Trego School is looking for a part-time social studies teacher.
Who Qualifies? Anyone licensed in the state of Montana to teach social studies for grades 5-8. That is, anyone with an elementary k-8 endorsement, or an appropriate secondary 5-12 license.
Part-time? Yes. Trego School is looking for someone (or several someones) to teach four hours of social studies one day a week for at least one thirteen week trimester. Fifty-two hours. With three trimesters, this position could be filled with as many as three teachers or as few as one.
Why Work Part-Time? There are plenty of reasons people choose to work part-time. Part-time employment is a good answer for anyone with a reason to stay home most of the time. It has the benefit of allowing time in the rest of the week for errands and appointments. And, for those that are unable to work full-time for health reasons, part-time employment can be an answer.
Additionally, working for a partial school year leaves more time for travel, or to not travel. Don’t want to drive in the worst of winter? Don’t work that trimester!
Would this still count for TRS? If you’ve already paid into Montana TRS, definitely! This would be an easy way to add some extra years (if not highly paid years, part-time being rather less income than full-time) to a retirement.
Four hour blocks? Core classes, such as social studies, will be taught in four hour blocks, meaning the teacher will only be expected on campus once a week.
Why teach on a block schedule? Having taught on both, I’ve personally found the block schedule to be superior. Transition times between classes present a major loss of instructional time. Additionally, short classes prevent students spending much time being deeply involved and engaged in activities. Longer classes allow for instruction and work-time both, which gives students the benefit of practice supported by their teacher.
One of the major perks of a block schedule is the potential for lengthy activities. In a science classroom, this is typically labs. In a history class, it might well be field trips. Ultimately, the classroom we must prepare children for is the world. Four hours is plenty of time to visit old buildings, to learn the local parts of Montana History through experience instead of through pictures.
What classes? A teacher could apply to teach each social studies class for the school year (three trimesters), or for only a single trimester (13 weeks). Montana divides its social studies standards into four categories: Civics and Government, Economics, Geography, and History. Classes could easily be fit into those categories (with care to include the relevant standards from other categories), but a Montana History Class could easily include elements of geography, civics and government as well as economics. The categories of social studies are highly interconnected, so there is considerable freedom for class design. In other words, teach the class you always wanted to teach. Share the topic you love.
Interested? Contact Shari Puryer (clerk@tregoschool.org) for more details and to pick up a copy of the District Application.
Trego's Mountain Ear 