Interim Middle School Design Technology Teacher

Reports To:  Director of Academic Innovation and Design

FLSA Status:  Non-Exempt

Schedule: Interim (minimum 2 months)

The Alexander Dawson School 

Located in the Summerlin community of Las Vegas, Nevada, The Alexander Dawson School at Rainbow Mountain is a top-ranked independent school guiding students from Early Childhood through grade eight. Our student-centered program is committed to modern learning and design-driven innovation, championing the collaboration of emerging technologies and teaching techniques. We equally prioritize a program rooted in our Core Values in support of the physical safety, mental health and wellness, and balanced living of our students as the foundation for lifelong success and happiness. At the very heart of the Dawson experience is the strong connection between the adults on campus and our students. This collaboration fosters an authentic community and caring learning environment committed to helping our young learners become compassionate, empathetic, and globally focused individuals. 

Guided by the Mission of the School and driven by Alexander Dawson’s strategic plan, the Alexander Dawson Middle School is a place of purpose, accomplishment, and joy. The Middle School faculty are caring and creative teachers with high standards. As a modern learning institute and a Challenge Success school, Dawson teachers create lessons and learning environments that balance the intersection of academic knowledge, competency skills, and habits of mind. 

Culture & Atmosphere

TASK Framework for a Dawson Employee: The Alexander Dawson School seeks individuals who consistently demonstrate the following professional qualities and characteristics:

Teamwork: Each of our employees has different lived experiences and identities, and as a learning institution, we are respectful, adaptable, collaborative, and willing to listen to diverse perspectives.

Adaptive: We exhibit a nimble mindset that is reactive and responsive to a changing world, changing educational landscape, and changing student needs.

Success: We demonstrate a strong work ethic and thoughtful dedication to the School and our students. We are committed to investing the time and effort required to collectively work together to get the job done.

Knowledge: We have a natural passion for learning and ongoing growth and development. We are solutions-focused and forward-thinking, and we model flexibility and cooperation for our colleagues and students.

Job Description

Dawson’s Design Technology program seeks to develop students’ curiosity, empathy, critical thinking, collaboration, and problem solving skills through human-centered design and hands-on learning experiences. Recently our Middle School Design Technology program has begun to attract national attention with our winning of the Visionary Excellence Award from the Association of Tech Leaders in Independent Schools.  The Alexander Dawson School at Rainbow Mountain seeks an interim full-time design technology teacher (minimum 2 months) who will allow the continued delivery of our Middle School design technology program during the extended absence of our MS Design and Educational Technologist. The Interim MS Design Technology Teacher will work closely with the faculty, students, and administration to support and enhance the teaching of design thinking, digital designing, and digital fabrication and at Dawson. 

Position 

Working under the Director of Academic Innovation and Design (the DAID), the Interim MS Design Technology Teacher will teach a series of middle school Design Technology (DT) electives, Insights classes, and club. The successful candidate will be an accomplished teacher, but will also act as a project-manager and facilitator of opportunities for students in grades 5-8 to think deeply about the world through various lenses of human needs, make a positive societal impact, and take action through real-world, hands-on projects. 

While the curriculum is in place, the successful candidate will possess a familiarity with digital design tools and processes, strong classroom management, and an appetite to learn - quickly. Resources will be in place for the interim position both with support from the Director of Academic Innovation and Design, the Director of Digital Learning, and the Lower School Design and Educational Technologist. 

Primary Course Work 

• 5th Grade Advisory
• 5th Grade Digital Awareness Insights - A once-a-cycle class in which students learn to be good citizens on-line
• 5th Grade Design Lab -  A general Design Tech elective in which students deepen their understanding of digital design and fabrication
• 6th Grade Design Lab - A general Design Tech elective in which students use their digital design and fabrication skills in cross-grade collaborations
• 7th/8th Grade: “Wear It” - An elective in which students use digital and conventional design processes to make wearable items and clothing
• 7th/8th Grade: “Spread the Word” - An elective in which students create digital media such as websites, graphic designs, and videos in response to design requests from clients in our community

”Made By You” - A 5th-8th Grade club, co-delivered with the DAID, that allows students to use the equipment in the MS Design Lab to create personal designs

Essential Functions:

The essential duties and responsibilities of this position include but are not limited to:

• Contribute to the development of a comprehensive and innovative Design Technology Program. 
• Develop student interest and appreciation for digital design
• Build confidence, joy and an innovative spirit in every student
• Deliver and iterate the relevant units of study designed for each course. 
• Maintain a safe and engaging learning environment where students give one another feedback in both a respectful and helpful way
• Consistently communicate with colleagues, administrators, and families about student work, classroom projects, and/or behavior concerns.
• Collaborate with colleagues on cross-curricular projects and units of study
• Use appropriate techniques to encourage active participation 
• Promote problem-solving, cooperative learning, and conflict-resolution strategies
• Structure lessons that encourage risk-taking in learning and model life-long learning
• Develop and maintain long-range and daily instructional plans
• Maintain records for progress reports and behavior documentation

Role Overview & Responsibilities

Learning Environment

• Support and value social-emotional learning
• Create a student-centered and intentional classroom environment
• Redirect students by maintaining mutual respect and dignity
• Interact with students by making genuine connections and demonstrating warmth, care, and respect
• Convey high expectations for student achievement through visible instructional goals, learning activities, and interactions
• Maintain a safe and organized learning environment where student voice and ownership are encouraged and valued
• Establish effective classroom routines and maximize instructional times
• Involve students in the development of classroom norms
• Exhibit the philosophy that process has as much value as product
• Demonstrate an awareness and be responsive to student needs and behavior; employ a relational discipline approach 

Planning and Instruction

• Use high-impact strategies rooted in Dawson’s Core Values and Excellence in Teaching that effectively engage students
• Ask questions that require higher-order thinking
• Communicate focus and purpose of lessons with students in written and/or oral form
• Present activities in a logical and meaningful order
• Exhibit student work in the process of development and final product
• Engage students in the development of learning outcomes
• Provide feedback and coaching to students that are timely, specific, realistic, and relevant, and encourage goal-setting
• Modify lessons based on student needs
• Utilize multiple grouping strategies such as a balance of individual, small-group, and whole-class activities in teaching and planning
• Provide opportunities for the application and transfer of students’ knowledge and skills
• Design authentic assessments and performance tasks to measure student learning
• Use data to make informed curricular and instructional decisions

Professional Responsibilities

• Attend and actively engage in divisional and school-wide meetings
• Participate in dedicated, weekly grade-level planning and collaboration 
• Critically reflect on teaching and learning and engage in the School’s professional development opportunities 
• Embrace cultural competency and commit to ongoing growth in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusion
• Maintain an effective system for recording student progress where outcomes are continually monitored and assessed
• Maintain positive and caring relationships with families, communicate regularly about student progress, and is responsive to concerns
• Provide families with an ongoing window into the student experience and growth process

About The Alexander Dawson School

The Alexander Dawson School at Rainbow Mountain is a coed, preschool to eighth-grade independent school located in the Summerlin area of Las Vegas, Nevada. Close to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area and about twenty minutes from downtown Las Vegas, Dawson's Mission, Vision, Diversity Statement, and Core Beliefs are a reflection of the beautiful environment it calls home. A Stanford University Challenge Success School, Dawson has emerged as a beacon school where student voice is the fabric of the culture. Apply today: https://www.adsrm.org/about-dawson/employment

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