Pinteresty

     So, you have to understand, I have serious anchor chart envy issues.  I mean, when it comes right down to it, being cute does not equal good teaching, and a lot of the stuff I see that is "cute" is not necessarily good for kids.  And I don't think it really matters what your anchor chart or whatever looks like as long as its effective and the information on it is co-constructed knowledge put together with the kids.
     But there's this awesome, addictive little thing called pinterest, and other people's stuff is just so stinkin' cute and I AM JEALOUS.  So I decided to get all pinterest-y when I made my exit ticket board this year.  Here's what I came up with:

The question for this one was: What would change if the setting for The Three Little Pigs was the jungle?

Isn't it cute?!

And I really think it's a useful tool too.  One of the things I always have trouble with is closing out the day calmly and efficiently without wasting teaching time.  So, I write the exit ticket question on the little board at the end of the day, and then as the kids are getting backpacks and homework and cleaning up, they write their answer on a post-it note and then stick it on the board on their way out.  So far, the afternoon is still a little hectic, but it has helped; and it keeps the kids busy and thinking right up until the end of the day and also lets me see who understands what.  Plus, it lets me ask higher order thinking questions if I want, or we can write behavior goals or whatever I want.

Here's the chart that I got the idea from off of pinterest.  I would attach the link to the website or blog or whatever, but it just links to the picture so I don't know where the original source is: