New Teacher Application 2016 – 2017

Middle School Program

Mission

The mission of Student U is to empower students in the Durham Public Schools to own their education by developing the academic skills and personal well-being necessary to succeed in college and beyond.

Core Values

The following six values drive the Student U community. We believe by embodying these values, we become the best version of ourselves.

We will energize our community.

We will achieve greatness.

We will respect ourselves and others.

We will discover our best selves.

We will dream fearlessly.

We will share our brilliance.

Priority Application Deadline: December 4, 2015

Final Application Deadline: January 22, 2016

Email completed application as an attachment to .

For questions, contact April Warren at r 919-808-5791

Thank you for your interest in becoming a Student U middle school teacher! Teaching at Student U is a year-long commitment. Student U teachers work full-time in the summer, creating lesson plans, teaching their own classes and working collaboratively with other teachers to engage and inspire students to gain academic skills and take ownership over their own education. Student U teachers teach a core academic class, a reading period and an elective. Student U teachers are expected to be fully present at the Summer Academy which operates Monday – Friday from 7:30am- 4:00pm and on Tuesdays until 5:30pm. Teaching at Student U is a full-time commitment. Teachers often work outside of Student U’s hours to create lesson plans, prepare for daily classwork and talking with parents and students.

During the academic school year, we ask Student U teachers to commit once-a-week from 3-5pm to tutoring in our daily after-school program. Teachers are compensated for their work.

The Student U Applicationconsists of 7 parts:

  1. Personal & Academic Info
  2. Resume
  3. Written Responses
  4. Lesson Plan
  5. Teaching Preferences
  6. Statement of Commitment/Original Application
  7. Letters of Recommendation (2)

You can turn in the main application (parts 1-6) by one of the following methods:

  1. Email as an attachment to .
  2. Mail to:

Student U

Summer 2016 Teacher Application

600 E Umstead St

Durham, NC 27701

Letters of Recommendations must arrive at Student U by the deadline, and can be mailed to:

Student U

New Teacher Application

Letter of Recommendation

600 E Umstead St

Durham, NC 27701

Letters of Recommendations can also be emailed to .

PERSONAL & ACADEMIC INFORMATION

Full Name

Date of Birth
Permanent Address
Mailing Address
Phone Number
E-mail
College/University
Please list the school(s) that you have/are attending, and the dates of attendance for each.
Major(s)/Minor(s)
Undergrad GPA
Date of Graduation
(Or expected date of graduation)
High School
(if you have not started college)
Please list the school(s) that you attended, and the dates of attendance for each.
High School GPA
Date of Graduation
Have you ever been convicted of a felony other than a traffic ticket? / If yes, please attach a separate statement of explanation. This is a requirement of the Durham Public Schools, whose students are involved at Student U.
How did you hear about Student U?

**Attach a copy of your resume that highlights experiences relevant to Student U.**

WRITTEN RESPONSES

Please respond to the following prompt. 300 word maximum, please.

Student U teachers have a diverse array of backgrounds. All Student U teachers have had experiences that make them unique and uniquely able to offer something special to our students. What will you bring as your unique contribution to the Student U community?

Please select two of the following prompts to respond. 300 word maximum (each), please.

  1. Describe a time that you have faced adversity and how you overcame/are overcoming that adversity. What did you learn from the experience? How will the knowledge gained from this experience influence your teaching?
  1. Teachers are leaders in and outside of the classroom, and often model leadership through how they interact with students, parents and colleagues. How will your leadership strengths influence how you teach? In what areas can you improve as a leader? How will you incorporate these goals into your development as a teacher?
  1. What is your passion? How does your passion influence your actions? How do you live out your passion every day?
LESSON PLAN

As a Student U teacher, you will be responsible for writing lesson plans for each of your classes. Some applicants have experience with lesson planning, while others may not have any experience with writing lesson plans. Your experience with lesson planning will not affect your application.

Below you will find objectives for each of the academic areas taught at Student U. An objective is the goal of your lesson. By the end of your lesson, your students will have accomplished the objective. Under each subject there are three objectives. Pickone objective for your lesson plan. Below is a lesson plan format to help guide the process. You may also use your own lesson plan template. If you are selected for an interview, you will be asked to teach 10 minutes of this lesson.

Objectives

Math

  1. Students will be able to draw conclusions from a bar graph.
  2. Students will be able to determine the mean, median and mode of a set of data.
  3. Students will be able to define and calculate the slope of a line.

Science

  1. Students will be able to identify the different steps in the scientific method.
  2. Students will be able to define genes and traits. Students will be able to use Punnett Squares to predict the traits of offspring.
  3. The students will be able to definedensity and how it can be calculated.

Global Connect

  1. Students will be able to list the different elements of culture and provide examples from their own lives.
  2. Students will define sustainability and its three key components: the economy, the environment and society.
  3. Students will be able to define the term genocide and explain why Dafur is an example of genocide in today’s society.

English

  1. Students will be able to define plot and the five different elements of plot.
  2. Students will identify and utilize persuasive writing techniques.
  3. Students will be able to identify important facts in a body of work by highlighting, circling and coding.

LESSON PLAN

Class Title/Subject: ______

Grade: ______

Objectives of This Lesson: (The things that the students will understand at the end of your lesson.)

Materials:(The things that you will need to teach your lesson.)

Hook(s): (The things that you will use/do to pique the students’ interest in the lesson you’re teaching.)

