A Legacy teacher works to create and enhance a culture of achievement and respect where high expectations and results are the norm. All teachers are responsible for demonstrating significant and measurable academic gains, each year, with the students they teach. All teachers’ actions must always be aligned with our mission, vision, core values, and education program. The essential functions of our lead teachers are as follows:
I. INSTRUCTIONAL VISION
PLANNING for INSTRUCTION
- Use the state standards to create rigorous, objective-driven, lessons aligned with curriculum maps; complete standards deconstructions
- Develop an academic calendar with mastery objectives for the year that ensures that critical knowledge and skills are taught throughout the year
- Identify in each lesson what thinking skills will be explicitly taught, practiced, and made visible; what physical, social, or content skills students will be able to do and how students will know if they can do it.
- Differentiate for individual students based on their unique learning needs so all students are appropriately engaged and challenged.
- Ensure students are engaged through activities and technology that accommodate various learning styles, personality styles, and the need for physical movement.
- Develop high-quality student work and complete intellectual preparation (ex. Develop criteria for success, exemplar student responses, thinking steps/think aloud)
II. DELIVERY of INSTRUCTION
- Explicitly introduce mastery objectives to activate students’ prior knowledge related to the objectives, and conclude the lesson by revisiting the learning objective and having students apply it in context.
- Practice think-aloud for each daily lesson
- Present academic content through a variety of instructional strategies to reach all learners.
- Provide many and varied opportunities for students to practice while working to promote achievement by all students without exception.
III. DATA-DRIVEN INSTRUCTION
- Develop standards-aligned, measurable, ambitious big goals that will increase student opportunities for achievement; assess and track performance against these goals.
- Measure student achievement of and progress toward, the mastery objectives and big goals with formative and summative assessment tools.
- Provide ongoing and timely feedback to students on their progress toward meeting big goals by frequently checking for understanding and listening.
- Use data to reflect on the effectiveness of lessons and student achievement progress to improve instruction and personal practice.
- Use data to create and edit re-teach plans
LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
- Create a focused environment of equity and respect that encourages students to take risks and strive to reach goals.
- Communicate and enforce high expectations and standards for behavior and academic performance, aligned with the TLCS School Culture Guide and Responsive Classroom, to create a strong culture of achievement and respect.
- Establish, model, practice, and reinforce age-appropriate expectations and logical consequences; create and consistently use individual behavioral management plans, as needed.
- Implement classroom procedures, systems, and routines that provide structure for students and maximize instructional time.
FAMILY and COMMUNITY RELATIONS
- Communicate respectfully and thoughtfully with parents/guardians remaining sensitive to different families’ cultures, values, and needs.
- Initiate and maintain timely communication with all parents/guardians (through daily/weekly folders, notes home, weekly newsletters, phone calls, in-person meetings, conferences, and report cards) concerning student progress and provide a clear picture of the curriculum and high expectations.
- Work collaboratively with parents/guardians, families, and other members of the community to involve them in academic activities to support the success of a diverse student population and to bring in volunteers and additional resources.
PROFESSIONALISM
- Collaborate with colleagues (grade level and school-wide meetings, professional development days, the professional development institute) to continuously improve personal practice, classroom instruction, assessment, and student achievement, as well as the overall goals and mission of the school and the network.
- Actively participate in and contribute to professional learning opportunities, including department meetings.
- Access meaningful learning experiences (current theory, research, and developments in relevant academic disciplines, professional development opportunities, and ideas from colleagues and supervisors) and exercise judgment in accepting findings as valid for application in classroom practice and teacher improvement.
- Reflect critically upon teaching experience; identify areas for further professional development as part of a professional development plan that is linked to grade level, school, and network goals; access meaningful learning experiences, listen thoughtfully to other viewpoints and respond constructively to suggestions and criticisms.
- Use feedback to update the Individual Professional Development Plan.
- Fulfill all outlined and related functions professionally, timely, and thoroughly.