36. Exit tickets have been around for a long time because their appeal to students and teachers alike is powerful. Try some of these sentence starters to engage all of your students. You could even post these for students to refer to during class.

• Today I learned…
• I was surprised when…
• I’m beginning to wonder…
• I think I will…
• I would have liked…
• Now I understand
• Class would be more interesting if…
• I can be more successful in this class if I…
• I wish…

37. Invite students to stretch their imagination by asking them to do something that appears to go against the grain: write a sentence with five errors, write a history timeline with six mistakes, design a structure that is certain to collapse, or do a set of math problems with a certain number of them incorrect.

38. Give students a general topic and have them form study groups about it before the formal learning about it begins. They can do research, find examples, predict the main points, or complete other free-flowing activities that expose them in a general way to the material and provide background knowledge in a way that engages students fully. Their research can be online or with materials that you provide.

39. Have students identify the various characteristics of something under study, classify the main points, or even match up questions and answers by first placing each component of their assignment on a note card. They then mingle until they find other students who match their topic. If the material under study lends itself, students in a group can then categorize themselves according to various criteria.

40. Have students make Power Point presentations or slide shows as a review of the material that they are studying in class. When they present their show to the entire group, everyone benefits.