School Library Media Program

All school library students, regardless of their education or teaching experience, are required to complete 210 hours of student teaching in the field of school librarianship in order to obtain a teaching certificate as a school library media specialist through the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Student teachers must enroll in the seminar that accompanies the student teaching experience, C&I 620: Field Project in Library and Information Agencies. This course meets with the LIS 620 practicum seminar, but school library students must register for the C&I version of the course.

The components of the student teaching experience include the following:

Applying for Student Teaching

• Application must be made through the School of Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Forms and advice may be obtained in the Office of Educational Placement Services in B117 in the Education Building on Bascom Mall.
• Application forms must be submitted to the School of Education by November 15 of the year PRIOR to the year in which the student expects to student teach.
• Each student must submit a copy of the application form to the coordinator of the school library program at SLIS. The coordinator is Allison G. Kaplan, Ed.D., agkaplan@wisc.edu

Securing Student Teaching Placements

Every student must practice teach at both the elementary and the secondary school levels.

• 70 hours must be served at one level
• 140 hours must be served at the other level

Students must work with the SLIS coordinator of the school library media program to secure placements. They may request that they work with a particular school librarian, but this choice must be approved by the coordinator. In selecting a cooperating librarian, the coordinator and student must consider the following:

• The cooperating librarian must possess a Wisconsin 902 professional teaching license.
• The cooperating librarian must be certified to serve as a cooperating teacher or agree to take a DPI-certifying course before or during the student teaching experience. Note: A school library media specialist may act as a cooperating teacher for one time without holding the appropriate certification. After that, s/he may not serve as a cooperating teacher without the certification (i.e., having taken the DPI certification course).
• The cooperating librarian must have a demonstrated record of successful librarianship that incorporates best practices in the profession.
• If at all possible, student teaching placements must be secured by the beginning of the semester prior to the actual student teaching. The coordinator must submit the names of the librarians that have been selected by and for the student to the School of Education. The School of Education then formally solicits librarians to serve as cooperating teachers for the field experience.
• Students who need help finding a placement (students who do not have any particular librarians in mind) must notify the supervisor when they apply to student teach that they want to have cooperating librarians assigned to them.
• Students will be expected to visit the potential cooperating librarians before a final placement is made.

Components of the Student Teaching Experience

Participation in the LIS 620/C&I 620 seminar (note: those who are student teaching must register for C&I 620), which comprises:

• Attending 5 evening seminars, which are two and a half hours long, during the semester
• Maintaining a journal of the student teaching experience (this must include the number of hours worked for each journal entry)
• Reading, annotating, and sharing articles related to librarianship and the field project experience (two articles per four seminar sessions = 8 articles)
• Writing a 10-page paper that reflects upon the student teaching experience or that investigates a topic of value to the student

Development of a Student Teaching Plan (this may be reported on the Field Project Agreement form), which must include:

• The school library standards (as outlined by the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction) that the student wishes to improve or practice during the field project
• Activities that the student proposes to engage in in order to master the identified standards
• A description of the artifacts that the student will develop to demonstrate proficiency on the standards
• Agreement to the plan by the cooperating librarian and the university supervisor, as evidenced by their signatures on the plan (field project agreement)

Completion of the following student-teaching-specific assignments:

• Student teaching at two separate school sites, one at the elementary level and one at the secondary level. The hours must be distributed with 70 hours served at one level and 140 hours at another level.
• Collaboratively planning and implementing an information problem solving lesson with a teacher at each school where the student teaching is taking place (minimum of 8 hours at each site)
• Developing interview questions and interviewing the principal at each field placement school on the role of the library media specialist and the library media program in her/his school (interview questions and responses must be included in the student's seminar journal)
• (minimum of 4 hours for the two interviews combined)
• Attending a school board meeting and preparing a written reflection (journal entry) on what was observed, focusing on what this means for a school librarian (minimum of 2 hours)
• Talking with a local public librarian and writing a report (journal entry) on how the public and school library collaborate or might collaborate on serving students in the community (minimum of 2 hours)
• Developing an interactive bulletin board or display that integrates classroom and library learning (minimum of 4 hours)

Note: The student may attend an appropriate conference (WEMA, AASL, WLA, AECT, ISTE,etc.) for up to two eight-hour days as part of the practicum requirement. Reflections on this experience must be included in the journal in order to receive credit for hours attended.

