, especially the older ones, have a responsibility to be committed to learning which requires an appropriate degree of work and study. Using the exit cards supports student learning and teacher instruction, but most importantly, they give students the ability to write about their mathematical learning, hopefully helping them develop better attitudes and confidence towards mathematics. If they believe that they are capable of finding solutions, they develop greater willingness to persist, to investigate, to reason and explore solutions. The exit cards show them that it is ok to be both successful, and to struggle, and that many students in the class may be struggling with a concept like them, but that together they can work through it.