Elementary School Educator Responsibilities
1. Classroom Culture & Student Well-being
- Foster Student Belonging: Cultivate a caring, joyful, and purposeful learning community where all students feel valued, respected, and motivated.
- Promote Social-Emotional Learning: Utilize principles like Responsive Classroom to support the physical, emotional, and intellectual well-being of every student.
- Uphold School Values: Model the school's Core Values of respect, responsibility, honesty, fairness, and compassion in all interactions with students, staff, and the community.
- Implement Culturally Responsive Practices: Create a learning environment that is culturally responsive and affirming of students identities.
2. Curriculum & Instructional Planning
- Standards-Based Planning: Use a planning framework to identify essential learning based on Common Core State Standards (CCSS), learning targets, and a culturally responsive curriculum.
- Interdisciplinary & Real-World Connections: Design curriculum that demonstrates an understanding of interdisciplinary teaching and connects learning to real-world issues.
- Collaborative Curriculum Development: Work with PLC teams and administration to develop cohesive curriculum materials, establish common goals, and participate in curriculum review and budgeting.
3. Pedagogy & Instructional Delivery
- High-Impact Instruction: Employ current, research-informed pedagogical practices and high-impact instructional strategies to deliver engaging lessons.
- Differentiated Learning Experiences: Design and implement collaborative and differentiated learning experiences that meet the diverse academic and social-emotional needs of all students.
- Flexible Grouping: Use data to flexibly group students based on their individual needs, abilities, and assets.
- Technology Integration: Integrate technology in innovative ways to enhance daily instruction and student learning.
- Responsive Interventions: Respond to learners diverse needs, including those related to emerging multilingualism and neurodivergent profiles, by using measurable, research-informed interventions and extensions.
4. Assessment & Data-Driven Practices
- Comprehensive Assessment System: Design and use a variety of quality formative, summative, and self-guided assessments to provide students with frequent feedback.
- Monitor and Adjust: Continuously monitor student learning through standards-based assessments and data analysis to make appropriate modifications to goals and strategies.
- Communicate Progress: Use assessment data to accurately communicate student growth and achievement.
5. Collaboration & Professional Growth
- Engage in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs): Actively collaborate with team members to plan curriculum, give and receive feedback, and engage in professional reflection and learning.
- Practice Co-Teaching: Engage in co-teaching practices and utilize flexible learning spaces with intention and purpose.
- Commit to Continuous Improvement: Strive for self-improvement as a lifelong learner by actively engaging in professional development and feedback cycles with coaches and principals.
- Support School-Wide Programs: Cooperate with and participate in the planning and evaluation of the overall school program as needed.
6. Community & Family Engagement
- Extend Learning Beyond the Classroom: Engage students in meaningful extracurricular activities such as coaching, clubs, field trips, or service projects.
- Build Strong Partnerships: Connect with and be available to parents and students during and outside of school hours through in-person meetings and email communication.
- The World Language (Chinese) Teacher is expected to integrate cultural content related to the language being taught, offering students meaningful insights into the customs, traditions, history, and arts of the target cultures.
Position Requirements & Qualifications
- Bachelor's Degree in relevant field (Chinese Language Instruction or Chinese Literature is preferred)
- Master's Degree in relevant field (Chinese Language Instruction or Chinese Literature) is preferred.
- Teaching license or a degree in education.
- At least two years of full time teaching experience is preferred.
- Proven experience teaching early years is preferred.
- Experience teaching in a Reggio Emelia inspired environment is preferred.
- Plan and facilitate play-based, inquiry-informed language learning experiences responsive to young children's interests and developmental needs.
- Strong background in Chinese literature and the capability to teach students at a near-native or native speaker level.
- Standards-based curriculum experience (ACTFL standards) preferred
- Demonstrates a strong track record of effective collaboration.
- Experience teaching Chinese as a second language to early childhood/elementary students is preferred.
- Excellent verbal and written English language skills.
- Demonstrates fluency in the Chinese language.
- Confident technology skills for teaching and administrative tasks.
Working Requirements
- Sponsoring and/or coaching after school activities are part of the responsibility of the professional educator. Therefore, faculty shall be available to coach and/or sponsor an athletic team or other extra curricular activity. Each faculty member is expected to do a minimum of one category 1 activity or sport per year.
- Mandatory attendance of school orientation and participation in a minimum of four evening and/or weekend school activities each year, as assigned (including Back-to-School Night).
- Attend Responsive Classroom professional learning (virtual), specified by the school, in the months prior to the official start of employment.