Currently Employed Classroom Teachers

All students, including classroom teachers who are employed full time, must student teach for 210 hours. Students are discouraged from using their home school site to satisfy the practicum requirement. However, if they do student teach in their home school, they must observe or accomplish the following:

• Serve no more than 70 hours at the home school
• Spend a minimum of one week (five 8-hour days) working in the home school library under the direct supervision of the library media specialist
• Spend eight hours collaboratively planning and implementing an information problem solving lesson with a teacher in the school with whom the student teacher has not previously worked or on a new lesson with a teacher with whom the student has worked before
• Spend eight hours after the school day ends or during planning time working in the home school library, focusing primarily on administrative aspects of the job and carrying out new activities.
• Develop interview questions and interview the principal at the field placement school and one other principal in the school district on the role of the library media specialist and the library media program in her/his school (interview questions and responses must be included in the student's seminar journal) (minimum of 4 hours)
• Attend a school board meeting and prepare a written reflection (journal entry) on what was observed, focusing on what this means for a school librarian (minimum of 2 hours)
• Talk with a local public librarian and write a written report (journal entry) on how the public and school library collaborate or might collaborate on serving students in the community (minimum of 2 hours)
• Develop an interactive bulletin board or display that integrates classroom and library learning (minimum of 4 hours)
• Serve the remaining 140 hours at a school other than the school where the student teaches. If these hours are served at a school outside the home school district, all of the previously-mentioned activities may be reiterated and applied to the 140 total hours. In addition, the student may attend an appropriate conference (WEMA, AASL, WLA, AECT, ISTE, etc.) for up to two eight-hour days as part of the practicum requirement. Reflections on this experience must be included in the journal in order to receive credit for attendance.
• If the student is teaching for 140 hours within the home school district, a plan for serving the required hours must be negotiated with the university supervisor.

Library Media Specialists on Emergency (Provisional) Licenses

Students who have been working in a school library media center for at least six months before the start of the field experience are eligible to do their two experiences in a modified format.

Each student should do the following for EACH practicum experience. One experience must total 70 hours and the other must total 140 hours.

• Secure a cooperating librarian for BOTH placements. At the home school, this may mean reporting to either the district-level library program supervisor or another library media specialist in the district.
• Spend up to 140 hours working in the home school
• Spend eight hours collaboratively planning and implementing an information problem solving lesson with a teacher in the school with whom the student teacher has not previously worked or on a new lesson with a teacher with whom the student has worked before
• Spend eight hours after the school day ends working in the home school library, focusing primarily on administrative aspects of the job and carrying out new activities.
• Develop interview questions and interview the principal at the home school and one other principal in the school district on the role of the library media specialist and the library media program in her/his school (interview questions and responses must be included in the student's seminar journal) (minimum of 4 hours)
• Attend a school board meeting and prepare a written reflection (journal entry) on what was observed, focusing on what this means for a school librarian (minimum of 2 hours)
• Talk with a local public librarian and write a written report (journal entry) on how the public and school library collaborate or might collaborate on serving students in the community (minimum of 2 hours)
• Develop an interactive bulletin board or display that integrates classroom and library learning (minimum of 4 hours)
• Attend an appropriate conference (WEMA, AASL, WLA, AECT, ISTE, etc.) for up to two eight-hour days as part of the practicum requirement. (Optional) Reflections on the experience must be included in the journal in order to receive credit for attendance.
• Serve a minimum of 70 hours at a school in the home district or in another school district. If these hours are served at a school outside the home school district, all of the previously-mentioned activities (except conference attendance) may be reiterated and applied to the 70 total hours.

Exceptions to These Requirements

There are no exceptions to the 210-hour requirement unless the student teacher already holds a valid Wisconsin initial school library media specialist license (901 or 902 initial). Other activities may be substituted or added to the ones stated above to satisfy the student teaching requirement, but changes may be made only in consultation with the coordinator of the school library media program at SLIS and must reflect the standards established for school librarians.

Observation Visits by University Supervisor

The university supervisor (who is usually the instructor for LIS 620/C&I 620 and the coordinator for the school library media program at SLIS) must observe the student teacher at both field project sites. The student must arrange with the supervisor for a visit approximately two-thirds of the way through each practicum. If there are problems or concerns, the supervisor can visit earlier in the student teaching experience. The typical length of the visit is two hours. The student should expect to accomplish the following during the observation visit:

• Give the supervisor a tour of the library media center and, if time permits, a tour of the school,
• Teach or co-teach a problem-solving or information literacy lesson to students or conduct a story time program,
• Present any projects that the student has worked on in the library (display, unit plan, bibliographies, promotional items, etc.), and
• Meet with the cooperating librarian and the university supervisor to discuss what the supervisor observed and the progress the student is making in teaching and learning through the library.

Final Evaluation

The grade that the student receives for the field project experience will reflect the combined evaluation of the two cooperating librarians and the instructor for LIS 620/C&I 620. Each cooperating librarian will receive a rubric at the beginning of the student teaching experience to use in evaluating the student's performance, and this rubric will be shared with the students. It is expected that the rubric, along with the Student Teaching Plan, will help guide the practicum. Each student will also receive a copy of the School Library Media Specialist Practicum Checklist. This document will also serve as a guide for developing the Student Teaching Plan, and at the end of the field project, the student must fill out the checklist and submit it to the practicum supervisor to receive a final grade, although the checklist itself will not be graded. The grade assigned by each cooperating librarian is worth 25% of the overall grade. The remaining 50% of the grade will reflect performance on the seminar assignments.

Questions or concerns about these requirements should be directed to the coordinator for the school library program. For the 2005-06 school year, this is Madge Hildebrandt Klais (mhklais@wisc.edu).

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