Part-Time High School ELA Teacher for Unique Micro-School 2e Students

Company: Great Minds Learning Community
Location: Pflugerville
Posted on: July 29, 2022

Job Description:

Want to make a difference , share your creativity, and earn a bit of extra money without a lot of hours? Want to add to your resume and be part of a tribe, benefiting from the support of a vibrant teaching team?

Join us!

We are a small and mighty tribe of 26-28 students seeking to add an ELA teacher for a Grades 8-12 language arts class of up to 6 twice-exceptional students (intellectually gifted students that also have a learning difference) focused on literature and writing. These students will be doing lots of different styles of writing, creative writing, book circles, etc.

About Us
Great Minds Learning Community is a Grades 5-12 micro-school school that is three days a week (Tuesday through Thursday), with optional Mondays. We are a small alternative, accredited private school in Pflugerville catering to intellectually gifted students and twice-exceptional students (intellectually gifted with learning differences/disabilities/challenges), such as: dyslexia, ADHD/ADD, sensory processing challenges, vision challenges, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, chemical sensitivity and allergies, Asperger s/High Functioning Autism, anxiety, or social difficulties, and those students that benefit from a smaller class size. Our students are mainly twice-exceptional, AKA bright and quirky, remarkable young people! We have a student-teacher ratio of 7 to 1 so you can really get to know your students and make an impact. Please check us and our learning philosophy out at

About the Position
This is an onsite position from 12:15-1:15 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays for 33 weeks, with the remaining hours being lesson planning and various other activities. There is no Monday or Friday teaching.

The position is 9 hours per week for 33 weeks, with 3 of those hours teaching on-site, with the remaining 6 hours off-site consisting of at-home planning time (we do not do planning on-site), providing students feedback/support on their work, regular Zoom staff meetings, parent-student-teacher communication, written weekly summary, collaborating with co-workers and the head of school, writing individual progress reports, preparing for and attending Celebrations of Learning and other school events, and other duties/meetings as assigned:

Overall, our school is hands-on and project-based with lots of student voice and choice, and we seek someone with this type of problem-solving, creative mindset who cultivates this type of thinking when co-creating this course with the students, largely basing it on their interests. We have no homework, no grades, and no standardized tests.

We encourage teachers interested in alternative education and who are relationship-based, as a strong personal relationship with each student is key to opening the door to learning with our student body in particular.

We're seeking an ability to tune into each child as an individual on a daily basis to see where their "stretch zone" is that day and aim for that, focusing on being strengths-based and flexible. We looking for someone flexible and creative who takes initiative and works well self-directed, as well as is a team player.

We seek an enthusiastic teacher who understands that all kids, particularly gifted and twice-exceptional (AKA bright and quirky) kids, have asynchronous learning in different skills and subjects and creates a cooperative, non-competitive learning environment that challenges gifted and 2e students intellectually while providing needed accommodations for the learning challenges/disabilities/differences by individualizing to each student to provide tiny, "just-right" steps to experience and build upon their tiny successes to create dramatic change over time.

Teachers with backgrounds in alternative education, homeschooling, multi-age classrooms, or project-based learning teaching a variety of subjects are welcome! Graduate students are welcome. We do not require a teaching certificate, but do require a Bachelor's Degree and 3+ years of teaching experience and experience with gifted and twice-exceptional learners. (We provided ongoing training as well.) We have a homey feel and a tribal atmosphere with an amazing community of students and parents!

This is an awesome opportunity for life balance, as it's only 33 weeks a year (we have extra weeks off between each of our five learning blocks). It's an exempt annually renewable teaching position.

Our students are out-of-the-box, non-traditional, deep thinkers that we provide a hands-on, experiential, project-based, passion-based way that is learning in the context of meaningful, personal experiences. We are looking for someone who embraces and champions this type of learning and believes in the mission of a hands-on, personalized, multi-sensory alternative education, mastery of 21st-century skills, and the process of learning how to learn, focusing on quality over quantity. We focus on a hands-on, alternative, discovery-based environment with lots of student voice and choice within a framework.

