Substitute Teacher for the Art Department

The Girls' Middle School • Palo Alto, CA

75d • $30 - $40

About The Position

Imagine a school where each day is alive with learning, creativity, and a spirit of adventure. The Girls’ Middle School is committed to progressive education and innovative programming, meeting the needs of a wide range of middle school students. Our project-based curriculum encourages creativity, problem-solving, and independent thought. Attention to girls’ emotional and social growth develops self-knowledge and confidence as well as teamwork and leadership skills. Learn more about GMS: www.girlsms.org. GMS celebrates all perspectives coming together in community. We want teachers with varied experiences, because we know diversity enriches us all. Working at GMS In the GMS Art Program, students experience drawing, painting, ceramics, woodworking, metalworking, digital photography, and video production. In exploring wide-ranging media and techniques, they gain confidence in their ability to experiment and take creative risks. At the same time, they learn to use powerful tools for expressing themselves as artists. GMS seeks a part-time Art Faculty member who can be a substitute Art teacher. We're seeking an on-call Art Faculty substitute role to support our classes. Depending on the schedule, this role will include teaching art and possibly woodworking. As this is an on-call position, the exact schedule would depend on the classes needing coverage any given week. The ideal candidate will have strong classroom management skills and experience teaching art, woodworking, or a related field. They will have a passion for creating and can communicate and share that passion with their students joyfully. They will be friendly, enthusiastic, proactive, and forward-thinking. They will be detail-oriented, well-organized, able to support curriculum, meet GMS standards, and possess strong time-management skills.

Requirements

• Experience in middle school classroom management, and being comfortable around power tools in the shop, or a related field.
• Experience in teaching art, woodworking, or a related field.
• Commitment to experiential, project-based learning, and other progressive pedagogies.
• Ability to positively engage partners and collaborate closely with fellow educators.
• Ability to be organized, adaptable, and a proactive self-starter in a dynamic classroom environment, and work independently.
• Able to calmly step in when students are using tools unsafely — able to spot risky behavior (like holding wood the wrong way) and redirect safely

Nice To Haves

• Demonstrated focus on supporting girls in discovering their strengths.

Responsibilities

• Support the art department as an on-call substitute teacher; communicate with the lead teacher and sustain creative learning, adapt to diverse classroom environments, and engage students in hands-on artistic exploration.
• Inspire students to experience art as a joyful process and an extension of themselves
• Educate students by supporting their active creation and analytical skill-building
• Ensure students gain confidence in their own artistic ability and self-expression through art through guidance and supportive feedback
• Model and communicate the importance of safety as a core part of learning in the woodshop. Helping students build awareness through demonstrations, reminders, and hands-on guidance.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Part-time
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 51-100 employees