PTHS Floater Teacher Assistant

NATURE AND SCOPE OF POSITION

This position serves as a Floater Assistant Teacher for a Head Start center. The Floater Assistant Teacher will work collaboratively with the Teacher to ensure the successful operation of a classroom of children. The Floater Assistant Teacher also works with a team of other classroom Assistant Teachers and family members to implement the curriculum to achieve 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.
• Maintain a child-centered curriculum and learning environment that encourages 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 a specialized curriculum based on the child’s needs.
• Plan and implement learning experiences that advance the intellectual and physical development of children, including improving the readiness of children for school by developing their literacy and phonemic, print, and numeracy awareness, their understanding and use of language, their understanding and use of increasingly complex and varied vocabulary, their appreciation of books, and their problem-solving abilities.
• Establish and maintain a safe, healthy learning environment.
• Support the social and emotional development of children.
• Encourage the involvement of the families of the children in a Head Start program and support the development of relationships between children and their families.

MARGINAL

• Provide courteous and prompt service to all internal and external clients. Prioritize and address requests and assignments in a professional manner to develop cooperative relationships and to ensure that client confidentiality is assured.
• Identify opportunities and recommend methods to improve service, work processes, and financial performance, e.g., expense management. Assists in the implementation of quality improvement initiatives.
• Assist co-workers in the completion of tasks and assignments to ensure continuity of service. Orient new co-workers and actively support teamwork throughout the organization.
• Perform other duties as required.