Job Title: G9 Biology Teacher

Supervisor: Instructional Coach

Hours: Monday through Friday 8:30am-5:00pmDuration: 11 months

Salary: Is commensurate with the candidate's years of relevant experience

Description: The Lead Teacher is responsible for planning, organizing and implementing an appropriate instructional program in a learning environment that guides and encourages students to meet and exceed standards for the grade level/course. 

Responsibilities include (but not limited to):

Planning and Preparation for Learning

• Knowledge - Demonstrates subject area expertise and a cutting-edge grasp of child development and how students learn.
• Standards - Develops a well-honed game plan for the year that is tightly aligned with state standards and assessments.
• Units - Plans all expeditions backwards, aligned with high standards, state assessments, and all Bloom’s levels; documents and shares all lessons with supervisor at a minimum of two (2) weeks in advance.
• Assessments - Plans diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments to closely monitor student learning.
• Anticipation - Anticipates students’ misconceptions and confusions and develops multiple strategies to overcome them.
• Lessons - Designs lessons with clear, measurable goals closely aligned with standards and expedition outcomes.
• Engagement - Designs highly relevant lessons that will motivate all students and engage them in active learning
• Materials - Designs lessons that use an effective mix of high-quality, multicultural learning materials and technology.
• Differentiation -  Designs lessons that break down complex tasks and address all learning needs, styles, and interests.
• Environment - Artfully uses room arrangement, materials, and displays to maximize student learning of all material, focusing on learning targets and student work.

Classroom Management

• Expectations - Is direct, specific, consistent, and tenacious in communicating and enforcing high expectations.
• Relationships - Shows warmth, caring, respect, and fairness for all students and builds strong relationships.
• Respect - Wins all students’ respect and creates a climate in which disruption of learning is unthinkable.
• Social-emotional - Implements a program that successfully develops positive interactions and social-emotional skills.
• Routines - Successfully inculcates class routines up front so that students maintain them throughout the year.
• Responsibility - Successfully develops students’ self-discipline, self-confidence, and a sense of responsibility.
• Repertoire - Has a highly effective discipline repertoire and can capture and hold students’ attention any time.
• Efficiency - Skillfully uses coherence, momentum, and transitions so that every minute of the classroom time produces learning.
• Prevention - Is alert, poised, dynamic, and self-assured and nips virtually all discipline problems in the bud.
• Incentives - Gets students to buy into a highly effective system of incentives linked to intrinsic rewards.

Delivery of Instruction

• Expectations - Exudes high expectations and determination and convinces all students that they will master the material.
• Mindset - Actively inculcates a “growth” mindset: take risks, learn from mistakes, through effective effort you can and will achieve at high levels.
• Goals - Shows students exactly what’s expected by posting learning targets, essential questions, rubrics, and examples.
• Connections - Hooks all students’ interest and makes connections into prior knowledge, experience, and reading.
• Clarity - Always presents material clearly and explicitly, with well-chosen examples and vivid and appropriate language.
• Repertoire - Orchestrates highly effective strategies, materials, and groupings to involve and motivate all students.
• Engagement - Engages all students in focused work in which they are active learners and problem solvers.
• Differentiation - Successfully reaches all students by skillfully differentiating and scaffolding.
• Nimbleness - Deftly adapts lessons and units to exploit teachable moments and correct misunderstandings.
• Application - Consistently has all students summarize and internalize what they learn and apply it to real-life situations.

Monitoring, Assessment and Follow-Up

• Criteria - Posts and reviews clear criteria for proficient work, including rubrics and examples, and all students internalize them.
• Diagnosis - Gives students a well-constructed diagnostic assessment up front, and uses the information to fine-tune instruction.
• On-the-Spot - Continuously uses a variety of effective methods to check for understanding; immediately unscrambles confusion and clarifies.
• Self-Assessment - Sets ambitious goals with students, continually self-assesses, and takes responsibility for improving performance.
• Recognition - Frequently posts students’ work with rubrics and commentary to celebrate progress and motivate direct effort.
• Interims - Works with colleagues to use interim assessment data, fine-tune teaching, re-teach, and help struggling students.
• Tenacity - Relentlessly follows up with struggling students with personal attention (time and support) so they all reach proficiency.
• Support - Makes sure that students who need specialized diagnosis and help receive appropriate services immediately.
• Analysis - Works with colleagues to analyze chart data, draw action conclusions, and leverage student growth.
• Reflection - Constantly reflects on what worked and what didn’t to continuously improve instruction.

Family and Community Outreach

• Respect - Shows great sensitivity and respect for family and community culture, values, and beliefs.
• Belief - Shows each parent/guardian an in-depth knowledge of their child and a strong belief they will meet or exceed standards.
• Expectations - Gives parents/guardians clear, user-friendly learning and behavior expectations and examples of proficient work.
• Communication - Makes sure that parents/guardians hear positive news about their children first and immediately flags any problems.
• Involving - Frequently involves parents/guardians in supporting and enriching the curriculum for their children as it unfolds.
• Assignments - Assigns highly-engaging assignments, gets close to 100% return, and provides rich feedback.
• Responsiveness - Deals immediately and successfully with parent/guardian concerns and makes the parent/guardian feel welcome at any time.
• Reporting - In conferences, report cards, and informal talks, gives parents/guardians detailed feedback on their children’s progress.
• Outreach - Is successful in contacting and working with all parent/guardians, including those who are hard to reach.
• Resources - Successfully enlists classroom volunteers and extra resources from homes and the community to enrich the curriculum.

Professional Responsibilities

• Attendance & Punctuality - Has perfect or near-perfect attendance and punctuality
• Language - In professional contexts, speaks and writes appropriately, succinctly, and eloquently.
• Reliability - Carries out assignments conscientiously and punctually, keeps meticulous records, and is never late.
• Professionalism - Presents as a consummate professional and always observes appropriate boundaries.
• Judgment - Is invariably ethical, honest, and forthright, uses impeccable judgment, and respects confidentiality.
• Above-and-beyond - Is an important member of teacher teams and committees and frequently attends after-school activities.
• Leadership - Frequently contributes valuable ideas and expertise and instills in others a desire to improve students' results.
• Openness - Actively seeks out feedback and suggestions and uses them to improve performance.
• Collaboration - Meets at least weekly with colleagues to plan units, share ideas, and analyze interim assessments.
• Growth - Actively reaches out for new ideas and engages in professional development with colleagues to figure out what works best.
• Administrative Feedback - Informs the administration of any concerns and reaches out for help and suggestions when needed.