Project-Based Learning Specialist - Entrepreneurship & Computer Science (6th-8th)

Position Overview

The Meliora School seeks a creative, organized, and collaborative Project-Based Learning Specialist to lead our Learning Lab course, with a focus on entrepreneurship, computer science, and self-directed learning.

The specialist will design and teach experiences in which middle school learners identify real-world problems, explore business ideas, develop computational thinking, and create and test solutions. Projects may include developing a business concept, coding an interactive application, designing a website, or building a digital product that addresses a community need.

This educator will take ownership of Learning Lab planning, instruction, assessment, and exhibitions while helping learners become increasingly independent. Learners will practice setting goals, managing projects, selecting resources, seeking feedback, and evaluating the quality and impact of their work.

Learning Lab Leadership

The specialist will:

• Develop a yearlong Learning Lab course that integrates entrepreneurship, computer science, and project-based learning.
• Establish clear learning outcomes and a progression of skills across grades 6–8.
• Design a sequence that moves from guided challenges toward increasingly self-directed projects.
• Balance direct instruction, skill practice, independent work, collaboration, and learner conferences.
• Create project briefs with driving questions, learning targets, deliverables, milestones, and assessment criteria.
• Maintain systems for project proposals, work plans, progress checks, feedback, revision, and portfolios.
• Manage technology, materials, and workspaces to support productive learning.

Entrepreneurship Instruction

The specialist will:

• Teach learners to identify problems, recognize opportunities, and investigate the needs of potential users or customers.
• Guide learners through interviews, surveys, observations, and basic market research.
• Help learners develop a clear value proposition explaining whom their idea serves and why it is useful.
• Teach foundational business concepts, including revenue, expenses, pricing, profit, budgeting, and resource allocation.
• Support learners in developing simple business models and evaluating whether their ideas are practical.
• Teach learners to create prototypes or minimum viable products, gather feedback, and revise their solutions.
• Introduce branding, marketing, customer communication, and ethical business practices.
• Facilitate business pitches supported by research, financial reasoning, and evidence from testing.
• Coordinate opportunities such as learner marketplaces, pitch presentations, and community problem-solving challenges with school leadership.

Computer Science Instruction

The specialist will:

• Teach computational thinking through decomposition, pattern recognition, abstraction, and algorithm design.
• Develop programming skills through age-appropriate block-based and text-based coding.
• Teach foundational concepts such as variables, conditionals, loops, functions, and events.
• Guide learners in planning, building, testing, and debugging programs.
• Help learners create interactive stories, games, websites, applications, or other digital products.
• Teach learners to use data to answer questions and inform design decisions.
• Introduce user-centered design, usability testing, and accessibility.
• Teach responsible technology use, including privacy, cybersecurity awareness, copyright, and source attribution.
• Integrate AI literacy through age-appropriate exploration of how AI tools work, their limitations, and responsible use.
• Select tools and platforms appropriate to learner readiness, school resources, and project goals.

Integrated Project-Based Learning

The specialist will:

• Design projects that connect entrepreneurship and computer science through authentic problems.
• Help learners move through a complete development process: identify a need, research, propose, design, build, test, revise, and present.
• Create opportunities for learners to build digital solutions for a defined audience.
• Connect projects to relevant mathematics, literacy, science, and social studies learning in collaboration with Learning Guides.
• Ensure projects include meaningful inquiry, learner choice, critique, revision, and a public product.
• Maintain individual accountability within group projects.
• Teach learners to explain their decisions using research, user feedback, testing results, and financial reasoning.

Self-Directed Learning

The specialist will:

• Help learners identify interests, strengths, learning needs, and questions worth pursuing.
• Coach learners to set meaningful goals and define evidence of success.
• Guide learners in creating learning plans with resources, strategies, milestones, and deadlines.
• Explicitly teach time management, task initiation, organization, prioritization, and follow-through.
• Conduct regular conferences to review progress, identify barriers, and determine next steps.
• Teach learners to find useful resources, seek help strategically, and assess their understanding.
• Build routines for reflection, self-assessment, peer feedback, and revision.
• Gradually release responsibility as learners demonstrate readiness.
• Support learners in explaining what they learned, how they learned it, and how they will apply it.

Assessment and Mastery-Based Learning

The specialist will:

• Develop rubrics that assess entrepreneurship knowledge, computer science skills, project quality, and learner independence.
• Assess both the development process and the final product.
• Use code demonstrations, design documents, business plans, budgets, pitches, reflections, and conferences as evidence of learning.
• Distinguish individual understanding from group performance.
• Provide actionable feedback and structured opportunities for revision and reassessment.
• Maintain accurate records of progress toward learning targets.
• Integrate Meliora’s Future9™ competencies into planning, feedback, and reflection.
• Help learners curate portfolios documenting their goals, prototypes, code, feedback, revisions, and completed work.

Exhibitions and Community Partnerships

The specialist will:

• Coordinate project showcases, product demonstrations, pitch events, and learner exhibitions.
• Prepare learners to explain their work and respond to questions from authentic audiences.
• Develop connections with entrepreneurs, technology professionals, businesses, and community organizations.
• Coordinate guest speakers, mentors, and project partners with school leadership.
• Help learners prepare professional questions and communicate appropriately with partners.
• Manage exhibition timelines, learner preparation, material needs, and family communication.

Collaboration and Inclusive Instruction

The specialist will:

• Collaborate with Learning Guides to develop interdisciplinary projects and reinforce transferable skills.
• Share project-planning tools, rubrics, and strategies for supporting self-directed learning.
• Establish clear routines for independent work, collaboration, technology use, and transitions.
• Provide accessible entry points, scaffolded instruction, and meaningful extensions.
• Implement IEP and Section 504 supports in collaboration with specialized services staff.
• Support multilingual learners through visual models, vocabulary instruction, structured discussion, and varied ways to demonstrate learning.
• Create a classroom where learners take intellectual risks, learn from unsuccessful attempts, and persist through challenges.

School Community Responsibilities

The specialist will:

• Serve as an advisor, supporting learner organization, goal-setting, reflection, and social-emotional growth.
• Communicate proactively with families about expectations, progress, exhibitions, and needed support.
• Participate in professional learning, family conferences, House activities, and assigned supervision duties.
• Contribute to Meliora’s commitment to always pursue better.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution.
• Demonstrated experience teaching or applying computer science and entrepreneurship concepts.
• Working knowledge of programming fundamentals and proficiency with at least one programming language or instructional coding platform.
• Ability to teach foundational business concepts, including customer needs, value propositions, budgeting, pricing, and pitching.
• Experience designing and facilitating project-based learning with clear outcomes and assessment criteria.
• Ability to support middle school learners with varied levels of coding and business knowledge.
• Ability to develop learner independence through instruction, coaching, goal-setting, and reflection.
• Strong classroom management, project management, organization, communication, and collaboration skills.
• Commitment to inclusive instruction, mastery-based learning, and continuous improvement.
• Ability to meet applicable employment, credentialing, and background-check requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Georgia teaching certification in a relevant field.
• Experience teaching middle school computer science, entrepreneurship, business, STEM, or technology.
• Experience with tools or languages such as Scratch, Python, JavaScript, or HTML/CSS.
• Experience launching a business, developing a product, or working in a technology or entrepreneurial setting.
• Experience with design thinking, user research, prototyping, and usability testing.
• Experience in a self-directed or mastery-based learning environment.
• Experience coordinating mentors, community partnerships, pitch events, or exhibitions.