Steps/Activities in the Lesson: (The material that you will cover, demonstrations that you will give, examples that you will use to help students understand the material, etc. If you’re new to lesson planning, this might look like points that you’d make in a very well-prepared presentation in school.)

Assessment(s): (This/these are the strategies that you’ll use to check for the students’ understanding.)

Conclusion: (This is how you’ll end your lesson and give a “preview” for the next day.)

TEACHING PREFERENCES

All middle school Summer Academy teachers teach a class in one of the four core subject areas, as well as an elective of their choice. Our core subject areas are math, English, science, and global connect (social studies). Please rank the subjects in the order of your interest and perceived ability to teach them, accompanied with a sentence or two explaining your ranking. If there are subjects that you would rather not teach at all, you do not need to list them.

SubjectExplanation

1.
2.
3.
4.

Please rank your interest in teaching each grade, from 1-3 (with 1 as your top choice). If you have equal interest in teaching all grades, please indicate so.

6th Grade
7th Grade
8th Grade

Please give us a brief idea of what kind of electives you might be interested in teaching. Please list two elective ideas, and a brief description. Think outside of the box! Past electives haveincluded step, art, creative writing, playground games from around the world, soccer or yearbook.

Elective #1 Idea/Area:

______

Elective #2 Idea/Area:

______

THE STUDENT U COMMITMENT

Student U is a year-round program. Student U teachers are most active during our summer program, but commit to working with Student U students for 2-3 hours every week throughout the school year. The school year component of Student U provides continuity to ensure that our students remain excited about and engaged in Student U, and helps us to help them to find success in their academic and personal lives.

Ideally, Student U teachers will be able to participate in ALL of the following:

Pre-summer Program Activities

Friday, April 8, 2016 – Faculty Dinner, 6-8pm

Saturday, April 9, 2016 – Family Day Pre-Summer Orientation, 9am – 4pm

Summer Academy

June 6 – August 5, 2016, Monday-Friday, 7:30am-4:30pm

Year Round Program (September 2016– April 2017)

Weekly Tutoring(one day a week, Monday – Thursday, 3-5pm)

Please explain any components of the program that you are unable to commit to at this time. An inability to commit to all components will not necessarily harm your chances for being hired as a Student U teacher. If you have any questions or concerns, please ask.

______

STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL APPLICATION

I have read through this application and my responses, and everything that I have provided is true and original to the best of my knowledge.

______

Name & SignatureDate

LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION INFORMATION

You are required to send two (2) letters of recommendation.

Academic Letter

This letter must be from a teacher/professor who knows you academically and can speak to your abilities as a student in the classroom. This letter should be written from a teacher/professor who knows you well and can indicate to us that you enjoy using/gaining/sharing knowledge and doing things with that knowledge.

Personal Letter

This letter can be from anyone who can speak to you as a human being… someone who can speak to your strongest characteristics that will ensure your success as a Student U teacher. This letter can be from a boss, a friend, your aunt, your little sister, a student who you are currently tutoring, a parent of a child who you babysit, etc.

The last two pages of this application packet are forms for you to give to your recommenders. Please fill out the sections: “Applicant’s Name” and “Mail By” before giving the forms to your recommenders. It is a good idea to give recommenders plenty of advance notice so that they can have time to write you great letters of recommendation.

Recommendations must arrive at Student U by the deadline.

Letters of Recommendation can be mailed to:

Student U

New Teacher Application

Letter of Recommendation

600 E Umstead St

Durham, NC 27701

Or emailed to .

INTERVIEW INFORMATION

The next step of the application process is an interview. At this interview, you will meet with a member of the Student ULeadership Team and additional members of the Student Ucommunity. The interview will consist of a personal interview, a brief (10 minute) teaching demonstration and a time for you to assess the lesson that you delivered. For the teaching demonstration, you will be asked to teach 10 minutes of the lesson created in your application. Interviews are only granted to strong applicants.

ACADEMIC LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION

Thank you for recommending this student to be a teacher at Student U. In this academic letter of recommendation, we would like you to speak to this applicant’s abilities in the classroom, as a student and a critical thinker. What are this student’s strengths? How did s/he interact with classmates? How did this student learn, apply, and challenge the knowledge learned in your classroom? Would you recommend this student to teach middle school students in an intense summer-long program that is both very taxing and very rewarding? What will make this student a fantastic teacher?

Letters of recommendation can be mailed or emailed to Student U.

Student

New Teacher Application

Letter of Recommendation

600 E Umstead St.

Durham, NC 27701

Applicant’s Name
Please mail by
Your name
Your relationship to the applicant
Email address
Phone number

PERSONAL LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION

Thank you for recommending this student to teach at Student U. In this personal letter of recommendation, we are asking for you to comment on this applicant’s personal abilities, strengths, and the qualities that characterize him/her as an outstanding human being. Is this person a leader? How does s/he work with others? Would you recommend this person to teach middle school in an intensive summer program that requires dedication, hard work, and long hours? What will make this person a fantastic teacher? What will s/he bring to Student U that will greatly benefit Student U students and the other teachers?

Letters of recommendation can be mailed or emailed to Student U.

Student

New Teacher Application

Letter of Recommendation

600 E Umstead St.

Durham, NC 27701

Applicant’s Name
Please mail by
Your name
Your relationship to the applicant
Email address
Phone number

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