Writing Instructor

Type: Part-time (2 Saturdays per month)

Wage: $25.00/hr

Contract: September 2024 - May 2025

Location: Long Island City.

Company Description

Legal Outreach is a non-profit organization that prepares urban youth, grades 9-12, from underserved communities to compete at high academic levels. Our mission is to foster vision, develop academic and professional skills, enhance confidence, and facilitate the pursuit of higher education. Please see www.legaloutreach.org for additional information about our services, and view our website prior to applying for the position.

Job Description

The Saturday Writing Classes are a core component of Legal Outreach’s College Bound, a rigorous academic program that prepares students for competitive colleges and universities. We are seeking grammar and writing instructors with experience teaching at the high school and/or college levels who can set high expectations for and inspire underserved youths. Instructors should be conversant with the fundamentals of expository, creative, and persuasive writing and be able to implement writing pedagogy creatively and rigorously in the classroom. Teaching applicants should be college graduates with professional experience in writing, teaching, editing or a related field. This is an excellent opportunity to join a team of dedicated writing staff and make a difference in the lives of New York City youths.

Job Responsibilities

• Attend paid staff training dates online in August or September 2024.
• Commit to teaching on every Saturday Writing Class date and completing year end student evaluations. Class dates for the 2024-25 academic year are September 14 & 28, October 12 & 26, November 9 & 23, December 7 & 21, January 4 & 18, February 1 & 15, March 1, 15, & 29, April 12 & 26, and May (freshmen only) 10 & 17. Candidates should not apply if they cannot commit to teaching on all of these dates.
• Teach one class in the Saturday Writing Program from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (meets every other Saturday). Those hours will generally include teaching to a group of 12 to 14 students. There will also be paid staff meetings with the Director, either before or after class.
• There are four to five classes per grade (some of these will be taught by returning instructors).
• Effectively implement a comprehensive writing curriculum in the classroom.
• Provide formal, edited feedback on essays throughout the year following a rubric (sophomore and junior instructors).
• Provide end-of-the year evaluations of students’ progress. The final paycheck for the year will be issued after completion of all evaluations and grading.
• Be available for in-person consultation or online correspondence with the Director of Writing & Academic Development to discuss specific student issues, essays, and writing pedagogy.
• All classes will meet at our building in Long Island City, Queens.
  
  

Instructor Openings

Freshman Grammar (4-5): - Applicants for this class should be grammarians at heart with solid classroom management skills. Beyond providing our students with well-developed grammatical toolkits, the goal of this course is to instill good study habits. Instructors should be comfortable with basic and more advanced grammatical rules and concepts. All instructors will be provided a textbook as well as curricula. Applicants should have ideas about how to infuse class with energy and excitement. Editors are encouraged to apply. Along with the class dates listed above, freshmen instructors will also lead one additional review class on November 16.

Sophomore Essay Writing (3-4): - Sophomores transition from the sentences they examined during freshman grammar to building paragraphs and, eventually, structuring an essay. They will plan, write, and revise two academic essays over the course of 17 class sessions, using readings to learn about different tactics for good essay writing or as thematic inspiration for their own essays. Instructors will be provided with an extensively developed curricula; however, applicants should bring their own creative ideas about writing pedagogy to invigorate class instruction.

Junior Essay Writing (3-4): - Juniors focus on strategies for effectively supporting theses and arguments. Students will plan, write, and revise three essays over the course of 17 class sessions. Applicants should be able to help students understand and explore the rhetorical strategies and essay types that are used in academic and professional persuasive essay writing. Instructors will be provided with an extensively developed curricula; however, applicants should bring their own creative ideas about writing pedagogy to invigorate class instruction.

To Apply

Send an email to dbautista@legaloutreach.org that follows the guidelines below:

• Use APPLICATION FOR SWC INSTRUCTOR as your subject.
• Attach a cover letter, resume/CV, writing sample (3-5 pp. only), and references list as a Microsoft Word (.doc) or PDF document.
• Confirm that you can commit to teaching on every class date listed in the job description.
• Indicate your teaching preferences in your cover letter.