Social Studies
Send me an email if you have trouble logging into your google classroom: [email protected]
Student Lap Top Issue: Phoenix's goal is to provide each student access to a laptop for students to complete their 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. No student will be given access to a laptop until the parent consent form has been completed and returned. New student computers were issued individually to each student in the second week of October. These computers CANNOT be taken home.
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 laptop and should miss school because of the Corona virus or other serious illness, work packets will be prepared for the student.
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NWEA Map Testing. The Fall NWEA MAP testing has been completed. Parents, ask your child what their scores were. 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. Winter MWEA testing will be conducted in February 2023, dates TBD.
Middle School State Testing. April 2023.
Short Cycle Assessments. The next Short Cycle Assignment will take place in January this month.
Thanksgiving Break Packets: Students were issued Thanksgiving packets on November 22nd if they attended school. Packets were also posted to google classroom. Students who completed the packets turned them in on Monday, November 28th. Packets will be considered a project grade.
Christmas/New Year's Break Packets: Christmas break packets are completed and posted to google classroom. They will be issued on December 16th. Packets will receive a project grade and are due on January 2nd, the first day back from the holiday break.
Spring Break Packets: To be published.
Monthly Heritage Celebrations
We are one people, of many origins!
January is poverty awareness month. A month-long initiative to raise awareness and call attention to the growth of poverty in America.
Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. The United States marks Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday on Monday, Jan 16th, as an official day of service and a celebration of the civil rights leader's life and legacy.
Parent-Teacher Conferences. Parents, you are entitled to a parent-teacher conference at any time. The middle school team will conduct calls to verify contact numbers and touch base with parents through both phone contact and email contact. The third quarter parent-teacher conferences will occur March 9 - 10, 2023 . Letters home as reminders and robo-calls will be made. Parents, PLEASE participate in these conferences. 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 across the curriculum here at the Phoenix. 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.
Fall Challenge: Our first challenge on primary and secondary sources to deepen student understanding has been completed.
- Winner: La'Zarrya Allen (8A/8th Grade)
Thanksgiving and Christmas Holiday Challenge
- Winner: N/A
2023 New Year's Kahoot Challenge: To Be Published.
U.S. History Events.
Jan 22, 1973: Roe vs. Wade: Supreme Court legalizes most abortions.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. Check back, learning targets are being updated!
- 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]