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Inquiry-Based Learning: The Ultimate Guide

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You Get to Have Your Own Genius Hour (A Video for Students)

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By building relationships and centering student participation, teachers can create a community where curiosity and inquiry are valued.

A seed cannot grow if there are no nutrients in the soil. Analogously, students can only begin to be curious if the conditions are right. On the first day of school, I was excited to begin the year with questions and curiosity. I showed my senior statistics students an image that displayed a subset of integers from the Mayan number system.

I asked, "What does this make you wonder?"

Not a single question emerged from the room. Immediately students began trying to "solve the problem." They searched for patterns and some quickly exclaimed,"I get it! I figured it out." I gently reminded them that the goal wasn't a solution. The goal was questions.

For me, this activity cemented the idea that our education system doesn't teach students to value questions and curiosity. We teach them to strive for answers, in particular, correct answers. While there is absolutely nothing wrong with seeking a solution to a problem, we can't make any progress or have new ideas without asking the right questions.

You might say that my students had learned to squelch their curiosity over time. I needed to help them realize that asking questions is an active process that they could get better at. They could re-learn to wonder. It's also possible that my students didn't know how to ask a question.

Sara Lev works with four- and five-year olds and says that, despite the fact that young students are naturally curious, they are often more likely to make statements than ask questions when prompted to wonder. For example, after playing a podcast, Lev asked her class, "What questions do you have about making a podcast about outer space?" One student stated,"It should be about the sun!" Sara took the spirit of his statement and helped him turn it into a question, "Oh, are you wondering what the podcast should be about?" and that becomes the question,"What topics should we talk about?"

Even in upper grades, students tend to articulate thoughts and opinions more easily than questions. To get students asking, we can help them reframe those ideas as curiosities and things they should wonder more deeply about.

If you are asking, "Why aren't my students asking questions?" it could be that their curiosity was squelched, they are scared, or that they just don't know how. In what follows, we'll explore several ways to kick start the process and plant the seed of wonder.

How Do I Create a Safe Environment for Wondering?

My dad was not the typical "star student." He was one of seven and school was not the family's top priority. The lessons he remembers from school came from Sister Loretta: "Don't waste any food" and "Be respectful and don't talk out of turn." At the same time, my dad is and always has been a deeply curious person. He spends his free time tinkering, taking apart old radios, record players, and vintage dirt bikes. He tweaks them and puts them back together, better than before. He once showed me a model he drew in high school of an electric go-kart, long before Elon Musk or anyone else had talked about such a thing. I asked him about his experience in school and whether he asked questions. "Never! I was scared. I was scared of the teacher, but also of what my classmates would think of me."

Imagine a classroom environment where my dad would have been comfortable voicing his curiosity, where his questions were celebrated, and most importantly, where other students admired him for his creativity. Perhaps he would have spoken up more, asked how generators work or had an opportunity to do a project to learn more about batteries. Maybe he would have even built the electric go-kart he dreamed up in his sketchbook.

Traditionally, school has been a place where teachers test their students with questions and students prove their worth with answers. "Knowing things" is valued and "not knowing" is penalized by low grades and loss of privileges. What student would want to ask a question in this environment? Their question would indicate a lack of knowledge and diminish their worth in a system that rewards answers.

Our first step towards creating a space in which students are willing to ask questions is to build trust in our classroom communities. This is a prerequisite for students to feel safe enough to take the risk of admitting that there is something they do not know.

Small changes in language can go a long way toward shifting the culture around questions. André Sasser noticed this in her first few years of teaching. When she began, after a lesson she would ask, "Are there any questions?" Students rarely voiced any. She adjusted her language to, "What questions do you have?" or "Ask me three questions." With these prompts, students began to stir.

This simple tweak made queries the expectation; students rose to that expectation and their questions flowed. They were fearless and asked questions that may have come off as too basic or obvious in a room that didn't value such risk-taking. Simply using careful language to normalize and solicit questions can begin to change the culture.

My dad was primarily afraid of how other students might perceive him if he asked a question. Normalizing the act of asking, like Sasser has, sends a message to all students in the class that questions are to be valued, not mocked. In the next few sections, we'll discuss more strategies for helping all students in the class to see the value in questioning rather than seeing it as a weakness.

