Reports to: Principal
Employment Information: Full time, 10-month bargaining unit position
Qualifications:
- Bachelor's Degree from an accredited college/university in Deaf Education, Special Education, Social Emotional Learning or a related field required. Master's Degree preferred.
- Possession of or eligibility for appropriate certification from the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
- Training, certification or coursework with social, emotional and behavioral or Social Emotional Learning preferred
- American Sign Language proficiency required
- Experience working with Deaf children of the age range to be served is preferred (Early Childhood, Elementary or Secondary).
- Knowledge of effective de-escalation strategies and interventions or behavior support strategies
- Excellent communication, leadership, organization and problem solving skills.
- Outstanding dependability, initiative, creativity and decision making skills.
- Ability to maintain positive/neutral demeanor when faced with behavioral and emotional behaviors of students.
- Experience incorporating multi-sensory instruction in small group settings.
- Understanding of and support for an exploratory, experiential approach to teaching and learning. Experience with an interdisciplinary curriculum.
Summary:
Emotional Support Teachers provide opportunities for students to learn, practice and demonstrate social-emotional skills within academic contexts. Teaching academic and social-emotional learning lessons to students using evidenced based strategies. Providing differentiated instruction that is appropriate for the individual student all while being a positive role model to students. With the goal of enabling the student to achieve their potential in school. Throughout the academic year assessing student's behavior in the classroom and socially.
Duties:
- Provide academic and social emotional learning instruction throughout the school day, giving students the opportunity to learn and practice SEL skills along with academics.
- Directly teach social and emotional skills, emotional regulation strategies, and conflict resolution skills to individual students and small groups.
- Adapt teaching methods and instructional techniques to meet students needs and interests.
- Develop lesson plans and deliver small group instruction within an emotional support classroom.
- Maintain compliant special education paperwork including input forms, IEPs, PSBPs, NOREPs, etc
- Collaborate with other teachers, professional staff, families and administrators to understand student needs, identify appropriate interventions and modify curriculum for students as needed.
- Gather and analyze data to monitor student progress towards goals.
- Engage in ongoing professional development and stay current with SEL research, Deaf Education and best practices to be implemented in the classroom.
- Follow TEACH methodology for behavior interventions.
Requirements
Physical Requirements and Work Environment:
- Occasionally lift up to 15 lbs.
- Generally works in standard classroom setting and climate.
- Ability to physically restrain students if needed using TEACH methodology
- Works in a highly stressful environment dealing with a wide variety of challenges
- Ability to sit, stand, walk, kneel, crouch and reach with hands and arms
- May be required to physically assist students with disabilities