If you are a parent of school-aged children then you know that trying to get any information out of them is like trying to pull teeth… from a tiger!
“What did you learn at school today?”
“I dunno.” (End… of… conversation!)
As a school teacher, this is problematic. As a piano teacher, whose livelihood depends on the satisfaction of students and parents, this is downright scary. If we want parents to feel good about their decision to enrol their children in piano lessons we need them to hear all about the wonderful things that are happening in lessons. And, “I dunno.” just doesn’t cut it.
So, in today’s post, we are sharing an activity and a poster printable that you can use to help your piano students remember at least one great thing that happened in their lessons so they can have something to share with their parents.
An Exit Ticket Poster To Place In Your Studio!
The concept of an “Exit Ticket” is used frequently by classroom teachers to check in on student learning and progress at the end of the school day. It’s pretty simple… a student writes one thing she learned in class on a post-it note and then sticks it to a communal display.
It’s a brilliant method of encouraging goal setting and self-reflection, of proudly displaying all of the amazing learning that’s happening in your studio, and of providing students with something to talk about with their parents.
To make it work, you need three simple things:
- A poster to collect your exit tickets. You can use this one (designed to be printed 18×24 or you can make your own to suit your studio). Large studios can use several posters.
- Full-size post-it notes
- Pencils or markers
The “Exit Poster” should have numbered squares, with each number assigned to a specific student. The assigned square becomes a place for your students to show what they have learned each and every week.
As your student leaves the lesson, ask her to write one thing she learned that was new, challenging or exciting on a post-it note and then stick the note to her assigned square before heading out the door.
By the end of the week, your poster will be filled with amazing “social proof” of all of the fabulous things your students learn from you during lesson time!
Piano Studio Exit Poster Extensions
If you’ve decided to introduce the Piano Studio Exit Poster to your studio, then you might as well milk it for all its worth! The procedure described above is just one application of the poster. To take it to the next level try…
- Taking a picture of each students’ individual comments and texting it to their parents (not all parents come into the waiting area so this “catches” those who may not see it). A simple note of encouragement to go along with the text is a great “check-in” with parents.
- Posting a picture of the poster (as it appears at the end of each week) to your Facebook/Twitter/Instagram page. Don’t forget to tag us @teachpianotoday as we’d love to see it!!
- Highlighting certain students’ post-it notes by sharing them on social media and then adding your own positive comments about their progress and learning. This is a nice way of showcasing your students regularly (without having to share student photos).
- Keeping the individual post-it notes, as you refresh the poster for the coming week, by sticking them inside a folder to send home with each student for the summer (it then becomes a “yearbook” of their learning highlights!)
Another Way To Make Your Waiting Area Interactive
Teachers have been having great success with leaving a PianoGameClub game out and ready for play in their waiting area! Siblings, parents and other students are joining in on the fun as they wait… and theory is becoming an interactive experience like never before! Get 4 new games every month for $8. Find out more here.
Help! I love your idea but don’t know how to print a poster at home. Thanks!
Hi Laurie! As the size needs to be such that post it notes fit, it has to be sized 18×24. This requires sending it in for printing to somewhere like Staples. It cost me $14.50 to print it on glossy paper. Someone mentioned that Costco prints this size for $10.00. We left it as an image file so you have multiple printing options (office store or photo lab).
Or even cheaper, take it to Costco and have them print it poster size for about $10!
Awesome idea Andrea! Love it!
Perfect Kimberley! Yes, we left it as an image file rather than a pdf so you had multiple printing options (photo studio, office supply store etc). That’s a great price!
MTNA members get a phenomenal discount at Office Depot’s.
Great ideas! I might even have the student write it twice…once for the studio board on a post-it and then again on just plain paper (same size as post-it) to take with them to show their parent(s) what they learned that day!
I don’t see a way to download the poster. It comes up in a new window but it doesn’t have a way to save it. Is it just me or was there a glitch in the download?
Thanks. I look forward to making good use of this and stopping the “I don’t know” syndrome:)
Hi Barbara! Promise it’s easy to use. The download is an image, simply right click and “save as” and then send the saved file to your print shop asking for 18×24 size. As it’s an image file it also works at photo stores.
Awesome idea Andrea! Is it possible to have a similar idea but have it on 2 (8.5X11″) pages that we can tape together? I would really like to do this, but I have 60ish students and this would get a little pricey to do with that many of them. Thank you for your consideration.