Helping your students get to know each other can also have an impact on building trust in your classroom community. You likely have noticed this in your own experiences. Some groups of students know each other well and have been in classes together for years. They are comfortable with each other and are willing to open themselves to the vulnerability associated with asking a question. Other groups of students, who have not built relationships with each other, will be quieter and less likely to admit when they don't know.

Imagine a new student entering your class for the first time. This likely changes the dynamic for everyone. The new student often feels like they need to make a good impression and accordingly will answer questions they know the answer to but be less likely to take a risk by asking a question. Students who have been in your class may also be more cautious when it comes to speaking out in class, wanting to make a good impression on the newcomer. Over time, as relationships grow, lively inquiries and class discussions return.

Fortunately, teachers can actively help students build relationships with each other. One strategy is to provide students the opportunity to work collaboratively toward a common goal. Review games and team activities give students time to socialize with each other with enough structure to bypass the awkwardness of being in middle school. Healthy competition motivates students to engage with each other. Further, these activities reduce stress levels which helps the students feel more open to each other.

Another key strategy for helping students become comfortable with one another is to reduce your impact in the classroom. It's all about giving students ownership of the content by honoring their thoughts and giving them time at the board to teach each other.

One powerful play is to invite students to present their work at the board every day, while you take a backseat, sitting off to the side somewhere. This physical action, ensuring that the presenting student is the only one standing, demonstrates that the student is in control of the room (Rowe, 2022, personal communication). By giving students the opportunity to control the room, they feel special and valued.

Excerpted from Creating Curious Classrooms: The Beauty of Questions by Emma Chiappetta. Published by ConnectEDD Publishing.

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By building relationships and centering student participation, teachers can create a community where curiosity and inquiry are valued. A seed cannot grow if there are no nutrients in the soil. Analogously, students can only begin to be curious if the conditions are right.

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Answer Sheet - https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Fpg8X5oaUAASVyx?format=jpg&name=4096x4096

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VOXPOP offers media-rich role-plays for high school classrooms that bring to life key moments from U.S. history.

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Fun formative assessment: 12 easy, no-tech ideas you can use tomorrow

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Formative assessment means providing students with opportunities to show you what they are learning while you are teaching it. These assessments inform

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Why is Project-based learning effective?

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Why is Project-based learning effective?

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Ever wondered *why* project-based learning can be so effective? We explore 5 reasons why PBL can lead to better outcomes for ALL students. 🙌🏾

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Ever wondered *why* project-based learning can be so effective? We explore 5 reasons why PBL can lead to better outcomes for ALL students. 🙌🏾 https://t.co/eEMgrRmver

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Ever wondered *why* project-based learning can be so effective? We explore 5 reasons why PBL can lead to better outcomes for ALL students. 🙌🏾 pic.twitter.com/eEMgrRmver
— edutopia (@edutopia) July 21, 2022

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Ever wondered *why* project-based learning can be so effective? We explore 5 reasons why PBL can lead to better outcomes for ALL students. 🙌🏾 https://t.co/eEMgrRmver

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.original_text
Ever wondered *why* project-based learning can be so effective? We explore 5 reasons why PBL can lead to better outcomes for ALL students. 🙌🏾 https://t.co/eEMgrRmver

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Ever wondered *why* project-based learning can be so effective? We explore 5 reasons why PBL can lead to better outcomes for ALL students. 🙌🏾

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5 Questions for Troubleshooting Project-Based Learning

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When PBL isn’t going as planned, sometimes it takes just a few tweaks to turn things around.

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Critical Historical Thinking Cheat Sheet

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How To Get Into Inquiry-Based Learning: Part 1 – First Steps to Inquiry

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This would be the year. I would be a fully project-based social studies teacher. After reading every PBL book I could read and attending PBL sessions at a few summer conferences, I had a vision for a new way of teaching my subject. My third year of teaching would be the first year of an entirely project-based curriculum. I had seen positive results in the previous year after doing a PBL unit each semester and now I would build on that momentum with a new group of students.

I began with our district curriculum map and set up a five-week and a four-week project for each semester (two projects per quarter). As a social studies teacher, this felt pretty easy. I could chunk the standards by theme and time period and then center the entire project around those standards. I started with larger driving standards and then added layers of connecting concept standards and then embedding skill-based standards. I even added a column in my planning document for ELA standards my students would be using in their language arts class.

I had things figured out.

