What are the responsibilities and job description for the Elementary School Spanish Support Teacher position at Focused Staffing?
Position: Elementary School Spanish Support Teacher (Kindergarten, Grade 1 & 2)
Rate: Up to $20 per hour
Overview:
The Spanish Support Teacher plays a crucial role in enhancing the educational experience of children, helping them thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. This position involves supporting lead Spanish teachers in creating a student-centered learning environment that honors the culture and identity of every child.
In early childhood, students engage in all content areas taught in Spanish for approximately 90% of the school day, while early literacy and math skills are taught in English for about 10%. As students progress to elementary school (Kindergarten through 5th grade), a balanced 50/50 model is employed, where standards-based instruction aligned with the Common Core State Standards is delivered equally in both Spanish and English. The Spanish Support Teacher collaborates closely with the lead Spanish teacher to implement lessons in the partner language and serves as a model for language use. Additionally, they facilitate small group instruction and lead mini-lessons regularly.
Together, the teachers work to foster a warm and inviting learning environment, build strong relationships with students and families, design effective lessons, analyze data, and engage with the broader school community. Under the direct supervision of the Director of Teaching & Learning, Spanish Support Teachers will work collaboratively with lead teachers and leadership team members to understand and respond to the needs of students and families while implementing plans that align with the mission, vision, and key pillars of the school, all while focusing on delivering high-quality dual language instruction.
Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:
School Mission and Vision
- Implement a shared school mission and vision to promote each student’s social, emotional, and academic development
- Inform lesson plans developed by the lead teacher for alignment to the mission and vision
- Actively participate in data-driven instruction and methods of continuous improvement to ensure we meet the needs of each student
- Reflect on instructional practices and adjust behavior and systems accordingly: ask regularly for feedback; model humility and admit mistakes; seek out thought partners; and, engage in professional learning
- Collaborate with lead teachers and other staff to ensure proper and consistent implementation of our instructional program
Equitable and Inclusive School Culture
- Model ethical, equitable, and professional behavior and acts with integrity, fairness, cultural competence, and empathy with students and colleagues
- Contribute to a professional school culture focused on developing relational trust with colleagues and building each other's capacity to promote each student’s social, emotional, and academic development; serves as a mentor teacher for support teachers
- Set personal and professional learning goals to promote wellness and enhance professional practice; attend summer institute and weekly professional development sessions
- Participate in professional development and coaching cycles led by Director of Teaching & Learning and other instructional leaders
- Encourages open, productive, collaborative, and trusting working relationships among administrators, teachers, and staff to promote an environment of continuous improvement
- Develop a supportive and positive learning environment focused on uplifting student voice and using student data to drive student development, growth and achievement
Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment, & Support
- Collaborate with the Spanish Lead teacher to plan and teach all core subjects - Spanish Language Arts (and Culture), as well as math, science, and social and cultural studies
- Utilize culturally sustaining and anti-bias/anti-racist practices (along with data) to inform and guide daily instruction; incorporate student cultures, interests, and experiences into lessons and activities
- Support the lead teacher with setting clear and measurable goals throughout the year for every student in all areas of study; support the lead teacher with regularly assessing the progress of each child and providing differentiated, child-centered instruction to meet the needs of each child on a daily basis
- Actively participate in data-analysis cycles and protocols in order to evaluate and increase rigor, coherence, impact, and equity of curriculum, instruction, and assessment
- Collaboratively plan weekly with lead teachers and teaching teams to develop holistic lesson plans that foster self-directed learning
- Ensure that each student has equitable access to classroom materials, texts, learning resources and opportunities, academic and social-emotional supports, and other resources in the target language
Equitable and Inclusive Student Support
- Contribute to an inclusive, equitable, caring, and culturally competent learning environment that meets the academic, social, emotional, and physical needs of each student
- Maintains positive, fair, and unbiased student behavior policies that emphasize relationship reconciliation and behavioral change
- Works closely with teachers and staff to recognize and employ each student’s strengths and differences as assets for teaching and learning
- Use student performance and placement data, as well as school culture data, to promote greater inclusiveness, caring, equity, and closure of opportunity gaps
Family Engagement
- Maintain open, welcoming, and ongoing communication with families regarding student progress that values inclusiveness and builds trust
- Provide routine, two-way communication with families about school activities and culture, student performance and development, and school initiatives
- Build and sustain positive, collaborative, and productive relationships with families to ensure student success
- Engage parents and families in meaningful, reciprocal, and mutually beneficial ways to promote each student’s social, emotional, and academic development
- Participate in parent conferences and school-wide events and contributes to the broader school community
The ideal candidate is highly knowledgeable in the following:
- Effective bilingual and language acquisition strategies
- Research-based, tiered instructional strategies
- Early Childhood curriculum, instruction, & development
- Data analysis protocols
- Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy
- Anti-racist beliefs and practices
- Responsive Classroom/Restorative Justice/Conscious Discipline
- Readers and Writers Workshop & Play-Based Centers
Support Teacher Requirements
- At least two years of experience as a Spanish Support Teacher preferred
- Progressing towards meeting state educational requirements, preferably a valid state-issued teaching license for Teaching in elementary education or meet eligibility, including a Bachelor’s degree in Education and passing scores on Praxis I & II
- Experience and knowledge of learning standards and student-centered curriculum
- An energetic, flexible, creative, innovative individual who can develop strengths-based, student-centered support plans that support learning for students of various abilities, including those with various identified exceptionalities
- Ability to excel as a member of a multidisciplinary team and an instructional team
- Ability to work in a multicultural, multilingual environment
- Ability to collaborate and teach through a lens of diversity, equity, justice, and inclusion
- Communication skills (both oral and written)
Salary : $20