Kindergarten Teachers

Key Responsibilities

• Collaborate with other teachers and administrators in the development, evaluation, and revision of kindergarten programs.
• Meet with parents and guardians to discuss their children's progress and to determine their priorities for their children and their resource needs.
• Establish and enforce rules for behavior and policies and procedures to maintain order among students.
• Plan and conduct activities for a balanced program of instruction, demonstration, and work time that provides students with opportunities to observe, question, and investigate.
• Administer standardized ability and achievement tests and interpret results to determine children's developmental levels and needs.
• Maintain accurate and complete student records and prepare reports on children and activities as required by laws, district policies, and administrative regulations.
• Select, store, order, issue, and inventory classroom equipment, materials, and supplies.
• Teach basic skills, such as color, shape, number and letter recognition, personal hygiene, and social skills.
• Supervise, evaluate, and plan assignments for teacher assistants and volunteers.
• Use computers, audio-visual aids, and other equipment and materials to supplement presentations.
• Attend staff meetings and serve on committees as required.
• Plan and supervise class projects, field trips, visits by guests, or other experiential activities and guide students in learning from those activities.
• Prepare materials, classrooms, and other indoor and outdoor spaces to facilitate creative play, learning and motor-skill activities, and safety.
• Observe and evaluate children's performance, behavior, social development, and physical health.
• Perform administrative duties, such as assisting in school libraries, hall and cafeteria monitoring, and bus loading and unloading.
• Confer with other staff members to plan and schedule lessons promoting learning, following approved curricula.
• Attend professional meetings, educational conferences, and teacher training workshops to maintain and improve professional competence.
• Assimilate arriving children to the school environment by greeting them, helping them remove outerwear, and selecting activities of interest to them.
• Guide and counsel students with adjustment or academic problems or special academic interests.
• Establish clear objectives for all lessons, units, and projects and communicate those objectives to children.
• Instruct students individually and in groups, adapting teaching methods to meet students' varying needs and interests.
• Meet with other professionals to discuss individual students' needs and progress.
• Identify children showing signs of emotional, developmental, or health-related problems and discuss them with supervisors, parents or guardians, and child development specialists.
• Instruct and monitor students in the use and care of equipment and materials to prevent injuries and damage.
• Prepare objectives and outlines for courses of study, following curriculum guidelines or requirements of states and schools.
• Confer with parents or guardians, other teachers, counselors, and administrators to resolve students' behavioral and academic problems.
• Prepare for assigned classes and show written evidence of preparation upon request of immediate supervisors.
• Prepare children for later grades by encouraging them to explore learning opportunities and to persevere with challenging tasks.
• Provide students with disabilities with assistive devices, supportive technology, and assistance accessing facilities, such as restrooms.
• Prepare and implement remedial programs for students requiring extra help.
• Provide a variety of materials and resources for children to explore, manipulate, and use, both in learning activities and in imaginative play.
• Organize and lead activities designed to promote physical, mental, and social development, such as games, arts and crafts, music, and storytelling.
• Organize and label materials and display children's work in a manner appropriate for their sizes and perceptual skills.
• Read books to entire classes or to small groups.
• Prepare, administer, and grade tests and assignments to evaluate children's progress.
• Involve parent volunteers and older students in children's activities to facilitate involvement in focused, complex play.
• Demonstrate activities to children.