But then halfway through our first project, I noticed my students seemed confused. They struggled to make the connection between a particular skill they were using (reading maps) and their current project. A few of them needed some additional time for practice. Some of them had significant misconceptions and I rushed to clarify things but ended up failing to provide adequate feedback. The project continued and students forgot about the map reading. We didn’t spiral back to any former skills. As the project progressed, students seemed bored and restless. One student asked if we could take a day off from the project and have a lecture or a class discussion. Overall, though, the project seem to work.

As we moved into our second PBL, students seemed to lack the excitement of the previous year. This particular project seemed authentic and student-centered. It was challenging but I had built in key supports and scaffolds. But a week into the project and students seemed . . . well . . . tired. They had hit a place of project fatigue. Meanwhile, I noticed that students had a shallow understanding of the concepts and they continued to struggle with some basic skills (this time analyzing primary and secondary sources). The final products were awesome and student engagement actually skyrocketed. Still, my students kept feeling irritated by small tasks that seemed unrelated to the goals of the project.

At the close of the quarter, as I went into fall break, I second-guessed my decision to go fully project-based in my teaching. I realized that certain standards didn’t fit well in projects and instead would work better with direct instruction and repetition. I re-examined the standards and realized that the larger units didn’t fit into two themes or time periods but closer to three or four. I had started with the model (PBL) and tried to fit the standards into that model instead of starting with the standards and asking, “What model works best for these standards?” In my goal to create an authentic PBL experience, I created something artificial. I had rejected things like repetition and skill practice as “artificial” but failed to realize that authenticity is all about connecting the learning to a relevant task.

In the next quarter, I redesigned the unit plans to have two mini-projects, one larger PBL project, and a more traditional unit with some smaller design sprints integrated within it.

Listen to the Podcast

If you enjoy this blog but you’d like to listen to it on the go, just click on the audio below or subscribe via iTunes/Apple Podcasts (ideal for iOS users) or Google Play and Stitcher (ideal for Android users).

https://spencerauthor.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/3-Models.mp3

When Do We Want to Avoid Projects?

Looking back on that full-scale PBL approach, I realize that I failed to incorporate meaningful self-assessment and peer assessment. I didn’t integrated direct instruction, either. But I also failed to recognize that some standards simply don’t fit well within a PBL framework. It’s not that these standards are less authentic or real-world. It’s just that they lend themselves better to other frameworks. In general, these are the standards that:

improve with repetition and daily practice

focus on discreet, measurable skills

require significant direct instruction and guided practice

tend to be individual endeavors

In language arts, these standards might include reading fluency, blending, and phonics work. In math, this might involve math facts and basic computational understanding. In social studies, this could involve discreet skills in studying maps. In art, PE, and music, these are often skill-based performance standards that simply require daily practice. In these moments, a more traditional approach might work best. It might not seem as authentic but it actually is. In the real world, we all engage in repetition and practice.

Still, most standards align well with creative projects. Every subject has elements of iterative thinking, divergent thinking, problem-solving, ideation, imagination, and hands-on prototyping. But even then, sometimes the answer isn’t a full-scale PBL project. Sometimes the answer is something shorter and more abbreviated.

The Key Mistakes I Made in Going Fully Project-Based

Looking back on my epic fail with full-blown PBL, I realize that I tried to fit the content into longer 3-5 week PBL projects. The problem is I had a massive curriculum map and so I started adding unrelated standards into my projects just to make it fit. It was a curricular version of “feature creep,” where I kept adding elements to make sure that my projects covered every standard. Looking back on it, I realize I made the following mistakes:

1. I failed to understand that some standards don’t work well with PBL. Certain standards work better with recall and practice. If students are learning math facts, a series of mental math activities or math games might work better. If students are learning phonics and blending, we might want to go with a more traditional direct instruction leading to guided practice leading to independent practice.

2. I focused too much on projects and didn’t see the role of performance. In other words, if we want students to learn how to play a game or engage in personal fitness, we might want to use performance tasks like games or fitness exercises rather than projects in certain parts of PE. If we want students to learn a foreign language, we might do a project but we’ll also need practice (see above) and performance. In language arts, sometimes the best way to build reading fluency is to read more for an extended period of time. It’s the notion of working less but reading more.

3. I underestimated the role of project fatigue. Students get tired of doing projects. If there are too many projects or they’re drawn out for too long, they experience boredom and restlessness. My students needed to experience a break from PBL.

