Yesterday we held the 3rd Annual McClungs Award Ceremony…and it was kind of a big deal. All together 80 students were recognized yesterday for their “achievements” in my class and the entire ceremony with off without a hitch. We had several former students come by to visit, including students that are currently at the high school. At one point we had 50 students in my classroom for the 4th period ceremony.

Lesson Two – Thank You!

I have the best students in the world. Today is my birthday and I have received countless birthday wishes from my students as well as a few birthday sweets. I am very fortunate to be at the school that I am at and to be surrounded by such wonderful students. Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes and goodies…I very much appreciate it.

Lesson Three – Closing Time

With this being our last Friday of the school year, this blog post will be our last lessons learned for the 11-12 school year. This has truly been a wonderful year for as a teacher and I am very grateful that I get the opportunity to teach such wonderful students in a fantastic school district. At the conclusion of each year I am left thinking that the next group of students could not possibly top the previous group that are leaving, and each year I am proven wrong when the fall semester rolls around. Next year will be a bit different though since I will be teaching 9th grade civics; meaning that I will more than likely have some of the same students again next year. Nevertheless, I am very much looking forward to the next school year and the opportunity to work with some of the same students for two years in a row. Thank you everyone for a great year.

Mr. McClung

In class we also talked about the neighborhoods that surround Central High School and how much of the community is now run down and in poverty. This part of the city use to be a very popular area to live and now it consist of run down and boarded up homes…which is quite a site considering that they stand across the street from a national monument.

Lastly, we spent the most time discussing the achievement gap that exist between African Americans and Caucasian students and what factors lead to this disconnect. In class on Friday we will be finishing this documentary and putting the finishing touches on our discussions.

Mr. McClung

This year was by far the largest awards so we have ever had with the number of attendees per period ranging from 30-50. We had special guest attend the show and also former students who are still at Woodland and other students who are currently at FHS. This was a great way to end the year and I could not be more happy with the 2012 addition of the McClungs.

Mr. McClung

Mr. McClung

Mr. McClung

Mr. McClung

Mr. McClung

Today we will begin our unit on the Little Rock Central Crisis and we will kick it off by discussing the the need for integration and the plan to integrate in the state of Arkansas. The Prezi above includes the notes that we will take in class today.

Mr. McClung

Your band of the week is Sleigh Bells.

Based in Brooklyn, New York, Sleigh Bells is composed of Derek E. Miller (songwriter, guitarist, producer) and Alexis Krauss (vocals). Miller was formerly the guitarist for the hardcore band Poison the Well, and Krauss was a member of the teen pop group Rubyblue. Krauss also appeared in a Nickelodeon Magazine commercial as a young girl.

The duo performed at the CMJ Music Marathon in October 2009. They have since signed to M.I.A.’s N.E.E.T. Recordings and Mom + Pop Recordings. They initially released several tracks online, and gained attention from The Guardian, New York Times, Pitchfork Media, ABC News’s Amplified, and other sources. The Guardian named them Band of the Day in December 2009. Pitchfork named their song “Crown on the Ground” the 57th best track of 2009. Miller recorded the track “Meds and Feds” with M.I.A. from the album Maya towards the end of 2009, and began recording Treats with Krauss in 2010. The group released “Tell ‘Em”, the first single from their debut album, Treats, as a free download in April 2010. Treats was released on May 11, 2010 exclusively through the iTunes Store by Mom + Pop Music. They performed at the 2010 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April 2010, the Primavera Sound Festival in May 2010, and the Pitchfork Music Festival in July 2010. In 2010, the track “Rill Rill” from the album “Treats” was featured in a 4th season episode of Gossip Girl. In 2011, the song “Kids” off of the album “Treats” was used in the Promo for MTV’s Skins (US), adaption of UK series. You can listen to their song titled Riot Rhythm by clicking on the player below.

Mr. McClung

At the end of the event students ultimately “cash-out” their stocks and we figure who were the winners and losers. This year we have had students gain and lose as much as $350. Students also seem to enjoy the activity as well and seem to take a genuine interest in learning about stocks and how they gain/lose value. Also, this whole process helps the kids learn how much of a gamble the stock market can be at times as well.

Mr. McClung

Couple of months ago one of our dear friends at school relocated to Indiana because their parents got a new job. Brad has been one of my runners for two years now and ever since he left our school we have definitely felt a void on our XC team. Today Brad is back in the house visiting us for one day only. It has been very nice to see him back in school and all of us here are glad to see him back in our halls. So Brad, we salute you and make sure to visit again soon.

Lesson Two – Final Count Down

As we get closer to the end of school, it’s important to remember a few finial reminders before we call it quits this school year. The most important of which is the McClungs, which will be held on May 17th…remember, it’s a black tie affair. Also all fees and fines need to be squared away before finals week in order to eligible for early dismissal. Also make sure to check the schedule for finals and know where you are going that week. 7th period final will be on the 21st, 1st and 2nd period finals will be the 22nd, 3rd and 4th will be the 23rd, and 5th and 6th will be held on the 24th.

