Bachelor`s and Master`s Degrees

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Humanities Coach
Job Category: BTU
Type: Full time
Positions available: 2
Salary: BTU plus 10% (201 work days)
Education: Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees
Languages: English; additional languages, especially proficiency in Spanish and
Haitian Creole helpful
Last day to apply: July 15, 2008
Start Date: August 15, 2008
The Boston Public Schools has recently opened and developed small high schools with a curricular
platform that features integrated Humanities courses in place of traditional coursework in English
Language Arts and History. In each of the last three years, BPS Humanities schools have received
substantial support with respect to the purchasing of new resources, instructional and leadership
coaching, curriculum writing and documentation, and a wide array of professional development offerings
provided by our partner organizations and our own staff.
The role of the Humanities Coach will be to develop a co-taught model Humanities classroom and to
assist the other Humanities team members in the ongoing curriculum, professional, and program
development in Humanities in our small high schools. The Coach will work directly with the Program
Director for Humanities, the other Coaches, Humanities teachers and school leaders in the new small
schools, and representatives from our partner organizations and will be supervised by the Program
Director for Humanities.
Primary Responsibilities

Establish a co-taught model Humanities classroom:
o Plan and implement lessons for one Humanities
class with a full-time Humanities teacher
o Meet regularly with the co-teacher to reflect on and
refine practice in order to improve outcomes for
students
o Open classroom to regular visits by other
Humanities teachers and school leaders from a
variety of schools
o Document and refine co-taught curriculum and
student work for sharing and publication

Support Humanities teachers in two small high schools by:
o Assisting with the development of curriculum units,
lesson plans, and authentic assessments
o Modeling best teaching practices in teachers’
classrooms
o Finding and recommending classroom materials
o Observing teachers’ practice and providing
feedback in the spirit of a “critical friend”
o Facilitating and co-planning weekly team meetings
after school
o Participating in summer planning for the coming
school year in each school
o Communicating regularly by phone and e-mail with
teachers in assigned schools
o Participating in the archiving (electronic and paper)
of teacher and student work at each school
o Helping Humanities teachers develop useful habits,
systems, practices, and dispositions


Support headmasters and other school leaders involved in
Humanities development in small high schools by:
o Keeping school leaders informed of teachers’
progress and challenges, as well as the progress
and challenges of the school’s Humanities team
o Coordinating services with other coaches and
support staff, including literacy and history coaches,
writing coaches from WriteBoston, Facing History
and Ourselves, etc.
o Recommending
resources
and
professional
development activities for teachers
o Participating in the analysis of student achievement
data in Humanities over the course of the year and
in solutions-based planning and action that results
from this analysis
Support the development of the Humanities knowledge and
resource base of the Boston Public Schools by:
o Carefully reflecting on and documenting coaching
and teaching work and sharing that documentation
with the Program Director for Humanities on a biweekly basis
o Contributing substantially to the development and
revision of model units of study that will be made
available electronically to teachers across the
district.
Attending and occasionally facilitating
monthly meetings of the Team.
o Preparing and facilitating workshops for Humanities
teachers after school and at the Humanities
Summer Institute, both individually and in
conjunction with community partners involved in
Humanities professional development
o Attending regular meetings with the other
Humanities Coaches and the Program Director for
Humanities.
Providing critical friendship to
members of this group and keeping the Program
Director for Humanities informed of progress and
challenges at the school level.
Additional Responsibilities





Coordinating Humanities materials requests from assigned
schools and conveying this information to the Program
Director for Humanities
Attending professional development workshops and
institutes that increase capacity and content knowledge
Maintaining accurate records of teacher attendance at afterschool meetings and workshops. Submitting those records
a timely way to the Program Director for Humanities so that
teachers can be paid agreed-upon stipends
Occasionally participating in conversations with BPS
Central Office staff to review Humanities development
progress
Occasionally representing the Boston Public Schools in
conversations with others involved in Humanities
development nationally
Qualifications:
 Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees
 Five years’ minimum effective interdisciplinary instruction, preferably in an urban small school
setting, including a demonstrated grasp of
o various historical eras
o literary genres and eras
o writing instruction
o authentic assessment
o interdisciplinary pedagogy
o differentiated instruction
o instructional technologies
o infusion of art and music
o adolescent literacy strategies
 Understanding of and experience with organizational development
 Facility with MS Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, as well as e-mail, internet, and electronic
resources
 Ability to write clearly, succinctly, and accurately
 Ability to research and complete data analysis
 Excellent verbal communication skills
 Excellent group facilitation skills
 Excellent organizational skills, including regular and prompt follow-through
 Demonstrated ability to work as a member of a fast-paced, dynamic team
 Excellent interpersonal skills, including:
o good judgment and discretion in sensitive situations
o the ability to convey critical feedback constructively
o tolerance and respect in a workplace that is racially, linguistically, ethnically, and
sexually diverse
o good conflict management skills, especially the capacity to anticipate, prevent, and deescalate conflict
o Flexibility and an openness to new learning
o Good humor and grace under pressure
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