4. I simply ran out of time. The curriculum map was massive and certain standards seemed almost random compared to others. I couldn’t teach everything at a deeper, PBL, level the entire time.

5. I focused so much on PBL that I didn’t consider other models for creative projects. Sometimes shorter bursts of creativity can yield the same deeper learning results in a shorter block of time. I started to think about my own process as a writer. Sometimes I work on a larger project like a book but often I spend a few hours writing a single blog post. When I talk to experts in all kinds of creative professions, they describe the dance of the longer projects and the shorter creative excursions. Both approaches are necessary.

Eventually, I realized that I couldn’t use a PBL framework all the time. Sometimes, a better option was to go with a more traditional unit plan but incorporate a smaller design sprint or a mini-project. The following chart demonstrates the differences in each approach.

3 Approaches to Creative Projects

While project-based learning is a powerful, authentic way to learn, we don’t always need to do longer PBL units. Sometimes what we need are shorter design sprints and mini-projects:

| Sprints | Mini-Projects | Project-Based Learning
Description | Sprints are shorter opportunities for creative work that often focus on one key area of the creative process (brainstorming, problem-solving, rapid prototyping) | Mini-projects are shorter projects that still encompass most of the elements of PBL. They typically last around a week and give students a flavor of project-based learning. | Project-based learning is a pedagogical framework where students learn the content through an authentic project.
Timeframe | 45-90 minutes | 3-5 days | 3-9 weeks
Examples | Divergent Thinking Challenge, Wonder Day Project, STEM Challenge | Independent Science Experiment, Tiny House Project, Curiositycast Project, Invent a sport | History Documentary Project, Service Learning Project, Entrepreneur Design Thinking Project, Genius Hour Project
Standards | Introducing concept standards, quick practice of single skill-based standards, quick practice of methods standards | Deeper dive into concept standards, practicing multiple skill-based standards together, practicing method standards grouped together | A deep dive into concept standards (learning a concept in-depth) while integrating multiple skill-based standards and using method standards for an extended time
When to Implement This Approach | Introducing a unit, a closing activity for a unit, breaking the monotony of a longer project, using it on a “lame duck” day | Shorter unit plans with a narrower focus, final week or first week of a quarter | Longer unit plans with multiple concept or methods standards that are related to each other, a clear connection between the content and an authentic context
Models to Consider | Rapid prototyping, STEM challenges, design sprints, inquiry-based model*, game-based / simulation-based model | Scientific method, engineering method, design thinking (abbreviated), inquiry-based model*, problem-based model* | Engineering model, design thinking model, inquiry-based model, service learning model
Audience | Private or within the school | Private, within the school, or public / authentic audience | Requires an authentic audience with a strong emphasis on empathy
Strengths | This approach works quickly and can be adapted into more traditional lesson pedagogical frameworks. You can focus on a narrower part of the creative process (research, prototyping, problem-solving, etc.). This approach often incorporates necessary movement and hands-on learning. The faster pace of a sprint can help students avoid stagnation and risk-aversion. It tends to be low-risk with more permission to “fail forward.” | This approach encompasses many of the elements of PBL while sticking with a tighter schedule. Students experience less project fatigue while they move through each phase of the mini-project but there’s still a depth involved and an opportunity for an authentic audience / context. Students learn the building blocks of basic project management as they develop collaboration skills. | This approach encourages students to make connections between the subject matter and a real-world context. The longer project encourages a fully developed creative process with ample time for each phase. The emphasis on an authentic audience allows for deeper empathy to develop. Students learn the content through the project in a way that allows the learning to stick.
Challenges | It lacks an authentic context. The lack of revision time can lead to sprints that lack the depth needed in creative work. If there’s no reflection, it can come across as a fun activity and little more. | Mini-projects can feel rushed and students who fall behind during one phase might end up giving up too easily. The lack of longer revision time means certain students might focus on the finished product and rush through the creative process without engaging in longer, more open-ended creative thinking. | An authentic project-based learning unit takes weeks to complete. This is a challenge with crowded curriculum maps or in situations where there is a greater need for repetition and recall as they develop practical skills. If alignment isn’t solid and assessment isn’t well-embedded students can fail to reflect on their learning and improve in their metacognition.

