Become a Guest Teacher
Hello! I am the proud principal of McDonald International. At McDonald International we take great pride in the fact that we have an excellent intern program. The interns at McDonald International are each paired with one of our classroom teachers and that teacher serves as mentor for the intern. Throughout the year, the teacher mentor and the intern work collaboratively to build relationships with students and families, develop curriculum, lesson plans, & classroom activities, evaluate student academic progress, and expose students to the culture and traditions of the intern. Additionally, the teacher mentor provides the intern with regular feedback and evaluates the intern’s performance. As part of our intern program, our interns live with host families who help our interns establish social contacts inside and outside of school, as well as providing interns with a taste of the local culture by sharing holiday traditions, including intern in family gatherings and events, and exchanging ideas and perspectives. The interns are an integral part of our Japanese and Spanish Immersion program in that they share both their language and culture with our students and families, and we hope you will consider applying to be part of our intern program for this coming year.
About our school
McDonald International is one of the Dual Language Option Schools within Seattle Public Schools. We teach language acquisition through an immersion learning process, whereby students learn Japanese or Spanish through the other core content areas. As an International school we teach students about recognizing different perspectives, challenging stereotypes, and promoting social justice. We pride ourselves in helping each student develop and celebrate their own identity, as they investigate the world. And, we foster academic achievement through integrated, collaborative learning. McDonald International is a K-5 school serving approximately 450 students.
About 20-50% of the class are comprised of native speakers of Spanish or Japanese. The rest of the class are the students who started learning Japanese/Spanish in Kindergarten (5 years old).
School Schedule: 8:00am-2:25pm (Early Release Wednesday: 8:00am-1:10pm)
School website http://mcdonaldes.seattleschools.org
PTA website http://www.mcdonaldpta.org
Who we are looking for
Enjoy and have a desire to work with elementary aged students (Ages 5-11)
Native speaker of Japanese/Spanish
Currently enrolled full-time in a post-secondary degree or certificate-issuing academic institution (college/university) outside of the USA -OR- recent graduate no more than 12 months before the start date of the program
At the age of 20 - 29 years old
Have a demonstrated career goal in education
Intermediate English Proficiency (ex: TOEIC score 630+) Orientation and communication with school staff and parents will be in English
Duties
In the immersion classroom students receive half of their school day learning Spanish or Japanese through grade level math, science and social studies. Interns serve as a model of language and culture in a language immersion classroom under the supervision of an experienced classroom teacher.Guest Teachers will work primarily with small groups or individual students to support their language development. They will occasionally work with the teacher to plan and lead whole-class lessons. Primary duties of interns are as follows:
Assist immersion classroom activities
- Facilitating small group lessons and classroom learning activities
- Teaching lessons in language and culture
- Assisting teacher with some administrative tasks
- Other duties as assigned by cooperating teacherMonitor students during lunch & recess
Attend and help at school-wide events (field trips, international night event, field day, ..etc.)
Benefits
10 month internship in Seattle, WA, U.S.A. (J-1 visa will be provided).
Accommodation with meals in a McDonald International School host family
Monthly stipend of $600
Local transit pass (Orca Card)
Up to $500/year for English classes
Winter Break (end of Dec - early Jan), Mid-winter Break (mid-February), Spring Break (mid-April)
Opportunities for professional development
Work with a committed team of educators from around the world
An active and supportive school community with opportunities to interact with students and families from many cultures
Network with similar-age interns from both Japanese & Spanish speaking countries.
Selection Process
Our internships are competitive. We encourage you to submit your materials as soon as possible to be considered for next school year.
Contact our school (see the detail in “How to Apply” below)
Submit a resume and letter of interest in English to our visa sponsorship partner organization.
Application materials will be reviewed and if qualifications are a match for the school you will be contacted for an interview.
Interview with a team of teachers and administrators from the school.
If selected from the interview process, complete application with visa sponsorship partner organization
Organization will guide you through visa application process
Once visa has been issues you will purchase flights to Seattle to arrive in late August
How to apply
Please email the following information to <guestteacheradmin@mcdonaldpta.org> with Subject line: “Guest Teacher [school year of interest]" (ex: "Guest Teacher 2023-2024").
Full name
Email address
Current country of residence
University/College name & Grade or Graduated year
Your major at your university/college
Which school year are you interested in?
Where did you hear about our program?
Application Priority Deadlines
We typically start our recruitment in Dec-Jan prior to the target school year (our school year starts early September and ends in late June). The recruitment may close after our first priority deadline if all spaces are filled. However, we will continue accepting applications throughout the year in case of any unexpected declination from the chosen applicants.
Please note that we follow the directions of the Seattle Public School District. Any changes directed by the district may cause some changes in the program and/or recruitment process.
If you are interested in a position for the year(s) after the next school year, please email w/specific school year in the Subject line.
Cost
Please refer to Amity's “Program Guidelines” re: the cost that the applicants are expected to cover. There is no cost to be paid to our school.