Students need Financial Literacy skills

Recently in a discussion with a student about his future beyond high school, he commented about the Personal Finances/ Financial Literacy class. The student indicated of all the classes he had taken at Sorenson’s Ranch School, he believed Financial Literacy was the most beneficial. Research has indicated that students who have access to quality financial education will have better financial outcomes as an adult. Students learn how to spend and save wisely, showing them a way to living with less debt and a higher quality of life. Our Financial Literacy class at Sorenson’s Ranch School can help our students understand the concepts of how they can reach their individual goals. Students learn about making career decisions, money management, and financial security. Students also learn about credit, resource management, risk management and insurance. When students move forward in life, they may reflect on how the Financial Literacy concepts can help them understand compound interest, the cost of borrowing money and the way to grow savings or investments. It may help them identify and then reach financial goals. I believe Financial Literacy has been taken for granted in the past, but now more states are starting to see the importance of financial skills and are passing legislation that requires students to have Financial Literacy as part of graduation requirements. Financial Literacy only makes sense since money affects every aspect of an individual’s life. If we don’t teach our students about money and the economy, how can we expect them to manage their own money as they become adults? In my opinion, it is dangerous to our youth to take the next steps in life without understanding the function of money and how to manage credit and risk. At Sorenson’s Ranch School we have a class that helps our students understand these concepts so much better. It helps them transition into independent living which is coming quickly in their future.

March Happenings

The middle school is starting new classes for the second half of the school year here at Sorenson’s Ranch. We finished Modern History and are moving into Geography. We also finished Our Nation/Utah History and are moving into the Careers class. We are continuing with PE and Math that are full year classes. Geography is the first and second class of the day. The students are curious about what to expect from the class. We did a pretest to see how familiar the students are with Geography. Some of the students know a lot about it and some need to learn more. We will be discussing the different areas of Geography here at Sorenson’s Ranch throughout the next 6 months. The students will be designing maps to show countries, cities, topographical and political maps. The other new class that we are starting at Sorenson’s Ranch is Careers. The students will learn all of the different aspects of finding a career. We started the class with an interest survey to help them decide what career they will do well in. Students will learn about what the job entails, salary, availability by area, and other details about different careers that may be of interest to them. They will learn how to present themselves during the interviewing process. During Math class we have been working on several different concepts. Some of the students have been learning about graphing, others have been working with solving inequalities. We will also incorporate worksheets that are based around St. Patrick’s Day. At Sorenson’s Ranch there are different ways that Math can be approached. Each student has individual ways of learning and the concepts are adapted to real world situations when possible in order to make them more understandable. Here at Sorenson’s Ranch we use a lot of adaptive learning approaches in order to help each student become successful. Peer tutoring, one on one tutoring, group learning among other approaches are being used on a daily basis.

Language Arts At Sorenson's Ranch School

The Language Arts classes at Sorenson’s Ranch School are continuing to follow the Common Core curriculum as they learn how to become better writers through use of the writing process and the Six Traits of Writing. By understanding the efficacy of each step of the writing process, students continue to strengthen their ability to plan, write, revise, and publish content-rich, thoughtful essays. During this process, students focus on the Six Traits of writing so that their writing becomes more focused to a specific purpose and provides excellent reasoning backed by research. The Common Core is addressed as students: 1. Learn to develop good writing habits through frequent reading and writing. 2. Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. 3. Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. 4. Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach. 5. Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences. 6. Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking; demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.

Common Core Based Curriculum at Sorenson's Ranch School

A new teacher, new books, and a new Common Core-based curriculum have been welcomed to the Language Arts department at Sorenson’s Ranch School. While school is year round at Sorenson’s Ranch and a new school year comes more often than once a year (because students work through classes at their own pace), the current changes at Sorenson’s have been notable for students and staff. Christy Parrish, recently of Monument Valley High School on the Navajo Reservation, has relocated to Koosharem, Utah to fill the post of Language Arts Teacher here at Sorenson’s Ranch. She trained to become a teacher at BYU in Provo, Utah. During her training, she took specialty classes in ESL which prepared her to scaffold her lessons based on students’ understanding and unique needs. She also studied languages extensively and is thrilled to be able to share her love of language and love of reading with all students she comes into contact with. Additionally, Christy has completed the coursework for a Reading Specialist. Understanding how students develop in their reading as they progress through school has helped her to carefully select and recommend engaging and interesting reading assignments for her students. She is becoming an integral part of both Sorenson’s Ranch School and the Koosharem community. Christy is currently writing new Common Core-based curriculum for the Language Arts classes. While it is no easy feat to concurrently teach and prepare courses for 6th through 12th grade, she is thrilled to have 2012 WriteSource books as a guide to her preparation of writing projects, reading assignments and formative assessments that align with the Utah Common Core. Christy is using the Utah Core to guide all aspects of the Language Arts courses and will continue to create lessons and activities that will meet the unique needs of Sorenson’s Ranch students. As students study the writing process and learn to revise and edit their own work, their own problem-solving and cognitive processes will be strengthened. As students use the Six Traits of writing (ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency and conventions) to tailor their writing for specific audiences, they will be prepared to write for many real-life occasions. Sorenson’s Ranch School graduates may choose to apply for college, prepare for a technical school or present themselves as the best possible candidate for employment. In all of these potential futures they have to choose from, the burgeoning curriculum at this school gives students the skills and information needed for them to succeed in their future learning or employment opportunities.