Hi Shelley – the download is designed for teachers to use just if they want to – you are always free to take our freebie printable ideas and modify them to make it work for your own studio. Apparently Costco is $10 to print this size and you’d likely use this in your studio for a long time, it might be worth the $40 investment for you to fit all 60 of your students into this activity. If you preferred, you could print it smaller and use smaller post-it notes, but you might lose some of the “display appeal” by doing that. Whatever works for you!
Thank you VERY much for your kindness and generosity. You both inspire me so much!
You’re so welcome Jacqueline! Thanks so much for taking the time to write – it means a lot to us 🙂
Is there a way to add more numbers or edit the numbers to include more students?
Hi Mary Jo – as the sizing has to be exact to fit post-it notes, no this poster is not editable. It’s there as a guide and we’re happy for teachers to take it and use it if they like. You can either use this one that we give away for free, or create your own to suit your studio. As mentioned in the post – if you have a large studio simply print more than one poster. By putting the posters in different locations you can still assign a number to your students and tell them which one is “their” poster 🙂
Such a great idea Andrea! Last year I tried having a music journal that they can write it in, but then the student & their family the only ones that gets to see it after so this is a wonderful way for everyone to see. Your poster looks so bright and attractive your wall! Must be fun for the students to do too. =)
Hi Drema – I had a music journal too when I was a student (I was so bad… I filled it in about an hour before my next lesson!) These exit tickets are great as you catch your students while everything is fresh in their minds and yes, it’s a great display of all of the great knowledge you share every single week as their teacher!
This is so creative and advertises your studio by itself! Just yesterday I was thinking what to post on my facebook page, but didn’t want to post students’ pictures. Thank you Andrea – you sure have a gift for creativity and a big heart!
Hi Miriam – thank you so much for your kind words 🙂 Yes, it’s so nice to mix-it up when it comes to what you post online. Makes for great variety and also avoids the student picture problem if you are wanting to be careful with that 🙂 Plus.. there’s nothing cuter than little kid writing and spelling!
Good Morning!
Once again, you have come up with another wonderful idea to make your studio awesome! Can I be one of your students? 🙂 Thank you for always sharing your ideas & inspiring the rest of us!
When I click on the link for the poster, it takes me to a blank page. I don’t have anything on my computer that should be preventing the link from coming through. I get your Piano Club & Game links just fine. Any idea what’s happening?
THANK YOU!!!
Hi! Do you have a pop-up blocker turned on in your web browser? What comes up is an image which you can then “save” – but if you have pop-ups blocked this could be why.
Thanks for a timely idea! Even tho’ I’ve been at this many years, I still benefit from your ceativity. I wasn’t able to print poster size so I used things I had at home (poster board, envelopes cut in half, index cards, old piano books) to make my version. I covered the cards with old music, printed students’ names on top and put the cards in an envelope half, and glued the envelope halves on poster board. Instant bulletin board!
Love love love it!! As usual another great idea from you!! Quick question…. How do I tag you from my studio fb page?
Hi Fiona – if you type @teachpianotoday it should work – but I’ll make sure I hop over and “like” your page too!
Love this idea! I want to send it off to print, but there wasn’t a way to save it when I opened it up. I looked all over the place. Ha ha.. I must be missing something. I wanted to put it on my desktop as a pdf so I can put it on the flash drive.. or send via email to my printer. Thoughts.. 🙂
Hi Sue – when you open it, just right click. A menu will pop up with the option to save 🙂
Oh my goodness! My brain is totally bonkers.. I really spaced on that! Thanks… It’s fun getting older!
LOVE this idea! This is probably the best thing I have read on your site. So simple, but brilliant (though I think I’ve used THAT word on this site many times before). Thank you!
Love the idea! I would love to use it at my large studio. We have over 600 students. Any ideas on how to modify it to work for us? I was thinking of printing two posters and we might have to post on facebook daily.
So this came across my an email recently and even though people have posted about this a year ago, I thought I would mention that you can also have this printed up at Vista Print on foam board or poster. I like the idea of foam board so that it is sturdy, since I travel to some of my student homes. They are having a special right now on the foam board 18 x 24 for a little less than $20.
That’s a fantastic tip, Berdie – didn’t know about that!! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Andrea, I have a number of young children who can’t write, any ideas how to make this work for them? (5-6 yrs)
Hi Linda – just “interview” them and write their response. They can write their name 🙂
Some printers can enlarge a PDF and print on multiple pages as a poster, so that’s another option.