Contract Teaching Artists: Jazz in the Middle
SFJAZZ, Jazz in the Middle school program
Contract Teaching Artists (contract position not employee)
DATES: August 2018-May 2019
SUMMARY
SFJAZZ is hiring teaching artists to co-teach Jazz in the Middle residencies during the school year in San Francisco and Oakland. SFJAZZ staff and current team of artists will provide curriculum and training.
About Jazz in the Middle (JIM)
Established in 2001, Jazz In the Middle (JIM) sends jazz musicians and poets into middle school humanities classrooms to unlock the proud history of jazz from a social, historical, and creative perspective. Offered free to public middle schools, the JIM curriculum complies with government guidelines and district content standards in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade classrooms.
Through the process of collaboration, JIM explores connections to the African Diaspora, focusing on our shared experiences and cultures. Participants create work inspired by our collective past and present while developing leadership and teambuilding skills. SFJAZZ believes everyone is a creative agent for change. We believe the practice of art and music expresses our common language, builds community, transforms lives, and develops creative thinkers.
Jazz in the Middle curriculum themes
- Blues & Poetry: This residency links the history of blues and poetry to language arts curriculum. While making connections to our common heritage, students explore the foundations and history of American jazz, blues, poetry, and spoken word by studying important figures and styles. Combining interactive musical activities with literacy skills development, students create their own spoken word performance to present on their final day backed by a live jazz trio.
- Freedom & Jazz: Students explore the foundations of American jazz and roots music to discover how these forms reflect our common heritage, also connecting to the music's social and cultural movements. Students observe and play a variety of rhythms as they create a collective song of resistance.
- Jazz & the American Spirit: This residency helps students understand the resilience of the American spirit, and how that spirit is reflected in the evolution of jazz. Students explore the American Revolution, the Civil War, the Great Depression, World War II, and the Civil Rights Era through a series of interactive exercises. Working with SFJAZZ teaching artists in music and improvisational theater, students create original music, stories, and learn to improvise.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Co–lead 2-week long residencies with poet mentors across San Francisco and Oakland public and charter middle schools.
- Teach diverse groups of children, demonstrating positive classroom management techniques.
- Uphold rules of conduct at program sites.
- Adapt to changing requests from program sites.
- Maintain timely communication with SFJAZZ Education staff and program sites via email, phone, and in person.
- Attend meetings throughout school year, and mandatory workshops as scheduled by SFJAZZ Education staff.
- Participate in evaluation of program.
REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Experience teaching creative content (ideally jazz instrumentation) to middle school students from a variety of backgrounds.
- Knowledge of age-appropriate teaching methods and best practices.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills.
- Reliability, punctuality, flexibility.
- Artistic excellence and dedication to education.
- Must pass fingerprinting and TB test prior to hire.
- Extensive knowledge and understanding of African Diaspora and jazz history.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
- Proven skills in working with diverse communities.
- Experience developing unit plans and lesson plans.
- Familiarity with reporting to a manager remotely.
- Bilingual in Spanish.
- Programming experience and collaboration with classroom teachers a plus.
COMPENSATION
This is a contract position not an employee benefited position.
TO APPLY, PLEASE SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING TO jobs@sfjazz.org
- Resumé.
- Cover letter detailing your interest in the work, and any additional teaching with other programs you may already be doing.
- Your availability during the school year (August 2018 – May 2019)
- Videos demonstrating your teaching skills a plus.