Early Childhood Education (ECE) FLOAT Student Assistant Job
Mission of the UW Child Development Lab
The mission of the UW Child Development Lab is three-fold: 1) to facilitate and assist faculty and students in conducting scholarly research; 2) to prepare the next generation of early childhood professionals by offering opportunity for UW students to intern, volunteer, and observe in the CDL; and 3) to provide high quality early education programs for children and engage with the community to improve the lives of children and families. The UW Child Development Lab offers year-round early education programs for children from six weeks of age until they attend kindergarten. The CDL provides developmentally-and culturally appropriate early learning experiences for children in safe, relationship-based classrooms. Each of our six classrooms is staffed with two highly trained lead teachers that provide guidance and mentorship to assistant teachers, volunteers, and interns. We strive to provide our UW students with carefully supervised training and opportunities for reflection that are associated with their course of study. We model best teaching and learning practices based on research and contemporary theories of child development. An integral component of our developmental curriculum is learning through inquiry. In addition, the CDL has 3 observation booths for UW students to use for observing child development in real life. Researchers from the Human Development & Families Studies (HDFS) program, as well as other academic programs on campus come to the CDL to conduct research studies on child development and learning, and to train their research assistants on their research protocols or the administration of developmental assessments.
Position Summary: The primary responsibility of the ECE Float Student Assistant is to assist in the care of children in the Child Development Laboratory. This includes providing assistance in the supervision, management, and guidance of classrooms of children, as well as preparation for daily activities and routines. Float Student Assistants provide extra coverage if a substitute is needed to cover the absence of another Student Intern or Student Assistant. The ECE Float Student Assistant is assigned one classroom as their “home base” when they are not needed as a substitute. Float Student Assistants must meet the training requirements to work with infants and toddlers and must be willing to work with children of any age in any of the classrooms in the CDL. The ECE Float Student Assistant is directly supervised by one Lead Teacher (in the classroom in which they are assigned) and reports to the Associate Director of the CDL. Occasionally, an ECE Float Student Assistant is hired for a special project to be completed during their time at the CDL (e.g., creating a family newsletter, assist with family events).
Principle Duties:
Float Responsibilities:
- Check in with the CDL Scheduler before each shift to see if they are needed as a sub that shift, and if so, what classrooms and what times.
- Communicate with their assigned Lead Teacher before each shift to let them know if they will be in their classroom that shift, and if so, what time(s).
- Coordinate with the CDL Scheduler and the Lead Teachers in each of the rooms they will be in each shift to ensure that they receive the breaks and lunch (if applicable) required of their shift that day.
- Communicate break/lunch times to the Lead Teachers in the rooms they are working in. Communicate with the Lead Teachers and Student Interns/Assistants when subbing in another classroom to ensure that they know what is needed of them in that classroom during that shift.
Classroom Responsibilities:
- Ensure the safety and well-being of children at all times.
- Demonstrate high quality assistance and initiative in the planning and facilitation of a daily program of care and activities for the assigned classroom according to best practices in early childhood education and developmentally-appropriate practice.
- Help set up and prepare materials for learning activities.
- Participate in classroom daily routines and jobs as requested by academic staff (e.g., support individual children during large group time, collect documentation information for anecdotal notes and developmental assessments, assist with parent-teacher conferences, etc.).
- Assist with large and small group learning activities and provide appropriate supervision and guidance to all children while they are engaged in child-initiated and teacher-directed activities.
- Implement established classroom child guidance program consisting of positive discipline approaches.
- Assist children in areas of self-help skills, such as eating, dressing, toileting or diapering.
- Assist in preparation and clean-up of snack, lunch, and nap.
- Demonstrate sensitivity and expertise working with a diverse group of people (e.g., children, families, co-workers).
- Work effectively with children, families, and co-workers from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
- Work effectively with children with special needs and children with challenging behaviors.
- Assist in the arrangement of space, setting and materials in the school learning environments (e.g., classrooms, neighborhoods, outdoors).
- Effectively observe and share information with other staff regarding children’s experiences.
- Interact daily with parents about children’s home and school experiences.
Program Responsibilities:
- Demonstrate effective communication with all staff, families, and children.
- Attend and actively participate in all staff-meetings and in-service trainings that are required for interns, including the infant/toddler training required to work in the infant rooms.
- Maintain confidentiality of information and documentation (including photos) in relation to staff, children, and families.
- Maintain prompt hours (preferably arriving 5-10 min. early) and follow CDL attendance policy.
- Complete required paperwork within the timelines and established procedures (e.g., personnel file, classroom attendance sheets, classroom documents).
- Follow WI State Child Care Regulations, as well as the policies and procedures of the CDL, as stated in the CDL Policy Handbooks.
Essential Functions:
- The ability to supervise children by both sight and sound at all times.
- The ability to get up and down from the floor on a continuous basis, both to interact with children on their level and to help them settle on their cots during naptime.
- The ability to sit on small chairs 12” off the floor, off and on throughout the day.
- The ability to lift children weighing 35 pounds on average, if needed.
- The ability to place a child up on a changing table or bend over to change a diaper on a pad on the floor, if needed.
- The ability to bend over to help children wipe (and sanitize) low tables and floor spills.
- The ability to reach containers from upper shelves.
- The ability to move with children during their large motor activities several times each day.