We have multi-age classrooms. We do not have grades, required standardized tests, or homework. We have projects, learning goals, narrative student progress reports, and student celebrations of learning to share their work.

We focus on nurturing the whole child -- intellectual, social, and emotional. We use a strengths-based (asset-based) approach, students showing mastery in a way that matches their strengths, Positive Discipline, the Nurtured Heart Approach, class meetings, and an eclectic blend of other resources.

The ideal candidate has these characteristics:
Bachelor s degree (required)
3 years of teaching experience in ELA (required)
3 years of experience in working with gifted and particularly twice-exceptional kids
Flexible, innovative, enthusiastic, willing to think outside the box, can work both be organized and work well in an improvisational environment with daily change, challenge, and tweaking!
Experience in accommodating material, teaching methods, methods of showing mastery, and expectations to meet specific student needs due to giftedness/learning differences/challenges
A "walk the walk" belief in and passion for alternative learning environments
Experience in project-based learning
Ability to creatively and efficiently create curricula/lesson plans independently from a variety of resources and tweak them in the moment as per group needs and supervisor feedback
Ability to make things novel, fun, and hands-on for the students
Ability to tailor instruction and mentoring to each individual and be able to quickly adjust to student needs to find what works best based. Flexibility is key!
A lifelong learner who embraces new challenges and is comfortable teaching/mentoring a variety of academic subjects, learning alongside the students in areas she/he does not yet know
Ability to be "in the moment," connect with and nurture a positive relationship with each child
Excellent verbal and written communication skills
Out-of-the-box thinker who loves working with kids who are out-of-the-box thinkers
Experience in small-group, multi-age environments
Ability to stay calm under stress and have a "thick" skin
Ability to set kind and consistent boundaries while tweaking to the developmental level/social-emotional level and capacity of the individual child, meeting the child where s/he is at
"Walks the walk" of positive discipline and communication methods
Confidence and comfort with a balance of teacher-provided structure with lots of student voice and choice instead of a top-down authoritative teaching approach.
Experience in providing targeted, multi-sensory direct instruction
Experience in curriculum development/creating your own hands-on learning activities from an eclectic blend of resources.
Other duties as assigned, as we are co-creating and evolving on a weekly basis based on parent and student feedback

Qualities we look for: responsible, enthusiastic, self-starter, positive, patient, confident, caring, be able to think on your feet, self-reliant, team player, organized, flexible, resilient, supportive, dependable, understanding, inquisitive, innovative, out-of-the-box, relationship-oriented, lifelong learner, clear communicator, efficient, be able to set kind and consistent boundaries, and have a nurturing personality that sees possibilities and greatness in every child and every person.

Mental/Physical/Environmental Demands:
Will be exposed to outdoor weather conditions during portions of work day.
Needs to move about inside the classroom or campus as necessary.
Maintain emotional control under stress.
Frequent standing, stooping, bending, pulling and pushing.
Frequent moving of small stacks of media equipment, desks, tables, whiteboards, and other classroom equipment.
Occasionally requires lifting up to 25 pounds.
Occasionally prolonged and irregular hours.

Candidates interested in this teacher position, please visit our website at: to learn more about us. Then submit your resume in Word document format.

Please include a COVER LETTER. The cover letter is important, as we'd like to know why this job in particular is a great fit for you! In your cover letter, be sure to describe your experience in working with/teaching gifted/twice-exceptional kids (provide age ranges) and share why you would be a good fit for our micro-school.

Note: You must be able to get a criminal background check, drug test, and attend interviews before working on our campus.

We look forward to connecting soon!

Job Type: Part-time

Pay: $22.00 - $26.00 per hour

Benefits:
Professional development assistance
Schedule:..... click apply for full job details

Keywords: Great Minds Learning Community, Pflugerville , Part-Time High School ELA Teacher for Unique Micro-School 2e Students, Education / Teaching , Pflugerville, Texas