PT Head Start Teacher Assistant

Job Details

Job Location: North Central LA - DeSoto, Natchitoches, and Red River, LA 71457Position Type: Full TimeSalary Range: $25,590.00 - $28,847.00

NATURE AND SCOPE OF POSITION

This position serves as a Teacher Assistant/Floater for a Head Start classroom. The Teacher Assistant/Floater shares responsibility for a Head Start classroom.  The Teacher Assistant/Floater works collaboratively with the teacher, family members and other staff to achieve positive outcomes for children of all abilities.

 

JOB FUNCTIONS ESSENTIAL:

• Use knowledge of the principles of child growth and development to work with children and communicate with internal and external stakeholders.
• Assist with the implementation of a child-centered curriculum and learning environment that encourage positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation to promote development in all domains for children of all abilities.
• Address challenging behaviors by observing to determine possible causes of the behavior, implementing preventive measures, teaching the child new social and communication skills and partnering with families to support the child at home.
• Observe and document children’s progress and assist with the development of specialized curriculum based on the child’s needs.
• Create partnerships with families to establish positive interaction patterns in program, school, and home.
• Assist Teacher in ensuring that the written curriculum includes:
  • goals for children’s development and learning;
  • planning through which children will achieve these goals;
  • what staff and parents can do to help children achieve these goals;
  • materials needed to support the implementation of the curriculum towards achieving the stated goals;
• Collaborate with the Teacher in the preparation of daily lesson plans.  Post the upcoming lesson plans in the classroom for parents, volunteers and visitors.
• Monitor program curriculum by providing developmentally and linguistically appropriate experiences appropriate to age, language and culture of children served.
• Implement experiential learning activities advancing the intellectual and emotional competence of infants and toddlers.
• Provide positive guidance and discipline supporting children as they acquire readiness skills for kindergarten and beyond.
• Implement Individual Family Services Plans (IFSPs) for children with disabilities.
• Provide children with a consistent classroom routine.
• Provide supervision and ensure the safety and security of children at all times in accordance with Early Head Start and day care licensing requirements. Understand regulations associated with prevention of disease and injury, including the exercise of universal precautions and the prevention of contamination.
• Supervise and eat nutritionally prepared meals and/or snacks with the children as a curriculum activity, to model good nutrition and proper social skills for infants and toddlers.
• Assist with the supervision of all classroom field trips and outdoor activities.
• Encourage parent involvement in the development of the program’s curriculum and approach to child development and education. Provide opportunities for parents to increase their child observation skills and to share assessments with staff that help plan the learning experiences.
• Encourage parent participation in staff-parent conferences and home visits discussing their child’s development and education. Establish positive and productive relationships with families focusing on building trust and rapport.
• Collaborate with Teacher to schedule and complete two home visits per year and at least two parent-teacher conferences per year.  Participate in parent orientation and ongoing parent trainings as required.
• Identify and refer parents wanting to volunteer in the classroom, work as substitutes or in other volunteer activities to Family Advocate.  Support parent volunteers in classroom as needed.
• Share pertinent information with Family Advocate in an effort to coord