The 60-second post-it: a great way to make information stick

Thomas Courtley, ex teacher and LessonUp education specialist

Thomas Courtley

Education Specialist

With this learning technique students are encouraged to write down only the most important things on a digital post-it. What's going to stick?

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How does this learning technique work?

This learning technique uses an open question. The question you ask depends on what you want your students to learn. If you decide to use this learning technique as an exit ticket plenary, it will be something like 'What have you learnt in this lesson? Write down what you know in 60 seconds.' As clearly stated, the students have 60 seconds to fill in their post-its.

In this 'how to' video, Claire explains how to add an open question. To make the time limit clear and visual, make sure you start a timer component at the beginning of the assessment.

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How do you implement it in the classroom?

This learning technique is often used at the end of a lesson, while reviewing what has been learned and the learning objective/s. However, this technique could be implemented at any time during the learning process. As in other types of exit tickets and plenaries, this method is as a powerful formative assessment tool, and can also initiate brainstorming sessions.

Due to time constraints, especially if this method is used frequently, students will only indicate their most important learnings. In other words, what has stuck with them?