Lesson Three – Shutting Down the Stock Market

Today we will call an end to our stock market challenge, do a final tally, and crown a winner. Students have been keeping track of stocks for about a week now and have been counting their loses and gains as we go along. Big winners and losers are few and far between but today we are expecting to have a few big numbers…stay tuned.

Mr. McClung

Today in class we will be discussing several topics from the 1950′s. We will discuss civil rights, the red scare, post war issues, and women’s rights…get pumped!

Mr. McClung

Yesterday in class we discussed civil rights in class and more specifically the advancement of women and African Americans. In class we talked about the cultural differences between the our current culture and the culture of the 30′s, 40′s, and 50′s. In class I shared with my students a excerpt from a home economics book from 1961. In the article it becomes very clear how different a woman’s role was back then compare to today. This type of cultural difference is why it was such a radical change for women to enter the work force during war time.

Mr. McClung

Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York, New York. The group consists of Mike D (Michael Diamond), MCA (Adam Yauch), and Ad-Rock (Adam Horovitz).

The Beastie Boys began as a hardcore punk band in 1979, first appearing on the compilation cassette New York Thrash before releasing their first EP, Polly Wog Stew, in 1982. After achieving moderate local success with the 1983 release of their experimental hip-hop 12″ album, they made the transition to hip-hop in 1984 and a string of successful 12″ singles followed by their debut album Licensed to Ill in 1986 which received international critical acclaim and commercial success. As of 2010, they have sold 22 million albums in the United States alone and 40 million albums worldwide.

They are one of the longest lived hip-hop acts worldwide and continue to enjoy commercial and critical success in 2011, nearly 25 years after the release of their debut album. On September 27, 2007, they were nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2009, the group released digitally remastered deluxe editions of their albums Paul’s Boutique, Check Your Head, Ill Communication and Hello Nasty. Their eighth studio album, Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, was released on May 3, 2011. You can listen to one of their classics, “Sabotage” by clicking on the player below.

Mr. McClung

This comes after our discussions about the Great Depression and learning how the stock market works. Students will be given 5 days to try and turn a profit on their investments.

Mr. McClung

Cross country try-outs were held this past week and we had quite a turn out. Over 60 kids showed up this week to try-out for cross country…which is by far the most that I have ever had try-out. Our program is growing rapidly and we are continually getting better each year. I am very pleased with the number of students that are interested in running and I am very much looking forward to the coming season.

Lesson Two – Speaking The English

We have started a new routine in my hour room class. Each day Kaylee starts us out with a story about her life…usually something involving her multitude of animals. The other day the topic of English was brought up to which Kaylee asked the very important question about whether or not every is born speaking English…and of course this conversation dominated at least 10 minutes of class time.

Lesson Three – The McClungs Are Coming…

With only two weeks left until the McClungs, it’s time to let the cat out of the bag. The McClungs is an awards ceremony that takes place in my classroom every year. This all started two years ago when I realized that our 8th grade awards ceremony was pretty lame so I decided to hold my own. the selection process to win a McClungs is very intense…some time in the next two weeks I will sit down in front of my computer for about 15 minutes and make up about 10 awards per class. And that’s it.

The ceremony will be on the 17th and make sure to dress extra fancy, it is a black tie affair.

Mr. McClung

• AAPL Apple Inc
• AMZN Amazon.com Inc
• ATVI Activision Blizzard Inc
• C Citigroup Inc
• CMCSA Comcast Corp
• CSCO Cisco Systems Inc
• DDS DillardS Inc
• DELL Dell Inc
• DIS Walt Disney Co
• EBAY eBay Inc
• FFBHD First Federal Bancshares of Ar
• FOSL Fossil Inc
• GOOG Google Inc
• GPS Gap Inc
• INTC Intel Corp
• JBHT J B Hunt Transport Services In
• JNJ Johnson & Johnson
• MCD McDonalds Corp
• MSFT Microsoft Corp
• NFLX Netflix Inc
• ORCL Oracle Corp
• PCLN Priceline.com Inc
• SIRI Sirius XM Radio Inc
• TSN Tyson Foods Inc
• WMT Wal-Mart Stores Inc
• YHOO Yahoo! Inc
• SNE Sony Corp

Once we have selected 3-5 companies you will be given $1,000 to invest in these companies how every you wish…you may also save some money and choose not to invest all your money with the opportunity to buy or sell in later days to come. So go ahead and start your greed…the Wall Street will be the name of the game for the next 10 days.

Note – students, you can also use the NASDAQ website to view trends of companies as well.

Mr. McClung

Mr. McClung