Teaching Philosophy

As a classroom teacher, I believe that it is important to develop a working relationship with students. It is important to communicate in some way daily with each student, so that he/she feels comfortable to learn in my classroom. Students can all learn if the environment is correct. I am not saying that a teacher will get along with every student all the time, but there needs to be a mutual respect in the classroom in order for learning to take place. I want the students to feel success. Success breeds success. Without this feeling of success, goals will not be reached. One thing is for sure, a teacher better teach because he/she enjoys teaching or students will figure it out very quickly. I really enjoy watching students catch up and excel with their academic goals. It is a great joy to watch the eyes of student light up (and even become full of tears at times) from their successes in the classroom. Watching students work really hard on Spanish pronunciation only to see them succeed is a great reward to both the student and to me. I have come to realize my successes here through understanding and developing my listening skills. It does not do any good to provide lip service here without any action. Students can tell if a person is genuine or not. I love teaching and guiding my students to success. For these reasons, I believe we have the ability to change lives at SRS. Steve Nielson, Teacher SRS

Our Trip to the Utah Shakespearean Festival

I have asked two students to write about our trip to the Shakespearean Festival, and I wanted to preface their remarks by saying that we go to the festival for the students to learn many lessons. One of these lessons is how to be courteous at a formal play and how to have respect for other patrons and the actors. The Shakespearean Festival offers not only plays by Shakespeare but also many other famous playwrights. We want the students to come away learning something valuable. In this situation, the students learned about the author of “Scapin”, Moliere, and the style in which he wrote. We also talk about the deeper meanings of the plays we attend. It is important to have follow-up discussions so that the students learn the importance of Shakespeare and other authors to the literary canon. The Shakespearean Festival has been recognized with a Tony award. To be able to yearly attend such a magnificent production is truly a gift. Students’ viewpoints: On August 21, Donny and Tina Somers, Ron Cazier and Justin Barrie, took 10 boys and 10 girls, level 3 and higher to the World Renowned Utah Shakespearean Festival. After driving to Cedar City, Utah, we arrived at a local park where we enjoyed a wonderful picnic lunch. After lunch, we drove directly to the Randall L. Jones Theatre to watch the play, “Scapin”, a French adaptation from Moliere. When we walked into the building, it was so beautiful and a man was playing piano and they were songs from “Phantom of the Opera.” We walked up to the balcony in the theatre and took our seats. The play began, and it was so funny. It was about the high-jinx of two servants and the families they worked for. The play kept us laughing the entire 2 hrs. We were there. And the end of the play turned out well for all the characters involved. After that, we went to Taco Bell for dinner and we got to have tons of food. It was delicious! Then, we walked across the street and got to experience a new ice cream adventure, Root Beer ice cream. It was so good too. We then loaded up an headed for home. We had a fun-filled day at the festival and we couldn’t quit talking about it all the way home. We are so thankful to Jill for allowing us to go each year. This was written by Students of Sorenson’s Ranch School