Agenda: EDIT 7460

for Cohort 9 Interns, active interns, and others planning to intern during 2010-2011

Syllabus and Contracts
read them all, then pass the test!

Checklist: based on Step-by-step Instructions (from the Syllabus)

3 approvals: Logistics, Preliminary, and Final
Your deadlines
Caution about turn-around time:

Allow plenty of time. I can only work so fast. The more meticulous you are with your paperwork, the less time it will take.

Site Selection Criteria

System approval, if required (definitely in Gwinnett, Fulton, Fayette, Forsyth, and others). System administrators have ultimate power over where you intern.
Qualified, willing media specialist
Inspiring and/or admirable program; program should be good representative of the field
Majority of hours must occur when students potentially present. That is: only a small fraction of your internship may be after or before school hours, during staff planning days, and during the summer when students are not in attendance. Whether students actually visit the media center while you're there is not under your control.
Your own school: we recommend against placement in your own school.
Logistics: you are the only judge of this; I can't place you against your will. That's why we allow maximum flexibility in time. However, this aspect of the internship will probably be a challenge for most people, resulting in short-term sacrifices.
Administrative approval(s)- host principal and your own principal (if applicable)
Diversity: if you have no experience with diversity in your professional portfolio, you must gain it in the internship.

Registration

The Checklist has semester-related deadlines.
Plan to register for EDIT 7460 in the last semester of on-site work. In other words, register in the semester in which you know you will finish all components.
Register for the section under my name.
Register for 3 hours.
You should be registered for something in each semester of intern work.

Required Components (from Final Contract)

Project
Collaborative planning
Media or Technology Committee meeting
Grade level or department meeting
Information literacy component
Assist individual students
Large group session in collaboration
Peer sharing
Professional conference
Administrative
Miscellaneous
Other site visits
Hours: 120 total; at least 100 must be on-site
Documentation
There may be other elements in the documents -- read them carefully!
Balance of hours -- I am looking for reasonable distribution of time over these tasks. As you do the work, the hours allotted will shift somewhat. How many hours per element? Check the Internship Elements resource.
Overlap of tasks: expected; recommended!

Innovative scheduling strategies

Differential holidays -- especially spring break
Different systems with differing calendars
Planning time - caution! Don't violate employee rules, which vary from system to system.
Role-swapping with your own class (keeping learners' best interests in mind at all times)
Mix-and-match approach
Evening possibilities
Summer school
Spreading experience out over time
If you don't work in a school: vacation; evenings; flex time; business people have steep challenges, but somehow have complained least in my experience.

How definite must you really be in your proposal?
A few cautions

It is legally dangerous for you to perform intern work outside of the parameters of an approved contract. Therefore, I inspect start dates carefully; they may not pre-date the approval! All responsible parties (administration, especially) must be completely aware of what you're doing. They have all rights of refusal.
Enroll in professional liability insurance. Policies are provided by professional teachers' associations, the state, and perhaps private insurers.
Learn the norms, rules, and laws that apply to your host school. Dress in a similar way as the professionals you see on-site. Follow subtle codes of conduct, such as calling adults by last names ("Mrs. Smith") in the presence of students. Ask how your mentor deals with food, drink, gum, etc., and follow suit. There will be other examples. Schools have widely different rules, and you shouldn't break rules that students are expected to follow.
Be careful when touching students. Safest: don't.
If you find yourself as the only adult in the presence of students, don't leave them unattended. Ask that this not happen much, because if something were to happen the legally responsible party would be ambiguous.
Find out what student misbehaviors must be reported. These will be rare serious offences such as violence, weapons, etc. Learn what you must do according to school and system policies. You should not be put in the position of having to deal with these things as an intern. Still, if an emergency should arise, you must know what to do in that moment.
Do not use sick time to free yourself up for internship work.
If you run into trouble of any kind, let me know.

Documentation: a peek ahead

When to do what? The Checklist helps with this.
Start with the Internship Documentation Cover Sheet - a Word document that you will be able to edit. It connects all the chunks together. The chunks, in the order you should work on them, are:

Cover sheet itself, which lists all the elements (and the various components of the internship experience, like the project, etc.)
Journal/log (GoogleDoc)
Time Account Table. For a long time, you will deal just with these pieces. The final things to produce are:
Mentor evaluation
Highlight slides
Final reflection

Keep the Rubric on hand every step of the way - it's the qualitative companion of each element.

Words of wisdom from active interns
Your questions

Keep in Mind:

CBCs (see Criminal Background Checks)
Be careful about obligated time - do not violate your job expectations! (See System Specifics, in eLC)
Cohort Blog as a group communication avenue
Rubric indicates required competencies and quality of work expected. It will be the ultimate evaluation tool; you should begin and end with the rubric.
The Internship Documentation Cover Sheet. Described below.