Music Teacher

Codman Academy Charter School • Boston, MA

50d • $62,000 - $121,504 • Onsite

About The Position

The Music 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.

Requirements

• Subject area expertise and a cutting-edge grasp of child development and how students learn.
• Well-honed game plan for the year that is tightly aligned with state standards and assessments.
• Expeditions planned backwards, aligned with high standards, state assessments, and all Bloom’s levels.
• Diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments to closely monitor student learning.
• Strategies to overcome students’ misconceptions and confusions.
• Lessons with clear, measurable goals closely aligned with standards and expedition outcomes.
• Highly relevant lessons that will motivate all students and engage them in active learning.
• Lessons using an effective mix of high-quality, multicultural learning materials and technology.
• Lessons that break down complex tasks and address all learning needs, styles, and interests.
• Room arrangement, materials, and displays that maximize student learning, focusing on learning targets and student work.
• Direct, specific, consistent, and tenacious communication and enforcement of high expectations.
• Warmth, caring, respect, and fairness for all students, building strong relationships.
• Winning all students’ respect and creating a climate in which disruption of learning is unthinkable.
• A program that successfully develops positive interactions and social-emotional skills.
• Inculcation of class routines up front so that students maintain them throughout the year.
• Development of students’ self-discipline, self-confidence, and a sense of responsibility.
• A highly effective discipline repertoire and ability to capture and hold students’ attention.
• Skillful use of coherence, momentum, and transitions to maximize learning.
• Alertness, poise, dynamism, and self-assurance to nip discipline problems in the bud.
• A highly effective system of incentives linked to intrinsic rewards.
• Exuding high expectations and determination to convince all students they will master the material.
• Active inculcation of a “growth” mindset.
• Posting learning targets, essential questions, rubrics, and exemplars.
• Hooking all students’ interest and making connections into prior knowledge, experience, and reading.
• Clear and explicit presentation of material with well-chosen examples and vivid and appropriate language.
• Orchestration of highly effective strategies, materials, and groupings to involve and motivate all students.
• Engagement of all students in focused work where they are active learners and problem solvers.
• Skillful differentiation and scaffolding to reach all students.
• Adaptation of lessons and units to exploit teachable moments and correct misunderstandings.
• Consistent summarization and internalization of learned material by all students, with application to real-life situations.
• Clear criteria for proficient work, including rubrics and exemplars, internalized by all students.
• Well-constructed diagnostic assessment up front, with information used to fine-tune instruction.
• Continuous use of a variety of effective methods to check for understanding, immediately addressing confusion.
• Setting ambitious goals with students, continuous self-assessment, and taking responsibility for improving performance.
• Frequent posting of students’ work with rubrics and commentary to celebrate progress and motivate effort.
• Use of interim assessment data with colleagues to fine-tune teaching, re-teach, and help struggling students.
• Relentless follow-up with struggling students with personal attention (time and support).
• Ensuring students needing specialized diagnosis and help receive appropriate services immediately.
• Analysis of chart data with colleagues, drawing action conclusions, and leveraging student growth.
• Constant reflection on what worked and what didn’t to continuously improve instruction.
• Great sensitivity and respect for family and community culture, values, and beliefs.
• Showing each parent/guardian an in-depth knowledge of their child and a strong belief they will meet or exceed standards.
• Clear, user-friendly learning and behavior expectations and exemplars of proficient work for parents/guardians.
• Ensuring parents/guardians hear positive news about their children first and immediately flagging any problems.
• Frequent involvement of parents/guardians in supporting and enriching the curriculum.
• Assignment of highly-engaging assignments with close to 100% return and rich feedback.
• Immediate and successful dealing with parent/guardian concerns, making them feel welcome.
• Detailed feedback on children’s progress in conferences, report cards, and informal talks.
• Successful contact and work with all parent/guardians, including those who are hard to reach.
• Enlistment of classroom volunteers and extra resources from homes and the community.
• Perfect or near-perfect attendance and punctuality.
• Appropriate, succinct, and eloquent speaking and writing in professional contexts.
• Conscientious and punctual carrying out of assignments, meticulous record-keeping, and never being late.
• Presentation as a consummate professional, always observing appropriate boundaries.
• Invariable ethics, honesty, and forthrightness, impeccable judgment, and respect for confidentiality.
• Being an important member of teacher teams and committees and frequently attending after-school activities.
• Frequent contribution of valuable ideas and expertise, instilling in others a desire to improve student results.
• Active seeking out of feedback and suggestions and using them to improve performance.
• Weekly meetings with colleagues to plan units, share ideas, and analyze interim assessments.
• Active outreach for new ideas and engagement in professional development with colleagues.
• Informing the administration of any concerns and reaching out for help and suggestions when needed.
• Upholding the ideal of being crew, not passengers, by supporting each other in reaching shared goals.
• Modeling and implementing EL Education design principles and core practices.
• Participating in duties and responsibilities consistent with building, upholding and promoting a strong Codman community.
• Actively valuing and soliciting feedback to improve performance.
• Sharing responsibility for management and supervision of additional daily duties (breakfast, lunch, recess, crew, club, work block, office hours).
• Ensuring teacher schedules include a 30-minute lunch break per day.
• Ensuring teacher schedules include 4 hours of prep time per week (Monday through Thursday).

