Week Ahead 4/18-4/22

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April 18-
Day 2-

Out of Building-White (Full Day)


April 19-
Day 3-
PSSA Gr. 3-8 Math
Spring Choral Dress Rehearsal @ SH @ 6PM (CV)

Out of Building-White (Full Day), Koppenhaver (Half Day PM)


April 20-
Day4-
PSSA Gr. 3-8 Math
CV PTO Meeting- 6PM

Out of Building-None


April 21-
Day 5-
PSSA Gr. 3-8 Math
School Board Meeting @ EC- 7:30 PM
Spring Choral Concert @ SH- CV- 7:30PM
Out of Building-None


April 22-
Day 6-
2nd Gr. Field Trip to Whitaker Center
Earth Day!!!

Out of Building- Godfrey (@WM)

Thank You

While it has been extremely difficult to leave Reagan at home in the morning, each and every one of you have made it a little bit easier in some way to come to work every passing day. Even more so, thank you to anyone who extended a condolence on the passing of my father via card, e-mail, hug, a shoulder to cry on, or whatever it may have been - it truly has been overwhelming the support that my Clearview family has shown to me during this extremely difficult time. Although it won't be easy moving forward, I can be reminded of my father with the angel that was sent to me from Clearview. Thank you again for all of your support during this difficult time. While "mom" is one of my new titles that I carry around with me, I am extremely grateful to be back at Clearview to work alongside such compassionate people.

PLC in Print


Courtesy of the Marshall Memo.

Making Good Use of the Final Minutes of a Class

In this Chronicle of Higher Education article, James Lang (Assumption College) says he’s observed two things in college classrooms over the years: students starting to pack up their things in the last five minutes (intensely annoying to instructors), and instructors hurriedly covering a few more things. “[M]ost faculty members eye the final minutes of class as an opportunity to cram in eight more points before students exit,” says Lang, “or to say three more things that just occurred to us about the day’s material, or to call out as many reminders as possible about forthcoming deadlines, next week’s exam, or tomorrow’s homework… We’re still trying to teach while students’ minds – and sometimes their bodies – are headed out the door.” Lang suggests using a mixture of these closing techniques over time:

            • The minute paper – The teacher wraps up the formal class a few minutes early and asks students to respond in writing to two questions:

-    What was the most important thing you learned today?

-    What question still remains in your mind?

The first question gets students thinking about the whole class, making a judgment about something important to them, and articulating it in their own words. The second question asks them to consider what they haven’t understood. “Most of us are infected by what learning theorists call ‘illusions of fluency,’” says Lang, “which means that we believe we have obtained mastery of something when we have not.” To answer the second question, students must dig for any confusion or weakness that remains in their own comprehension of the day’s material. Collecting students’ responses (on paper or in electronic messages) gives instructors valuable information on how well the class went and, if things were unclear for a majority of students, a starting point for the next class. Even if the answers aren’t collected, Lang believes that students benefit from retrieving information about the class from memory and clarifying points of confusion and uncertainty.

            • Closing connections – The instructor finishes class five minutes early and tells students they can leave as soon as they have identified five ways the day’s material appears in contexts outside the classroom – current events, personal experiences, popular songs, debates in the school or college, and so forth. “You’ll be amazed at how quickly they can come up with examples,” says Lang. These might be handed in, jotted on the board, or posted on the course website.

            • The metacognitive five – “We have evidence that students engage in poor study strategies,” says Lang. “Likewise, research shows that most people are plagued by illusions of fluency. The solution on both fronts is better metacognition – that is, a clearer understanding of our own learning.” Once a semester, Lang has his students jot down how they studied for a test they’ve just taken. He follows up by comparing test results with study methods: invariably, effective approaches (like self-testing and flashcards) correlate with higher scores, while less-effective methods (like reviewing notes and re-reading material) correlate with lower scores. “Imagine what a difference we could make,” says Lang, “if we all took five minutes – even just a few times during the semester – to offer students the opportunity to reflect on their learning habits.”

            • Closing the loop – If the class began with questions, put them back up on the screen at the end and have students use what they just learned to answer them. If the class began with a question about students’ prior knowledge on the topic, end by asking students to explain how the class confirmed, enhanced, or contradicted what they knew before.

            “We have such a limited amount of time with students,” Lang concludes, “– sometimes just a few hours a week for 12 or 15 weeks. Within that narrow window, five minutes well-spent at the end of class can make a difference.”

“Small Changes in Teaching the Last 5 Minutes of Class” by James Lang in The Chronicle of  Higher Education, April 1, 2016 (Vol. LXII, #29, p. A36-37), http://bit.ly/1qoNCLt; Lang’s book on this subject is Small Teaching: Everyday Lessons from the Science of Learning (Jossey-Bass, 2016); Lang can be reached at lang@assumption.edu.