Lower School Learning Specialist
Grades PK-5
Blake Campus, Hopkins
2008-2009
|
The Blake School seeks to hire an experienced Learning Specialist to join our Lower School faculty on our Hopkins campus. At Blake, all of our students are prepared to participate in an academically challenging educational environment. Our responsibility as educators is to ensure that the students tap their natural curiosity to ask important questions and develop multiple methodologies for pursuing the answers to these essential questions. Through persistent pursuit of knowledge and understanding, students come to believe in themselves as thinkers and confident problem solvers. In collaboration with peers and teachers, students explore, experiment and hypothesize. Respect for the child is the single most important tenet of high quality elementary education. In planning a developmentally appropriate learning environment, teachers listen to and observe children in order to design learning opportunities that respond to children's needs, interests and learning profiles. Global studies, service, physical education, and the arts are integral to the development of the whole child at The Blake School. We value and celebrate the life of the mind and the heart by activating all modalities of learning.
Early identification and appropriate intervention are critically important in serving Lower School students well. Diagnosing a learning difference and providing targeted support can diminish children's feelings of inadequacy or failure while giving them tools and strategies to experience success in our program. Recognizing and responding to the academic needs of exceptionally bright students is equally important; nurturing these children's passions and interests is often the primary pathway to sustaining their engagement in the school environment. Differentiated instruction is key to effective teaching.
The Lower School Learning Specialist identifies and monitors students' academic needs; provides direct services to selected students; trains faculty and staff in differentiation strategies; educates parents; serves as a resource for faculty and parents; and documents students' progress during their elementary years. The Learning Specialist is a vital member of the PK-5 Student Study Team.
Responsibilities:
- Oversee PK-5 students' longitudinal academic progress, in concert with the Lower School administrators and counselor
- Maintain detailed student records (e.g., internal and external assessments, a list of intervention strategies attempted and their effectiveness, parent conference notes, and progress reports) of children receiving special services
- Serve as the campus point person (expert) for learning differences with teachers and parents
- Provide direct services to small groups of students who need remediation, personalized instruction or enrichment, particularly in language arts and mathematics
- Assess individual students who are experiencing learning difficulties using screening instruments such as the Gray Oral Reading Assessment, Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment, and Orton-Gillingham Assessment
- Work in partnership with parents to identify students' learning needs and determine the most effective support inside and outside of the school setting
- Communicate openly, honestly and frequently with parents about their children's successes and struggles
- Document student progress in written reports
- Direct and supervise the work of the Learning Specialist Teaching Assistant
- Develop a comprehensive knowledge of and working relationship with external service providers in areas such as: psychoeducational assessment; dyslexia; attention deficit disorder; autism spectrum; occupational therapy; executive functioning; memory
- Advocate for students with learning differences
- Educate and support classroom teachers in implementing differentiated curriculum
- Provide extensive and ongoing education for parents
- Develop and sustain a deep knowledge about school programs in the metropolitan area and share this information with parents when Blake is no longer a good fit for meeting a child's needs
- Maintain longitudinal testing data
- Organize and oversee the once-yearly group standardized testing of second, fourth and fifth grade students
- Train classroom teachers in the use of assessment strategies and tools
- Work in tandem with the Highcroft Campus Learning Specialist
- Serve as an active member of the Lower School Student Services Team and the PK-12 Student Services Department
- Oversee a classroom budget
- Participate in divisional and all-school faculty meetings and committees
- Attend and contribute to all-school events, such as Back-to-School Nights and admission open houses
Qualifications
- Advanced degree in learning differences
- Deep understanding of current brain research and its implication for effective teaching
- Proven teaching ability of elementary-aged students with specific learning needs
- Respect for children and their potential
- Ability to work with children, parents and school personnel
- Enduring passion for learning and professional growth
- Collaborative working style; a team player
- Exceptional written and oral communication skills
- Knowledge of and extensive experience with gifted and talented students
- Constructivist educational philosophy with expertise in process-oriented learning and teaching
- Ability to mobilize support systems for students, utilizing resources within the school and the larger community
- Excellent record-keeping and organizational skills
- Knowledge of and experience with instructional approaches such as Readers' Workshop, Writers' Workshop, Orton-Gillingham, and conceptual-based mathematics
- Extensive repertoire of teaching strategies and instructional best practices
- Creative, joyful approach to learning and teaching
- Sense of humor, confidence and flexibility
- Effective classroom management skills
- Expanding technological skills that support student learning and school recordkeeping
- Desire to work in a PK-12 dynamic learning community
The Blake School: Lower School Philosophy of Learning and Teaching
Lower School students learn through personal involvement and active engagement with people, places, things and ideas. Hands-on exploration, interaction and dialogue with peers and adults, and reflection lead to an individual's construction of knowledge. Learning is a process that encourages children to play with, practice, connect, synthesize and apply new understandings. Ownership and choice are key elements in maximizing students' learning potential.
The Blake School is a pre-kindergarten through grade 12, co-educational, nonsectarian, independent day school enrolling 1,379 bright, talented students from nearly 60 Twin Cities-area communities. Founded in 1900, The Blake School has the advantage of three campuses (Minneapolis, Hopkins and Wayzata) each with its own facilities designed for specific ages, schedules and activities. The mission of the school is to provide students with an excellent, academically challenging education in a diverse and supportive community committed to a common set of values. For more information on The Blake School, please visit Blake's Web site at: http://www.blakeschool.org.
The Blake School believes that a diverse society enriches all individuals and communities. Diversity of race, ethnicity, national origin, geography, religion, gender, affectional or sexual orientation, age, physical ability, and marital, parental or economic status forms the fabric of our society. As a result of these beliefs, The Blake School actively seeks students, families and employees who value and contribute to the fullness of a diverse community within the context of its mission. In doing so, we recognize our responsibility to help make each person's experience a success.
Send cover letter, resume and college transcripts to Joni Starr, Personnel Assistant, The Blake School, 110 Blake Road South, Hopkins, MN 55343 or via email to jstarr@blakeschool.org. Letter(s) of recommendation are welcome, but not required at the initial stage of the hiring process. EOE
|
|
