Head Start Teacher Assistant

Essential Job Duties And Functions

• Affirms a calm, safe classroom and playground that incorporates developmental appropriateness.
• Ensures the safety of children through constant supervision, effective arrangement of space, proper maintenance of equipment and regular practice of fire drills and other emergency procedures.
• Works closely with the Teacher to develop lesson plans that meet the physical, social, emotional, and intellectual needs of each child, planning for variations in ability levels and individual interests.
• Affirms developmentally appropriate practice according to the Head Start Performance Standards.
• Affirms continuity of curriculum and high standards of equality in the classroom; works individually with children who experience difficulty in group activities.
• Affirms center routines, including hand washing, tooth brushing, eating, napping, and transitioning between activities.
• Affirms compliance with all childcare-licensing standards, paying particular attention to standards prohibiting any form of physical punishment.
• Affirms the arrangement of each classroom provides a stimulating, clean, and safe learning environment.
• Affirms proper documentation in children's files in all content areas.
• Affirms Individual Education Plans for each enrolled child; continues the on-going assessment process, maintaining written or computer records on each child.
• Affirms a variety of materials and planned activities designed to encourage individual and group play and offers a variety of language stimulation activities.
• Affirms experiences that promote individual self-expression in conversation, imaginative play, and creativity and provides positive guidance to promote self-esteem.
• Affirms experiences involving thinking skills such as generalizing, classifying, sorting, and problem solving.
• Affirms appropriate relationships with others.
• Affirms personal development and growth by being relaxed, using a calm, quiet voice, being pleasant and enthusiastic about the children, and by using self-control in trying situations.
• Affirms transition activities for the Head Start child and family: into Head Start, during the year, and to the next placement (kindergarten).
• Affirms assistance with snack, breakfast, and lunchtime, ensuring that the Head Start philosophy of serving family style meals is maintained and that the children serve themselves.

Qualifications

• Knowledge of Texas Minimum Standards for Licensing and Head Start Performance Standards.
• Ability to assist the Teacher in maintaining a calm, safe classroom and playground that incorporates developmental appropriateness.
• Ability to ensure the safety of children through constant supervision, effective arrangement of space, proper maintenance of equipment and regular practice of fire drills and other emergency procedures.
• Ability to work closely with the Teacher to develop lesson plans that meet the physical, social, emotional, and intellectual needs of each child, planning for variations in ability levels and individual interests.
• Ability to assist the Teacher in incorporating developmentally appropriate practice according to the Head Start Performance Standards.
• Ability to assist the Teacher in ensuring continuity of curriculum and high standards of equality in the classroom; works individually with children who experience difficulty in group activities.
• Ability to consistently implement center routines, including hand washing, tooth brushing, eating, napping, and transitioning between activities.
• Ability to operate the classroom in compliance with all childcare-licensing standards, paying particular attention to standards prohibiting any form of physical punishment.
• Ability to ensure that the arrangement of each classroom provides a stimulating, clean, and safe learning environment.
• Ability to ensure proper documentation in children's files in all content areas.
• Ability to assist the Teacher in ensuring that Individual Education Plans for each enrolled child; continues the on-going assessment process, maintaining written or computer records on each child.
• Ability to supply a variety of materials and planned activities designed to encourage individual and group play and offers a variety of language stimulation activities.
• Ability to provide experiences that promote individual self-expression in conversation, imaginative play, and creativity and provides positive guidance to promote self-esteem.
• Ability to provide experiences involving thinking skills such as generalizing, classifying, sorting, and problem solving.
• Ability to make available a variety of opportunities to help children develop and understand appropriate relationships with others.
• Ability to increase the complexity and challenge of activities as children develop.
• Ability to observe, record, and report any child's behavior, sharing information appropriately with other staff members.
• Ability to show personal development and growth by being relaxed, using a calm, quiet voice, being pleasant and enthusiastic about the children, and by using self-control in trying situations.
• Ability to assist with transition activities for the Head Start child and family: into Head Start, during the year, and to the next placement (kindergarten).
• Ability to assist the children at snack, breakfast, and lunchtime, ensuring that the Head Start philosophy of serving family style meals is maintained and that the children serve themselves.