Baby Badgers Lead Teacher

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Job Category:

Academic Staff

Employment Type:

Terminal (Fixed Term)

Job Profile:

Early Child Edu Teacher NE

Job Summary:

The UW Odyssey Project takes a whole family approach to breaking the cycle of generational poverty through access to education. While their parents are in class, children ages newborn through high school participate in one of five Odyssey Junior classrooms.

Odyssey Junior’s goals: 1) self-esteem, 2) positive peer interactions, 3) communication skills, 4) creative self-expression, 5) literacy, 6) motor development, and 7) intellectual growth.

The Odyssey Junior Baby Badger Lead Teacher will lead a teaching team every Wednesday evening from 4:30pm-8pm in South Madison from August through April. Lead Teachers can expect to work 3-4 hours on Wednesday evenings with 1-2 additional hours in the week for lesson planning and team communication. The Baby Badger Classroom serves eight infants ages 6 weeks to 24 months.

Principal duties:

• Serve as lead teacher for Odyssey Junior classroom, ensuring clear communication among all staff volunteers.
• Develop weekly lesson plans aligned with the core goals of Odyssey Junior and student interest. Communicate lesson plans to teaching team and Odyssey Junior’s director and coordinator.
• Communicate regularly with Odyssey Junior Director and Coordinator.  
• Understand and implement the Office of Youth Protection’s safety guidelines.
• Create an inclusive classroom community to instill a sense of belonging for all students.
• Uphold Odyssey Junior’s behavioral expectations.
• Communicate with parents regarding student successes and challenges.
• Facilitate a welcoming classroom environment for community partners.
• Provide student material for the program newsletter.
• Attend Odyssey Junior staff meetings.
• Communicate supply requests to the Odyssey Junior coordinator.
• Assist with classroom set up and clean up.

Key Job Responsibilities:

• Maintains the safety and physical well-being of children in a designated classroom

• Plans and facilitates classroom programming and schedules daily classroom activities for an early childhood education facility according to established curriculums

• Evaluates individualized and developmental educational plans for children in collaboration with other stakeholders, as needed

• Mentors new teachers and students

• Maintains and documents effective communication with internal and external stakeholders to relay pertinent information and provide updates of child activities per established guidelines and regulations

Department:

Continuing Studies, Liberal Arts and Applied Studies

Compensation:

$28.00 HOURLY

Required Qualifications:

• Experience teaching in an infant classroom or community based program
• Strong interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills
• Experience creating developmentally appropriate curriculum
• Experience working with children from diverse ethnic, racial, and socio-economic backgrounds
• Experience leading a teaching team or teaching on a diverse team
• Demonstrated knowledge of culturally-relevant teaching, trauma-informed care, and literacy best practices

Education:

Relevant Bachelor's Degree or Early Childhood Education credential required. WI Teaching License preferred.

How to Apply:

To apply for this position, please click on the "Apply Now" button. You will be asked to upload a resume and cover letter as a part of the application process. Please ensure your resume and cover letter address how you meet the minimum/preferred qualifications for the position.

Contact Information:

Zachary Yafai, HR Business Partner (zyafai@wisc.edu)

Gwendolyn Coale, Odyssey Junior Program Manager (gwendolyn.coale@wisc.edu)

Institutional Statement on Diversity:

Diversity is a source of strength, creativity, and innovation for UW-Madison. We value the contributions of each person and respect the profound ways their identity, culture, background, experience, status, abilities, and opinion enrich the university community. We commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in teaching, research, outreach, and diversity as inextricably linked goals.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison fulfills its public mission by creating a welcoming and inclusive community for people from every background - people who as students, faculty, and staff serve Wisconsin and the world.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison is an Equal Opportunity Employer. 

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to, including but not limited to, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, pregnancy, disability, or status as a protected veteran and other bases as defined by federal regulations and UW System policies. We promote excellence by acknowledging skills and expertise from all backgrounds and encourage all qualified individuals to apply. For more information regarding applicant and employee rights and to view federal and state required postings, visit the Human Resources Workplace Poster website.

To request a disability or pregnancy-related accommodation for any step in the hiring process (e.g., application, interview, pre-employment testing, etc.), please contact the Divisional Disability Representative (DDR) in the division you are applying to. Please make your request as soon as possible to help the university respond most effectively to you.

Employment may require a criminal background check. It may also require your references to answer questions regarding misconduct, including sexual violence and sexual harassment. 
 
The University of Wisconsin System will not reveal the identities of applicants who request confidentiality in writing, except that the identity of the successful candidate will be released. See Wis. Stat. sec. 19.36(7). 
 
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