Responsibilities

• Planning and Preparation for Learning: Demonstrates subject area expertise and a cutting-edge grasp of child development and how students learn. Develops a well-honed game plan for the year that is tightly aligned with state standards and assessments. 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. Plans diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments to closely monitor student learning. Anticipates students’ misconceptions and confusions and develops multiple strategies to overcome them. Designs lessons with clear, measurable goals closely aligned with standards and expedition outcomes. Designs highly relevant lessons that will motivate all students and engage them in active learning. Designs lessons that use an effective mix of high-quality, multicultural learning materials and technology. Designs lessons that break down complex tasks and address all learning needs, styles, and interests. Artfully uses room arrangement, materials, and displays to maximize student learning of all material, focusing on learning targets and student work.
• Classroom Management: Is direct, specific, consistent, and tenacious in communicating and enforcing high expectations. Shows warmth, caring, respect, and fairness for all students and builds strong relationships. Wins all students’ respect and creates a climate in which disruption of learning is unthinkable. Implements a program that successfully develops positive interactions and social-emotional skills. Successfully inculcates class routines up front so that students maintain them throughout the year. Successfully develops students’ self-discipline, self-confidence, and a sense of responsibility. Has a highly effective discipline repertoire and can capture and hold students’ attention any time. Skillfully uses coherence, momentum, and transitions so that every minute of the classroom time produces learning. Is alert, poised, dynamic, and self-assured and nips virtually all discipline problems in the bud. Gets students to buy into a highly effective system of incentives linked to intrinsic rewards.
• Delivery of Instruction: Exudes high expectations and determination and convinces all students that they will master the material. Actively inculcates a “growth” mindset: take risks, learn from mistakes, through effective effort you can and will achieve at high levels. Shows students exactly what’s expected by posting learning targets, essential questions, rubrics, and exemplars. Hooks all students’ interest and makes connections into prior knowledge, experience, and reading. Always presents material clearly and explicitly, with well-chosen examples and vivid and appropriate language. Orchestrates highly effective strategies, materials, and groupings to involve and motivate all students. Engages all students in focused work in which they are active learners and problem solvers. Successfully reaches all students by skillfully differentiating and scaffolding. Deftly adapts lessons and units to exploit teachable moments and correct misunderstandings. Consistently has all students summarize and internalize what they learn and apply it to real-life situations.
• Monitoring, Assessment and Follow-Up: Posts and reviews clear criteria for proficient work, including rubrics and exemplars, and all students internalize them. Gives students a well-constructed diagnostic assessment up front, and uses the information to fine-tune instruction. Continuously uses a variety of effective methods to check for understanding; immediately unscrambles confusion and clarifies. Sets ambitious goals with students, continually self-assesses, and takes responsibility for improving performance. Frequently posts students’ work with rubrics and commentary to celebrate progress and motivate direct effort. Works with colleagues to use interim assessment data, fine-tune teaching, re-teach, and help struggling students. Relentlessly follows up with struggling students with personal attention (time and support) so they all reach proficiency. Makes sure that students who need specialized diagnosis and help receive appropriate services immediately. Works with colleagues to analyze chart data, draw action conclusions, and leverage student growth. Constantly reflects on what worked and what didn’t to continuously improve instruction.
• Family and Community Outreach: Shows great sensitivity and respect for family and community culture, values, and beliefs. Shows each parent/guardian an in-depth knowledge of their child and a strong belief they will meet or exceed standards. Gives parents/guardians clear, user-friendly learning and behavior expectations and exemplars of proficient work. Makes sure that parents/guardians hear positive news about their children first and immediately flags any problems. Frequently involves parents/guardians in supporting and enriching the curriculum for their children as it unfolds. Assigns highly-engaging assignments, gets close to 100% return, and provides rich feedback. Deals immediately and successfully with parent/guardian concerns and makes parent/guardian feel welcome at any time. In conferences, report cards, and informal talks, gives parents/guardians detailed feedback on their children’s progress. Is successful in contacting and working with all parent/guardians, including those who are hard to reach. Successfully enlists classroom volunteers and extra resources from homes and the community to enrich the curriculum.
• Professional Responsibilities: Has perfect or near-perfect attendance and punctuality. In professional contexts, speaks and writes appropriately, succinctly, and eloquently. Carries out assignments conscientiously and punctually, keeps meticulous records, and is never late. Presents as a consummate professional and always observes appropriate boundaries. Is invariably ethical, honest, and forthright, uses impeccable judgment, and respects confidentiality. Is an important member of teacher teams and committees and frequently attends after-school activities. Frequently contributes valuable ideas and expertise and instills in others a desire to improve students results. Actively seeks out feedback and suggestions and uses them to improve performance. Meets at least weekly with colleagues to plan units, share ideas, and analyze interim assessments. Actively reaches out for new ideas and engages in professional development with colleagues to figure out what works best. Informs the administration of any concerns and reaches out for help and suggestions when needed.
• Stewardship: Uphold the ideal of being crew, not passengers, by supporting each other in reaching shared goals. Model and implement EL Education design principles and core practices in roles as teachers and role models. Advance the educational mission of the school by participating in duties and responsibilities consistent with building, upholding and promoting a strong Codman community. Actively value and solicit feedback to improve performance. Share responsibility for management and supervision of additional daily duties, including but not limited to breakfast, lunch, recess, crew, club, work block, and office hours. Ensure teacher schedules include a 30-minute lunch break per day and 4 hours of prep time per week (Monday through Thursday).

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: No Education Listed