Sprints

Sprints are shorter opportunities for creative work that often focus on one key area of the creative process. Students might focus on brainstorming as they generate novel uses for random items in a divergent thinking challenge. They would then engage in rapid prototyping:

Note that this sprint doesn’t include any audience clarification, any research, or any larger launch of the project. By contrast, you might want students to focus on asking questions, engaging in research, and presenting their findings through something like a Wonder Day project.

You might also have students engage in a problem-solving sprint. For example, in a math class, they might solve the problem of making baseball faster with a challenge like, “What could be done to make MLB games last less than 2.5 hours?” Students would then analyze a curation of baseball statistics before pitching their solutions in the form of a podcast.

These sprints tend to be quick and flexible and you can use them to introduce a new idea, to dive deeper into a current concept, or as a culminating activity at the close of the unit. They can also function as a single-day stand alone on days where multiple students are absent (like the last day before winter break).

Mini-Projects

Mini-projects are shorter projects that still encompass most of the elements of PBL. They typically last around a week and give students a flavor of project-based learning. Students typically work through each phase of a project in a way that is more tightly controlled. They might do an independent science experiment oriented around a MythBusters type of question. Or they might practice volume, surface area, and proportional reasoning with a Tiny House project:

They might practice using simple machines and review geometric shapes by redesigning the school playground. Or they might do a longer book review video (or a book preview video for the library) after dong independent silent reading. Often, these projects look like a longer PBL project but they are simpler and more manageable. They may or may not have an authentic audience at the end.

Project-Based Learning

Project-based learning is a pedagogical framework where students learn the content through an authentic project. Some experts view inquiry-based learning and problem-based learning as an entirely different pedagogical framework than project-based learning. Others view them as overlapping frameworks. Still, others view project-based learning as a “way of teaching,” with multiple models, including inquiry-based learning and problem-based learning.

The following video explores what project-based learning is and how it works:

Project-based learning is different from traditional classroom projects in the following ways:

Learning through projects rather than using culminating projects

Student choice in design instead of following a set of instructions (Chris Lehmann makes the distinction of recipe-based learning versus project-based leanring)

Student inquiry rather than pre-planned questions

Using self and peer assessment instead of relying solely on teacher assessment

Student ownership of process rather than teacher ownership of process

PBL works identifies the following seven project design elements:

1. Challenging Problem or Question

2. Sustained Inquiry

3. Authenticity

4. Student Voice & Choice

5. Reflection

6. Critique & Revision

7. Public Product

Note that project-based learning can work in tandem with other pedagogical models, like inquiry-based learning, design thinking, and problem-based learning. But the key idea remains that students are learning through projects and as a result they engage in deeper learning.

Despite the emphasis on student voice and choice, I’ve found that structure is vital for PBL.

As educators, we need to use structures and protocols that ensure students can collaborate and work interdependently. We can help students engage in project management:

We can also save time and help students stay on track by breaking the project into distinct phases. There are many ways to organize PBL but one of my favorite approaches is to use an overlap of project-based learning and design thinking. However, you might organize your PBL using the engineering model, inquiry-based model, or service learning model.

In some cases, students might work on a longer independent project like a Genius Hour, where students get to chase their curiosity while they create something entirely new. Genius Hour is an example of PBL centered on student interests. They’re essentially passion projects or independent projects that focus on an overlap of creativity and curiosity.

Genius Hour (or 20% Time) projects begin with a simple idea: give students a dedicated period of time to pursue their passions, interests, and questions in a creative way. It’s an idea popularized by Google but one that has existed for years in the technology industry. Here’s how it works:

With Genius Hour, students own the entire journey: They choose the topics based upon their own geeky interests. It doesn’t have to be a traditionally academic area. They might like fashion or food or sports or Legos or Minecraft or deep sea creatures. They can then match these topics with topic-neutral standards. Students ask the questions and engage in their own research to find the answers. Along the way, they design their own plan of instruction. They decide on the resources and activities. Each student sets goals and engages in self-assessment. They work at their own pace and set their own deadlines. Students decide on the grouping. Some work alone. Others work in pairs or small groups. In the end, students figure out what they will make and how they will share their learning with the world. A word of caution: It’s not a free-for-all. The best Genius Hour projects have systems and structures that empower students to reach their full potential.

Other times, though, you might have a project that is more collaborative and focused on solving a problem. It might be a service learning project based on a community issue. It might be a journalism project where students engage in research and produce a media package with a podcast, blog post, and video series. It might be a longer STEM project connected to the community. A teacher I know had her students design board games for a nursing home and senior center. Her students learned about probability and statistics while designing actual games that people would play.

