EMA TEACHER PAPERWORK & INFORMATION
We’re so happy you have decided to join our teacher team! We are so excited to help you get started! Please review everything below and return the ITEMS TO COMPLETE in the top section to us before your first official teaching day!
Questions? Please don’t hesitate to email the Instructor Hiring Coordinator anytime at info@expressionsmusicacademy.com!
NEW TEACHER ITEMS TO COMPLETE
Employee Handbook (read)
Onboarding Paperwork (sent to you from DocuSign in a separate email - please complete electronically)
Employee Background Check (follow instructions sent to you via a separate email from Checkr)
New Teacher Orientation Video 1: Welcome
New Teacher Orientation Video 2: Schedule
New Teacher Orientation Video 3: Lesson Types
New Teacher Orientation Video 4: Resources & Materials
New Teacher Orientation Video 5: Motivational Programs
New Teacher Orientation Video 6: Cancellations
New Teacher Orientation Video 7: Level Up
New Teacher Orientation Video 8: Teacher Expectations
New Teacher Orientation Test - Please take this upon completion of the above videos!
While we do make sure all of our teachers take this test, the scores overall do NOT matter. Some questions on this test will ask for short written answers and our program does tend to mark questions wrong if a specific word is not used. You do not need to take the test again if you get a low score!
General EMA Information for New Teachers (please read!)
Teachers Resources Page
This page provides you with many valuable resources, including employee documents, information on our scheduling program Opus 1, teacher cancelation information, Zoom resources, the EMA holiday calendar, piano tuning/repair requests, our extensive digital library, student of the month forms, video lesson samples, worksheets/inspiration ideas, and SO much more! Check it out here! (The password is 1loveteaching)
Training
We generally do not find a need for a full teacher training program here at Expressions; however, we do ask that all of our newly hired teachers watch all the training videos and complete the test (found at the links above) PRIOR to their first day of teaching. While it does look like a lot of videos in total, most are only minutes long and many teachers have said it only takes 30 - 40 minutes to complete in its entirety.
Within the first full month of teaching, you will also be contacted by our CEO Jessica Schatz, and our Director Alex Cook to set up a new teacher orientation meeting over Zoom! In this one-on-one meeting, they will discuss and go over other information regarding our motivational programs, teaching strategies, perspectives, and expectations of both students and teachers. We have found that these meetings have really benefited our current teaching staff as they were getting started and can give you more tools and ideas to help you make your schedule and teaching experience successful for a long time! You will be more than welcome to bring any of your own questions and ideas to this meeting as well!
What to Expect Next - Opus 1
Within 3-5 days of your official paperwork, background check, and orientation test being completed and turned back into us digitally, you will be registered into our scheduling system, Opus 1. Opus 1 is a fantastic program created specifically for music academies like us that will provide you a visual idea of your schedule, allow you to request time off easily, help you reach out to your students in a secure and private matter (no need to share personal information!), and well as update you if/when any changes are made to your schedule in real-time. Upon being registered into this system you will receive a welcome email which allows you to set your password and log in for the first time (I do recommend bookmarking this login page for use again in the future!). Please let us know if you do not receive this email prior to your first teaching day.
It is important to take some time to investigate this site once you are logged in as a lot of information will be available to you if you know where to look! A very common thing we are asked about a lot is time off requests which can be placed easily through this site by clicking on the airplane icon down the left side of your account information/headshot!
Types of Lessons You Could Be Asked To Provide
Here at Expressions almost all of our students attend lessons in person, meaning they will be coming into our studios for lessons on a weekly basis to work with you! Occasionally however, you or they may have issues getting a studio in person (due to illness, injury, weather, etc.) in these cases; you would have the option to teach online via Zoom. While not 100% ideal, this is a solid secondary choice to ensure your student still gets a lesson when circumstances cause one or both of you unable to attend in person. There is some handy information regarding setting up your Zoom through the link found here.
On your official paperwork, we will also be requesting you submit your Zoom PMID and full hyperlink to us as well as changing your Zoom passcode! There will be information in the digital version of the official paperwork or you can click the link below to view our official form to send us this information as well.
Teacher Zoom ID Hyperlink Form
In some cases, we also have the ability for you to create a pre-recorded lesson for your student. These lessons are generally slightly less length than their normal lessons and usually include something the student currently working on with you in lessons or that the student could practice with for the week before they return in person. These lessons would be recorded through another program called LessonMate (more information on this program can be found on our Teachers Resources Page!)
EMA HOLIDAY BREAKS & CLOSINGS
We are closed around 2 weeks each year for the national holidays. You are not required or expected to teach on those days when the studios are closed, nor are you paid for them. You can check out our Holiday Closing Schedule through the link below to plan ahead for what days we are closed in the future!
Dress code
We are a pretty casual place here at Expressions! A lot of our teachers prefer a pants/nice top combination or go a bit fancier on occasion, it is up to you! Jeans are definitely welcome! We do ask that teachers refrain from wearing anything too graphic or containing vulgarity, but that’s about our only rule! If your look isn’t sloppy or inappropriate, you’re in the clear!