Teacher - Spanish (SEI Endorsement Required) (SY 25-26)

Position: Spanish Teacher

Position Type: Full-time

Department: World Languages

Location: Watertown High School

Reports to: Principal/World Languages Coordinator

Affiliation: WEA Unit A

Salary range: As determined by the WEA Unit A contract

General Description:

Watertown Public Schools seeks an exceptional Spanish Teacher who is highly qualified and knowledgeable to join our community of teachers, learners, and leaders. This is an exciting opportunity for teachers who desire to serve where their efforts matter.

Responsibilities:

• Demonstrates mastery of related subject matter, instructional skills, and resource materials for the course(s) taught.
• Utilizes lesson plans and units of instruction, aligned with current state and district standards, which drives instruction through formative assessment and differentiation.
• Maintains a safe, organized classroom, which supports students’ independent learning, collaboration, and choice.
• Utilizes a variety of effective instructional and management techniques.
• Provides a variety of assessments and uses assessments for planning and instruction
• Provides consistent, immediate feedback to student learning and asks analytical questions that elicit students’ responses that incorporate prior knowledge, life experience, and interests that are directly related to the content objective.
• Monitors and maintains a positive classroom environment that supports the school-wide behavior expectation in which most students are engaged, incorporates mutual respect, and provides cooperative learning opportunities.
• Uses available technology/instructional media to enhance the students’ learning experiences.
• Establishes and maintains appropriate relationships with students, parents, staff, and community members by communicating in a tactful, courteous, and confidential manner.
• Appropriately communicates and interacts with other professional staff in academic planning and school committee work.
• Attends and participates in staff meetings and school-related activities and committees.
• Demonstrates a commitment to continuous professional growth and works with the administrator to formulate and complete professional growth plans.
• Candidates should be passionate about teaching, have strong academic knowledge and facility with a World Languages curriculum, and be able to work well with high school students.
• Watertown is committed to the practice of teaching world languages for proficiency. Candidates should have a strong background in the ACTFL proficiency guidelines and current Massachusetts Standards for teaching a world language.

Core Competencies: Using the Massachusetts Model System for Educators Rubric, priority skills and abilities that all Watertown Public School teachers should possess:

Curriculum, Planning, and Assessment

(Subject Matter Knowledge, Well-Structured Lessons, Curriculum and Planning Indicator, Child and Adolescent Development)

• Demonstrates mastery of and enthusiasm for the content area and the pedagogy it requires
• Can convey a grasp of child development and how students learn
• Designs effective and rigorous standards based units of instruction consisting of well-structured lessons with measurable outcomes.

Teaching All Students

(Meeting Diverse Needs, Student Engagement, Safe Learning Environment)

• Uses instructional practices that are likely to challenge, motivate, and engage all students and facilitate equitable, active student participation
• Builds a productive learning environment where every student participates and is valued as part of the class community
• Cultural Proficiency
• Actively creates and maintains an environment in which students’ diverse backgrounds, identities, strengths, and challenges are respected

Family and Community Engagement

(Parent/Family Engagement)

• Engages with families and builds collaborative, respectful relationships with them in service of student learning
• Professional Reflection & Collaboration

Professional Culture

(Reflective Practice, Professional Collaboration)

• Regularly reflects on practice, seeks and responds to feedback, and demonstrates self-awareness and commitment to continuous learning and development
• Seeks to participate in and contribute to a collaborative adult learning community.

Qualifications Required:

• Hold a current MA DESE licensure in Foreign Language - Spanish 5-12
• Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited college or university, preferably in Spanish
• The ability to understand and meet the expectations of the Massachusetts Standards and Indicators of Effective Teaching Practice as specific by the MA DESE
• SEI Endorsement

Preferred:

• Experience in a school setting
• Experience as a High School Spanish teacher
• In order to best serve all students, We prefer all core content teachers to be certified in their subject area and one or both of the following: Moderate Disabilities, English as a Second Language (at the appropriate grade level(s).

Physical Demands:

Must have the ability to sit and stand for extended periods of time; exhibit manual dexterity to dial a telephone, to enter data into a computer; to see and read a computer screen and printed material with or without vision aids; hear and understand speech at normal classroom levels, outdoors and on the telephone; speak in audible tones so that others may understand clearly in normal classrooms, outdoors and on the telephone; physical agility to lift up to 25 pounds to shoulder height and 50 pounds to waist height; and to bend, stoop, sit on the floor, climb stairs, walk and reach overhead.

Equal Opportunity Employer
Watertown Public Schools is committed to maintaining a work and learning environment free from discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, pregnancy, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital/civil union status, ancestry, place of birth, age, citizenship status, veteran status, political affiliation, genetic information or disability, as defined and required by state and federal laws. Additionally, we prohibit retaliation against individuals who oppose such discrimination and harassment or who participate in an equal opportunity investigation.