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This would be the year. I would be a fully project-based social studies teacher. After reading every PBL book I could read and attending PBL sessions at a few summer conferences, I had a vision

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Education Buzzwords Defined: What Is Culturally Responsive Teaching?

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Access the lessons and resources at https://sheg.stanford.edu/history-lessons?f%5B0%5D=topic%3A7#main-content#main-content

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Stanford History Education Group: Reading Like a Historian

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Class is done. We've learned a lot. We've tried some new things. We've had some great discussions.

So ... now what?

How can we make the most of the end of class? How can we tie a bow on a day of class to wrap everything up?

An exit ticket gives us that opportunity - much like bell-ringer activities help us kick class off effectively.

The name "exit ticket" makes it sound like you need a ticket to exit the room, but exit tickets are final quick check-ins with students before class wraps up.

What can we do with exit tickets?

In an article in the publication Educational Leadership by ASCD, Robert Marzano explains that there are four kinds of prompts teachers often use with exit slips - prompts that ...

Provide formative assessment data (How would you rate your current level of understanding of what we did today?)

Stimulate student analysis (How hard did you work today? What could you have done to help yourself learn better?)

Focus on instructional strategies (How did the group work today help you understand the content?)

Are open communications to the teacher (What could I do differently to help you understand better?)

Exit tickets are also a research-based best practice for several reasons ...

Exit tickets are a pretty versatile tool. We can use exit tickets one day as formative assessment and on another day to check in on students' feelings to learning.

Armed with this data, it can inform your instruction instantly - as soon as the next day or even later on in that same day!

So ... what does this look like in a classroom? What digital tools can help us with exit tickets? I have 10 ideas for both!

BONUS: The Exit Ticket Builder for Google Slides and PowerPoint

Having some ideas for exit ticket prompts can save you time AND help you remix them to meet the needs of your students.

Here I'll share 10 exit ticket prompts ... but let's take it a step further!

These prompts are part of my FREE Exit Ticket Builder template for Google Slides and PowerPoint! With this template, you can quickly add any of the 20 pre-made exit ticket prompts to your slide deck -- then assign it to students.

Flip through the slides below to see all the exit ticket ideas in the Exit Ticket Builder.

Then, make a copy in Google Slides or PowerPoint to assign to your students!

10 ideas for exit ticket prompts

Here are 10 exit ticket prompt ideas that you can use to wrap up your class ...

1. Do you agree or disagree with the topic today? Describe why. If you're studying a topic that has two or more sides, this lets the student decide where he/she stands and why.

2. How are you doing? Just a simple social-emotional check-in can give the teacher valuable information and help the student to feel seen and heard.

10 digital tools for exit tickets

The traditional way of doing exit tickets is with slips of paper. That's totally fine. But we do have plenty of digital options that give us variety.

The great thing about many of these is that you can re-use them. For many, you can create them once and use the same (or similar) questions and templates without having to reinvent the wheel.

Here are some digital tools and ideas for using them for using digital exit tickets in the classroom.

1. Socrative

Use Socrative ( socrative.com) for to ask a quick question or do a quick poll at the end of class. The quick question option lets you ask a super-fast open-ended or multiple choice question. Plus, Socrative has a built-in exit ticket option, asking students ...

how well they understood the day's lesson (multiple choice)

what they learned (open-ended)

to answer an additional question from the teacher, maybe one you ask verbally (open-ended)

Benefits: It's fast and summarizes your info quickly on one screen.

2. Google Forms

Creating a quick Google Form ( forms.google.com) can let you customize your exit ticket experience. Building your exit ticket with Forms, Google's survey tool, lets you add a variety of question types. Plus, you can also display videos, images and text. The drag and drop interface of Google Forms makes it pretty easy to pull together an exit ticket. When you're done, use the "Send" button to give your students a link. View results in the "Responses" tab and even export them to a spreadsheet.

Benefits: You get more question types and multimedia. You can view graphs of responses quickly.

3. Pear Deck

Pear Deck ( peardeck.com) works with slide presentation tools (easiest, in my opinion: Google Slides, with the Pear Deck add-on) to make slides interactive. Have a quick slide deck pre-created for the end of class. Design slides visually - or use the pre-created slides in Pear Deck's slide library in the Google Slides add-on. Students interact on their screen, drawing, dragging and typing. Pear Deck has a paid premium version, but there's a lot you can do with its free version.

