Experiential Learning Teacher

Illinois Education Job Bank; Rockford (IL); Hybrid; USD 52,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical benefits

Dental benefits

Life insurance

Flex spending

Paid vacation

Pension contributions

Job summary

Galapagos is seeking driven educators to join our team, delivering rigorous, data-driven instruction aligned to Common Core standards in urban classrooms. Instructors design units and assessments, plan lessons, and collaborate to meet each scholar's needs.

You will engage in frequent professional development, coaching, and feedback sessions, using assessment data to refine curriculum and instructional practices.

Qualifications

• Must be focused on scholar achievement and growth.
• Demonstrates grit and persistence to reach goals.
• Maintains a growth mindset and learns from setbacks.
• Self-motivated and a team player.
• Bachelor's degree required; teaching certification helpful.

Responsibilities

• Design and implement targeted daily lesson plans aligned to standards.
• Collaborate in curriculum development and professional development.
• Use assessment data to refine curriculum and instructional practices.
• Be accountable for scholars' mastery of academic standards.
• Create a structured, calm classroom environment using best practices.

Skills

Focus on scholar achievement

Grit

Growth mindset

Self-motivation

Team player

Education

Bachelor's degree

Illinois Teaching Certification (helpful)

Job description

• Maximize time on task by ensuring that all classroom lessons and activities are directly tied to standards
• Participate in collaborative curriculum development, frequent professional development, and feedback/coaching meetings
• Design and implement targeted daily whole group and small group lesson plans, as well as assessments that measure progress towards academic standards
• Use assessment data to refine curriculum and inform instructional practices
• Be accountable for scholars' mastery of academic standards
• Ensure a structured, orderly, and calm classroom environment through the use of Teach Like a Champion, Calm Classroom, and Responsive Classroom techniques

Qualifications

Instructor Qualifications

• Drive to stay focused on scholar achievement and growth even when it is difficult
• Grit to be solution-focused and keep going until the desired results are achieved
• Growth mindset to see failures and setbacks as challenges to learn from and overcome
• Evidence of self-motivation and willingness to be a team player
• Bachelor's degree is required
• Minimum of one year of teaching experience in an urban public school or charter school setting preferred, but not required.
• Valid Illinois Certification is helpful but not required.
• Belief in and alignment with Galapagos' core beliefs and educational philosophy is non-negotiable.

Salary/Benefits

Compensation

Starting salary offers are based on relevant experience, potential for growth, and overall fit. Instructors are eligible for medical and dental benefits, life insurance, flex spending plans, and paid vacation time. Certified staff members also receive matching contributions to the teacher pension fund. All staff members are equipped with the tools needed to succeed, including intensive coaching and professional development, a laptop computer, e-mail, high-speed internet access, and all necessary supplies.

Additional Notes

Who are we looking for? Galapagos is looking fordriveneducators who truly believe in the ability of all children to succeed at the highest levels. Our staff works incredibly hard to deliverrigorous, individualized, data-drivenandexplicitinstruction to our scholars.

Our instructors spend a significant amount of time planning units, assessments, and lessons that align with the Common Core Standards and also meet the individual needs of each scholar in their class. We are looking for people whovalue growth, not perfection- but are always striving to be theabsolute best. Instructors are the key to our scholars' success. We believe that there is nothing more influential to scholar performance than the quality of the classroom instructor. We are looking for instructors who arecommitted to learning and growing personally and professionally, as well as continually revising and improving our curriculum, assessments, and instruction as part of the Galapagos team.