Fieldwork Guide for School Media Students

Contact Information

School of Information Studies, Syracuse University

Rebecca Shaffer Mannion rshaffer@syr.edu Fieldwork Coordinator

The Fieldwork Experience: Guidelines

New York State certification requires school media students to complete 100 hours of on-site fieldwork in elementary and secondary schools prior to their practicum experiences. These are non-credit experiences monitored by the Fieldwork Coordinator and supervised on-site with a certified library media specialist. These certification requirements are for any school media student, even if you do not live in New York, as they are part of our accredited program requirements.  With recent changes to requirements hours do not have to be split evenly between elementary and secondary.

You must have completed at least six credits within the School Media Program before you can begin your fieldwork.

Students can complete one or both of their fieldwork requirements in any single quarter. It is expected that fieldwork experience for each level (elementary, secondary) will be completed in the quarter in which it is initiated, but we can be flexible. The Fieldwork Coordinator must approve any exceptions.

Middle school fieldwork may be substituted for either of these if the project's focus is on the elementary (grades 6 and below) or secondary level (grades 7 and above). For example, a student may have completed 40 hours of fieldwork in an elementary school and a fifth grade fieldwork project for 10 hours in a middle school.

A minimum of 15 of the 100 clock hours of field experience must include a focus on learning differentiation.

Develop Your Fieldwork Project

Students will coordinate fieldwork placement and fieldwork projects with guidance from th

e Fieldwork Coordinator and the site supervisor. The following are guidelines for selecting projects:

Students are advised to complete 1 to 3 projects for every 50 hours of fieldwork.

Students are encouraged to select projects that also meet their current course assignments. For example, a student taking IST 612 who has little experience with book-talks may want to develop and deliver a series of book-talks to middle school students.

By the end of their program, School Media students are expected to participate in the design and/or implementation of the following types of activities:

a.        Collaborative instructional planning with classroom teachers

b.        Differentiated instruction for a diverse range of students including students with special needs.

c.        Integration of technology into instruction.

d.        Exposure to a wide range of management tasks (e.g., budgeting, planning and evaluation)

e.        A storytelling and/or book talking session.

f.         A classroom management and/or conflict resolution experience.

g.        A language acquisition and/or literacy development activity (e.g., reading guidance, literature appreciation, speaking, writing, or listening skills).

h.        Planning and/or evaluation of a library media center of program.

i.         An information literacy skills lesson or unit for students.

Some of these activities will be addressed in fieldwork and some in practica.

Following the completion of a fieldwork experience, students must document participation in each project on the “Record of Fieldwork” form including dates, location, level (elementary or secondary), a copy of the lesson plan you developed and delivered, a brief description of the activities and your role in it.  One suggestion is to have a spreadsheet with projects, dates, reflection available via One Drive to streamline these requirements.

All completed Learning Agreement, Record of Fieldwork, and Completion of Fieldwork survey forms must be submitted. Links are on the School Media Forum https://blackboard.syracuse.edu/ (under Organizations, not Courses).

At least ONE lesson plan must be written and presented to students. It does not need to be for the whole class, but a small group will be fine. Use any of the lesson plan templates required by the school media faculty. The lesson plan must be submitted with the Record of Fieldwork at the end of the placement.

Select the Fieldwork Site and Site Supervisor

The site supervisor must be a certified Library Media Specialist (LMS) in New York State or in the state in which you are doing your fieldwork. You may spend your 50 hours at more than one site, but no more than two. You MAY do your fieldwork in your own town, unlike your practica.

If you need help selecting a site, please contact the Fieldwork Coordinator for suggestions.

Middle school fieldwork may be substituted for either of these if the project's focus is on the elementary (grades 6 and below) or secondary level (grades 7 and above).

Note: preparation and lesson planning done at home may not be included as part of the 100 hours.

Before the actual on-site fieldwork hours begin, you should meet with your site supervisor at least once. First, contact your potential site supervisor by telephone or email to ask if they would be willing mentor, you and to have you conduct your fieldwork projects in their library media center.

Once they agree to be your site supervisor, schedule an appointment for your initial in-person meeting. You should have some project ideas already outlined so you can let your site supervisor know what it is you would like to work on during the hours you spend in their school. However, keep in mind that your site supervisor may have suggestions for your project as it relates to his/her school.

Fieldwork Learning Agreement

Once you and the site supervisor have agreed on your fieldwork experience, including the project(s) on which you will work, you must submit the Fieldwork Learning Agreement via email to Rebecca Shaffer Mannion rshaffer@syr.edu Submit this form at least one week BEFORE you begin your actual fieldwork hours. It also needs to be submitted in the School Media Forum.

Fieldwork Journal

Use the Fieldwork Journal link in the School Media Forum to submit weekly journals. These are due by midnight Sunday evenings during your fieldwork experience. In the journal entry, indicate how many hours were spent in the school, activities you observed or conducted, and your reflections upon those. These entries are required but not graded. Feel free to say what you really think, because the content will not be passed along to your site supervisor. It is ok to have good days and not so good days.

Updating the Fieldwork Coordinator of Project Adjustments and Changes

If during your fieldwork, you modify or change your project, or if you have questions about your progress, contact the Fieldwork Coordinator. It is ok to have changes, but they need to be noted.

Record of Fieldwork 

At the end of your elementary and secondary requirements, complete and submit Record of Completion Form and upload a pdf of your journal to the school media forum. It will be noted on your transcript as a Milestone.

Site Supervisor Follow-up

After you submit the Record of Completion forms, the Fieldwork Coordinator will contact your site supervisor via email for a brief evaluation of your time spent at his/her site. This evaluation will allow your site supervisor to provide us with some input on your performance, ensuring you completed the work to which you committed and that it was done satisfactorily. There is no grade attached to Fieldwork.

Review of the School Media Fieldwork Process

1. Complete a minimum of six credits in the School Media Program.

2. Read the Fieldwork Guide in the School Media Forum https://blackboard.syracuse.edu/ .

3. Email Rebecca Shaffer Mannion rshaffer@syr.edu stating intent to begin fieldwork.

4. Find a placement via networking, suggestions from other students in the program, Rebecca Shaffer Mannion, school media faculty, or calling local schools.

5. Complete Fieldwork Learning Agreement via Qualtrics.

6. Rebecca will review the Learning Agreement and approve or ask for revisions and notify you via email.

7. Begin your hours.

8. Submit a weekly journal entry via email of your fieldwork experience by midnight on Sundays. This can be a link to a One Drive document. Sample in School Media Forum.

9. At the end of your elementary and secondary requirements, complete and submit Record of Completion Form and lesson plan upload a pdf of your journal to the school media forum It will be noted on your transcript as a Milestone.