Benefits: Questions are visual, hands-on and interactive.

4. Flipgrid

Using Flipgrid ( flipgrid.com) as an exit ticket means you get to see and hear your students via video. Create a simple prompt. Give your students a link to it - or assign it in Google Classroom - or provide students the QR code to answer it. Students respond in their browser (or with the mobile app). It's one thing to see text on a screen. It's another to be able to read your students' body language and vocal intonation.

Benefits: You can learn more from watching how your students answer via video sometimes.

5. Synth

Like the idea of video responses but prefer to respond with audio? Synth ( gosynth.com) makes responding with your voice digitally feel like a conversation. Students can leave short audio responses to a question - perfect for exit tickets. But they can also respond to each other's recordings, making it feel more like an asynchronous conversation over time.

Benefits: This lets you hear your students' voices - and lets them practice answering with their voices.

6. Kahoot!

You're likely familiar with this classroom staple by now. We often use Kahoot! ( kahoot.com) for reviewing. However, we can also use it for exit tickets. Create a new survey Kahoot! instead of the traditional quiz game. Surveys still have multiple choices, but they aren't scored. It takes the competitive edge off and lets students be more thoughtful with their answers.

Benefits: It uses a familiar interface that students likely connect to having fun. Plus, students can answer quickly and easily.

7. Google Slides

Google Slides is for way more than oral presentations in front of class! Create a new slide presentation and share it with students, making it "everyone can edit". ( Instructions in this blog post.) Each student gets a slide on the slide deck for responding. Give students a question or prompt to respond to at the end of class. Note that everyone can see everyone's slides, so this wouldn't be ideal for fact recall or for sensitive personal questions. Because of the design freedom in Google Slides, it opens up what students can create for you quickly!

Benefits: The design tools mean students can quickly make something visual with text, images, lines, shapes, etc.

8. Formative

Formative ( goformative.com) is like using Google Forms in some ways. But it offers even more flexibility. There are TONS of question types. One of my favorites is the "Show Your Work" question where students draw their answers. If you ask multiple-choice questions, it will autograde the responses.

Benefits: Have students draw their answers using the "Show Your Work" question type.

9. Poll Everywhere

Using Poll Everywhere ( polleverywhere.com) lets you create a quick poll with lots of options. You can add images to your polls and even rank items instead of just choosing one.

Benefits: Ask students to rank multiple items.

10. Seesaw

Teachers love Seesaw ( seesaw.me) because it creates a digital learning community. It's a bit like social media (think Facebook) for the classroom. For exit tickets, students can post to their Seesaw classroom and snap a picture of what they've been working on. They can even annotate it by drawing and labeling.

Benefits: Marking up images can help students show what they know.

Exit tickets that DON'T use technology

Technology opens up lots of opportunities to assess, create and gather data in unique ways.

That doesn't mean we HAVE to use technology, though. Sometimes, the data we want to gather can be done faster - or more meaningfully - without technology.

Here are some ideas:

The sticky note mosaic: Grab a few pads of sticky notes of different colors. Tell students what each color stands for: something that know for sure, something they're still unclear on, something they need to tell the teacher, etc. Stick the sticky notes on the board randomly or in groups as they leave. The colors will help you sort them quickly.

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20 ideas for exit tickets in the classroom

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Class is done. How can we end it effectively? Using digital exit tickets can bring closure to your day. Here are 10 you can use tomorrow.

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Simple and impactful! #sel #educatetheheart #relationships #MakeADifference pic.twitter.com/nSQs55X5h8
— Jennifer Lee Quattrucci (@jenquattrucci) August 15, 2022

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This Friday debrief invites Ss to share highlights from the week! Might you roll the dice in your class?

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Try GoFormative.com for Gathering Feedback from Students

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A Good Source of Conversation Starters for U S  History Classes

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Over 60 New York Times Graphs for Students to Analyze (Published 2020)

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A collection of graphs, maps and charts organized by topic and graph type from three years of “What’s Going On in This Graph?”

