Lesson Closure & Exit Polls

At the end of June I wrote about Continuous Improvement and promised that I would share updates throughout the upcoming school year. Well, here’s update #1, thanks to a great post by @druinok about Closure and Exit Slips.

Just like the post says, I, too, have always struggled with wrapping up lessons before the bell rings. Okay, we don’t have bells, but there comes a time when the students have to move on to another class. Too often, it seems like we are all so involved that the time just creeps up on us and off we go. That means that I have to rely on my gut instincts to plan for the next day. After so many years of teaching, it seems to work, at least from my perspective, but am I really serving my students in the best possible way that I can?

As a member of the Better Math Teaching Network, I had to come up with a plan – something in my practice that I can tweak, test, and adjust with ease. So, I decided to focus on class closure. Since I don’t have an actual process for this, I had to think intentionally about what I might be able to do. I created this process map:

I focused on the final 10 minutes of class. Who knows if this is appropriate or not. That will be one of the adjustments that I will have to make, I’m sure. But, I have created a set of Google forms that are designed to solicit some focused feedback that I’ve designated as “process” or “content” oriented. Here is a sampling of “process” Exit Polls I’ve created:

And for “content”:

What I like about the Google Form is that I anticipate it will be easy for students to access (most have smart phones, all have laptops) and I can post a link on the Google Classroom.

I am hopeful that this process, this structure, will push me to gather deliberate and intentional data from my students so that I am able to plan better each day. Time will tell.