Teaching Assistant

Summary: Responsible for assisting Teacher in planning, preparing and implementing daily program of age appropriate fun and educational activities as they relate to children enrolled in the program by collaborating weekly with team, differentiating instruction, developing High Scope lesson plans and performing the following duties:

Duties and Responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned.

1.    Execute daily lesson plans as provided by the Infant Teacher, modeling High Scope curriculum and implementing the teaching pyramid to fidelity.

2.    Ensuring all children engage in regular physical activities and are given opportunity to improve social interaction with teachers and peers.

3.    Ensure development of Fine Motor Skills with the use of play dough, shape sorters and block stacking to emphasize the use of the pincer grasp.

4.    Daily routine frequent toileting, assisting in individualized feeding and meals; daily required report.

5.    Assist in set up classroom materials and carrying out lesson plans based on High Scope KDI’s.

6.    Assist the Teacher with gathering quarterly COR anecdotes.  Assist with behavior management and utilize COR anecdotes to differentiate lesson planning.

7.    Attend and participate in meetings, in-services and workshops offered at RCN and other institutes.

8.    Contribute to a clean, attractive, stimulating, safe, and organized classroom as well as assists in maintaining the cleanliness of floors, bathrooms, toys, and carpets according to New York State Office of Children and Family Services regulations, Rochester Childfirst Network policies and procedures, and teaching pyramid model practices.

9.    Maintains all required attendance, Child and Adult Care Food Program, New York State Office of Children and Family Services and other RCN required paperwork to fidelity.

10.  Adhere to and have knowledge of OCFS regulations; ratio, incident reports, supervision of children. Classroom must be staffed to ratio and acknowledge the requirements of staffing to ratio; i.e., staying past scheduled end of shift or leaving early if over staffed

11.  Attend monthly supervision with supervisor; reviewing performance of carrying out lesson plans, following teaching pyramid practices, engagement with children and contributing to a clean safe environment.

12.  Support and enforce classroom and center policies.

13.  Ensure safety of Children through close supervision of activities; Foster adherence of safety rules and policies when children are going to and from school or field trips.

14.  Assist in maintaining files program-wide on each child to include developmental progress, documented behavior problems and any other pertinent information.

15.  Demonstrate willingness to expand knowledge of teaching skills, learning styles, and other information that will enhance level of support and care to children enrolled in program and their parents.

16.  Discuss with Teacher possible requests of equipment, curriculum materials and supplies for use in the classroom.  Respect the use and care of materials and equipment.

17.  Maintains open communication with the Teacher and Director of Children’s Programs about the daily events in the classroom.

18.  Follow the end of day closing procedures.

19.  Maintain confidentiality at all times regarding child(ren) and family communications.

20.  Assists in the maintenance of all student emergency contact information used in classrooms for field trips and emergency drills.

21.  Adhere to Rochester Childfirst Network professional standards/code of conduct as outlined in employee handbook.

22.  Adhere to yearly ITERS assessment recommendations, TIPITOS assessment per pyramid for program quality.  Become familiar with accreditation programs i.e., Quality Stars and Pathways.

23.  Punctual, Dependable, Committed.

24.  Uses non-punitive methods of discipline, and offers guidance in a positive manner.

25.  Able to adapt to the immediate situation and change plans as needed.

26.  Ensure that minimum of two times outside time is occurring daily per OCFS requirements.

27.  Performs other related duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Language Ability:

Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals. Ability to write routine reports and correspondence. Ability to speak effectively before groups of customers or employees of organization.

Math Ability:

Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals. Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs.

Reasoning Ability:

Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out and solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.

Computer Skills:

To perform this job successfully, an individual should have knowledge of word processing software, internet software, email software and COR Ready Set Grow.

Education/Experience:

High School Diploma/GED and one year experience in Early Childhood Development.

Specialized Training:

·         Knowledge of teaching pyramid

·         Knowledge of High Scope Curriculum

·         Familiarity with Quality Stars, Pathways, ITERS, TIPITOS

Certificates and Licenses:

·         CPR certification

·         First aid certification

Knowledge, Skills, and Other Abilities:

·         Oral and written communication skills

·         Professionalism

·         Lesson plan writing skills

·         Maintaining calm and composed during various challenging behaviors while addressing issues

·         Problem solving with children during escalated behaviors

Physical Demands:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to stand, walk, sit, use hands, reach with hands and arms, stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl, talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to climb or balance. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.

Work Environment:

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.