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Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation

Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation is a digital academic journal that publishes original, peer-reviewed datasets about the lives of enslaved Africans and their descendants drawn from the documents produced from the fifteenth to the early twentieth centuries.
Go to the Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation

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Enslaved: Peoples of the Historical Slave Trade

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Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation is a digital academic journal that publishes original, peer-reviewed datasets about the lives of enslaved Africans and their descendants drawn from the documents produced from the fifteenth to the early twentieth centuries. Go to the Journal of Slavery and Data Preservation

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Not using project-based #learning in your classroom? Learn what is #pbl is and how you can IMPLEMENT IT IN YOUR CLASSROOM.  

https://t.co/jvWy9ymvyP via #Teaching & Much Moore
#teachertwitter #educoach

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Project Based Learning - Teaching & Much Moore

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What is project based learning?  How can I implement it in my classroom?  These are all questions I had just a few weeks ago that many of you may have...

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Not using project-based #learning in your classroom? Learn what is #pbl is and how you can IMPLEMENT IT IN YOUR CLASSROOM.  

https://t.co/jvWy9ymvyP via #Teaching & Much Moore
#teachertwitter #educoach https://t.co/myS1Jyvl8m

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Not using project-based #learning in your classroom? Learn what is #pbl is and how you can IMPLEMENT IT IN YOUR CLASSROOM.  https://t.co/jvWy9ymvyP via #Teaching & Much Moore#teachertwitter #educoach pic.twitter.com/myS1Jyvl8m
— 𝗧𝗖𝗘𝗔 (@TCEA) February 12, 2023

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Project Based Learning - Teaching & Much Moore

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What is project based learning?  How can I implement it in my classroom?  These are all questions I had just a few weeks ago that many of you may have...

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Not using project-based #learning in your classroom? Learn what is #pbl is and how you can IMPLEMENT IT IN YOUR CLASSROOM.  

https://t.co/jvWy9ymvyP via #Teaching & Much Moore
#teachertwitter #educoach https://t.co/myS1Jyvl8m

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Not using project-based #learning in your classroom? Learn what is #pbl is and how you can IMPLEMENT IT IN YOUR CLASSROOM.  

https://t.co/jvWy9ymvyP via #Teaching & Much Moore
#teachertwitter #educoach https://t.co/myS1Jyvl8m

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Not using project-based #learning in your classroom? Learn what is #pbl is and how you can IMPLEMENT IT IN YOUR CLASSROOM.  

https://t.co/jvWy9ymvyP via #Teaching & Much Moore
#teachertwitter #educoach

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Project Based Learning - Teaching & Much Moore

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What is project based learning?  How can I implement it in my classroom?  These are all questions I had just a few weeks ago that many of you may have...

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A collection of inquiries arranged the UN Sustainability Goals.

Below you will find a list of inquiries arranged based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. These inquiries are related to global issues, and we would like to share them with you to support you through your curriculum materials. The strength of these inquiries is simplicity. It requires teaching each inquiry within a 3-4 day plan. This makes these inquiries widely accessible. In spite of the simplicity, some inquiries are quite rigorous and complex. They do have a clear learning outcome, which is aligned to an ambitious vision in working toward the SDGs to improve the world. In addition, please feel free to modify the content and sources in order to adapt them to fit the needs of your students. You may teach the inquiries as presented here, and you also may treat these inquiries to help you design your inquires and evolve your curriculum through this context.

Goal 1: No Poverty

Goal 2: Zero Hunger

Goal 3: Good Health & Well-Being

Goal 4: Quality Education

Goal 5: Gender Equality

Goal 6: Clean Water & Sanitation

Goal 7: Affordable & Clean Energy

Goal 8: Decent Work & Economic Growth

Goal 9: Industry, Innovation, & Infrastructure

Goal 10: Reduced Inequalities

Goal 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities

Goal 12: Responsible Consumption & Production

Goal 13: Climate Action

Goal 14: Life Below Water

Goal 15: Life on Land

Goal 16: Peace, Justice, & Strong Institutions

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Below you will find a list of inquiries arranged based on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. These inquiries are related to global issues, and we would like to share them with you to support you through your curriculum materials. The strength of these inquiries is simplicity.

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✨Get an EDITABLE prompt template and create a rubric with #ChatGPT in less than one minute!
👀 Watch it work its magic in an example video.https://t.co/9jcNfbP0XW @emilyforedu#aiineducation #edtech #teachertwitter #educoach pic.twitter.com/M4YDUQy8mM
— 𝗧𝗖𝗘𝗔 (@TCEA) June 11, 2023