Content Specialist, Dallas-Fort Worth (Temporary)

Teach For America • Dallas, TX

6d

About The Position

Content Specialists are a part of our TFA-Texas Pre-Service Team. Content Specialists are responsible for facilitating high quality professional development sessions to our incoming corps members. The ideal Content Specialist is someone who enjoys whole group facilitation, has interest in adult learning, makes strong in the moment decisions, and is engaging in large group settings. All Pre-Service professional development sessions are pre-designed and aligned to the Corps Member Learning Outcomes: Rigorous Instruction, Learning Environment, Learning and Relationships. Content Specialists are responsible for making content related edits to pre-written session plans, internalizing the district’s chosen curriculum, and preparing all materials for execution. We will be hiring Content Specialists to facilitate the following CM Learning Sessions: Student Curriculum Exploration - CMs learn their content/grade placement, open up their student curriculum, and start to explore and get familiar with their curriculum. Learning Environment Plan- CMs are introduced to the schools LE requirements and the concept of a LE plan. They are given an assignment to construct/internalize/personal their own learning environment plan for their practicum classroom. Skills Labs- These spaces will split time focusing on (1) lesson preparation using the curricular literacy protocol and integrating SEL and (2) lesson rehearsals. While all four domains of Pre-Service will be strengthened during these spaces, the main focus will be Rigorous Instruction. Our Pre-Service training team will prepare teachers to provide students with a high-quality education, and to pursue a lifetime commitment to advancing educational equity and excellence. Learning will be focused on concepts that sit at the heart of our work, including culturally relevant pedagogy, anti-racist teacher leadership, universal design for learning, and social emotional learning.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required
• At least 4 years of teaching experience
• At least 2-3 years working with novice teachers in a facilitation, development, coaching, or support role, specifically focused on their instructional practice
• Strong knowledge and understanding of instructional practice in your content area, as well as a commitment to developing a nuanced and rigorous understanding of how the instructional practice lives out in the Pre-Service context
• Strong personal commitment to Culturally Relevant Pedagogy as the key framework through which we think about classroom teaching
• Demonstrated commitment to engaging in personal reflection, giving and receiving feedback, and identifying and responding to trends
• Demonstrated ability to support the development of others through feedback, modeling, rehearsing, debrief conversations, and leading development opportunities
• Ability to synthesize multiple arcs of learning and frameworks, such that learning is concrete and applicable for Corps Members
• Commitment to deepening learning around curricular literacy as our central approach to teacher lesson and unit preparation, recognizing that this is divergent from previous ways of thinking about traditional “lesson planning”
• Adeptness with Zoom and other virtual platforms
• Ability to work occasional weekend or evening work hours required for Spring Training

Nice To Haves

• Previous Pre-Service, VSTT, or Institute experience strongly preferred, but not required.

Responsibilities

• Internalize the district’s chosen curriculum
• Create and manage curriculum folders
• Create curriculum video walkthroughs for CMs
• Session Facilitation ~2.5 hours per session 1-1.5 hours for each session, and an additional .5 hour set up/clean-up. 2-3 sessions per week during practicum.
• Session Preparation ~ 2.5 hours per session Since sessions are already pre-designed, preparation and internalizing will have 2 parts: (1 hour Zoom meeting with TFA regional staff members to review session design, key points, and hot spots.1.5 hour independent preparation.)
• Partner with mentor teachers to provide lesson feedback to CMs
• Office Hours ~4 hours per week 1 hour of content-specific office hours in person (for each campus) 1 hour of content-specific office hours virtual (for each campus)

What This Job Offers

• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 101-250 employees