Trail Guide for New Teachers: Working with Graduate Teaching Practicum Students in First-year Writing

Come hear how one instruction coordinator librarian used the writing across the disciplines tradition to move beyond inviting new writing teachers to participate in one-shot library instruction to developing deep and lasting teaching collaborations. By assigning reading homework and conducting freewriting exercises during visits to the practicum class, librarians can engage new teachers in critically examining the crossover between writing and information literacy during their first-year as writing instructors. By assuming this role of co-educator, librarians have the opportunity to help first-time writing teachers develop collaborative relationships with librarians early in their teaching experience in order to lay the groundwork for sustained partnerships in teaching writing and information literacy. New teachers who are embarking on their career appreciate the support of a librarian and typically develop close, sustained collaborative relationships with the librarians that they work with which translates to a richer learning environment within first-year writing classes.