Social Studies
After School Tutoring and Project Support . Please ensure you send an email to the teacher to coordinate. My email is [email protected]. Parents, paperwork went home with each student infroming you how to sign-up for afterschool tutoring. Ask your child for that paperwork. Afterschool tutoring will run Monday thru Friday from 4:30 to 6:30. The weekly schedule by content area (i.e. math, language arts, science, and social studies) was provided in the information. Contact the admin office if you need to get the paperwork to sign your child up.
Student Lap Top Issue: Phoenix goal is to issue a laptop to all students to complete work and assignments. Students must take care of their assigned laptops whether issued or using in the classroom, and will be held accountable if they are damaged.
Student Absences. Parents, please, please see the parent/student handbook on student absences. Students who miss school or are absent must go to their google classroom site to get caught up on their assignments. Alternatively, assignments will also be posted on the student page links at the bottom of this page. If a student does not have a Phoenix laptop and should miss school because of the Corona virus, work packets will be prepared for the student. If they have a Phoenix issued laptop, packets will not be required, and they can access their school work via the internet. Parents, please keep us informed of your internet connectivity status, Phoenix is prepared to assist you.
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NWEA Map Testing. The Spring NWEA MAP testing will start on May 13th. MAP testing results are critical for input for student individual learning plans (ILPs). Parents, ask your child if they met their target goals. If you have any questions, you may contact your child's homeroom teacher by visiting their home page on the PCLC website, or contact the PCLC administrative office.
Middle School State Testing. Parents, state testing for the middle school is completed. State grading feedback is TBD. If you have any questions, please contact the administration office.
Bi-Weekly Short Cycle Assessments. Parents, as part of our effort to close student gaps, Phoenix conducts bi-weekly short cycle assessments in all content areas, and according to student Individualized Learning Plans(ILPs). Ask your student what is on their ILP.
Thanksgiving Break Packets: Issued, students should have turned these in.
Christmas/New Year's Break Packets: Break Packets were issued to all students if they attended school on Dec 17th. These packets should have been turned in.
Spring Break Packets: Issued, students should have turned in those packets on March 28th.
Monthly Heritage Celebrations
We are one people, of many origins!
May: Mental Health Awareness Month. During the month of May the nation celebrates Deaf History Month. This month's theme raises awareness for individuals living with mental or behavioral issues and seeks to reduce public stigma people may experience.
Jewish-American Heritage Month. This yearly observance recognizes American Jews and their importance to the nation!
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. During the month of May we also salute Asian Americans and the Pacific Islanders. They have long enriched America's history and ensured its future success!
Teacher Appreciation Week in May (May 2nd thru May 6th). Teacher appreciation week honors and celebrates the commitment and sacrifices educators make to serving the educational needs of America's youth (K-12).
Anniversary of Victory in Europe. May is the month the Allies defeated Nazism with the unconditional surrender of Germany. Watch the historic news film highlighting that moment when the world defeated the greatest threat to democracy.
Parent-Teacher Conferences. Parents, you are entitled to a parent-teacher conference at any time. Periodically, check-up on your child and ask them what have they been learning during the week. Ask them what their Learning Targets were, and whether they have received a weekly review task! Learning Targets are listed below for your awareness. In social studies, performance skills are important because they enable critical thinking and support student engagement of the content. Please subscribe to my page.
Link for scheduling parent-teacher conferences: (email teachers directly). Parents can send a message to me via this webpage, contact the admin office, or email me: [email protected]
Weekly Reviews: The reviews focus on skill sets in the social studies content area that require continuous practice for mastery. Ask your student what was the topic of their last weekly review.
Quarantine Learning From Home. Parents, if for some unfortunate reason a student must quarantine due to Covid, review the video below with your child and encourage them to be ready EVERY DAY for learning.
Video: Tips on Learning and Working From Home in a Pandemic
Let the Games Begin! During the school year, students will be able to participate in Kahoots competitions to win prizes.
Winner of our first challenge on primary and secondary sources is: Ms. Kaylee Howard; scored 95%/ total points - 24,490.
Thanksgiving and Christmas Holiday Challenge (Cancelled)
- 1st Place:
- 2nd Place:
- 3rd Place:
2022 New Year's Kahoots Challenge: We are bringing in the new year with a BANG! Our topic focuses on the Main Idea of a piece of text. Students have until noon on Jan 14th to complete the challenge. Top two with the highest scores will be eligible to receive a prize with their parent/guardian's permission. See the hipkit link below to select your prize IF you are one of the top two scorers. Here is the link: Kahoot Challenge Link
U.S. History events as we close out the School year!
May 22, 1843: The first wagon train with 700 - 1000 migrants leaves Independence, MO, for Oregon.
Weekly history quiz/trivia (On This Day in History): History Quiz Link
Personal Background.
I received my Masters in Teaching in 2016 from Miami University after serving in the U.S. Army. My military experience allowed me to have a front row seat to global events giving me a unique perspective and greater awareness and understanding of how those events over the last 10-20 years are relevant to the lives of our students today. I have served and completed missions in Europe, the Far East, Middle East, Caribbean, and South America. Unfortunately, for most of my career the continent of Africa was not a national priority. I am originally from Metropolitan Detroit and a public high school graduate. I have two grown children, a son who is a U.S Air Force veteran and is now going back to college, and a daughter who has taught in the public school system, and now works in the computer coding field. 
My passion is teaching and studying history. History is important because it allows us to understand our past, which in turn informs us how to make sense out of our present. The past created the present. However, we can influence the present and control our future by learning the lessons of the past to build a brighter future. Studying history provides insight into our culture and our origins so we can learn who we are in order to create opportunities that will benefit us and our fellow man.
Feel free to contact me by clicking on the send email button at the top of the page by my photo or at the following email: [email protected]
The importance of Learning Targets.
Why are learning targets important? A well-written learning target ensures that the teachers can explicitly teach and model the important performance criteria necessary for learning, provide the appropriate practice opportunities, and assists in monitoring student progress and sharing purposeful and actionable feedback with students.
Current Week's Learning Targets. The learning targets will also integrate performance tasks required to engage, analyze, interpret, summarize, and predict historical events and outcomes.
- Name
- Mr. Darryl Shirley Sr.
- Position
- 7th and 8th Grade Social Studies Teacher
- Send email
- Other
- Hello Parents! My name is Darryl Shirley and I am the 7th and 8th grade Social Studies teacher here at the Phoenix.
Background.
I received my Masters in Teaching in 2016 from Miami University after serving in the U.S. Army. My military experience allowed me to have a front row seat to global events giving me a unique perspective and greater awareness and understanding of how events over the last 10-20 years are relevant to the lives of our students today. I have served in Europe, the Far East, Middle East, Caribbean, and South America. I am originally from Metropolitan Detroit and a public high school graduate. I have two grown children, a son serving in the U.S Air Force, and a daughter who is a teacher.
My passion is teaching and studying history. History is important because it allows us to understand our past, which in turn allows us to make sense out of our present. The past created the present. However, we can influence the present and control our future by learning the lessons of the past to build a brighter future. Studying history provides insight into our culture and our origins so we can learn who we are in order to create opportunities that will benefit us and our fellow man.
You can email me at: [email protected]