Law School Academic Support Blog

Bar Exam Coordinator Position at La Verne

*THE UNIVERSITY OF LA VERNE, COLLEGE OF LAW

invites applications for the position of Bar Exam Coordinator beginning in the 2009-2010 academic year. This is a full time, non-tenured contract position reporting to the Associate Dean. The successful candidate will be responsible for designing and implementing a program to assist students with bar examination preparations. The duties include teaching a bar preparation course for students in their final year of law school, conducting various bar preparation workshops, tutoring graduates preparing for the bar examination, and assessing the success of the program. Candidates must be graduates of an ABA approved law school and admitted to practice in at least one jurisdiction by examination. Individuals with experience in bar preparation instruction and/or academic support are encouraged to apply. The hiring range for this position is dependent upon qualifications and departmental equity. Benefits of employment include a comprehensive health and welfare plan, tuition program and a generous 10% contribution to the university’s 403B retirement plan. To apply, please send a letter of interest, a curriculum vitae, and a statement of teaching philosophy and goals, to Associate Dean Juanda Lowder Daniel, University of La Verne College of Law, 320 East D Street, Ontario, California 91764. Alternatively, you may submit your application materials via email to danielj@ulv.edu.

Rewards as Motivators

Law students may find that providing themselves rewards for task completion during final assignments and exam studying will keep them motivated.  Students should match the reward to the accomplishment: large rewards for large tasks completed; medium rewards for medium tasks completed; and small rewards for small tasks completed.   

Students can determine their own definitions of large, medium and small tasks depending on difficulty of course material, type of assignment, and length of the paper.  In addition, students will differ as to the content of the motivators depending on their own tastes and lifestyles.

Here are some ideas to help students generate their own rewards lists:

SMALL REWARDS:

• Ice cream for dessert
• Chai latte on the way to school
• Popcorn snack mid-afternoon
• Chat in the student lounge for 10 minutes
• Sit outside and work on one's tan for 10 minutes
• Check e-mail for 10 minutes
• Walk around campus for 10 minutes

MEDIUM REWARDS:

• Watching a 1/2 hour sitcom.
• Phoning a friend for 30 minutes.
• Lunch with a friend in the student lounge
• Video games for 30 minutes
• Free cell for 30 minutes
• Playing Frisbee with the family dog
• Reading a story to a child

LARGE REWARDS:

• Lunch or dinner at a restaurant
• Going to the cinema
• Reading the Sunday paper cover to cover
• Reading a novel for several hours
• Taking a drive in the countryside
• Buying a new cookbook
• Taking one's children to the park

The rewards are only limited by the law student's imagination and finances.  By having something to look forward to, it is easier to persevere and finish a task.  (Amy Jarmon) 

    

Stress Busters

Exams start here in 21 days, so the stress level is increasing by the minute.  Many of my students are handling their stress well, but some have become so stressed that they are not able to get a perspective on how to help themselves.

Students sometimes think their stress comes only from studying itself, but stress can also come from friends, family, and personal responsibilities.  By dealing with both the law and non-law stress, students can cope more effectively.

The following list of stress busters should help students who are looking for quick and easy solutions for decreasing their stress:

• Tackle your most onerous task for the day as early as possible in your schedule.  That way, it won't "hang over" you all day long and add to your stress.
• Tackle your hardest study tasks when you are most alert.  Your brain will absorb material more easily for greater understanding and retention.  Consequently, you will feel better about your study session and lower your stress. 
• Decide whether you study better for exams by focusing on one subject or several subjects per day.  Some students need the variety to stay focused.  By working with your own style, you will be less stressed than trying to study the way your friends study.   
• Read through your outlines cover to cover each week in addition to any specific topics you are studying.  By keeping all of the material fresh, you will feel less anxious about forgetting things.    
• Take short breaks (5-10 minutes) every 90 minutes and longer breaks every 4 hours (45 minutes).  Your brain will keep filing information while you relax.  You will stay more focused by allowing some down time to de-stress.
• Explain to your family and non-law friends why you need to focus on preparing for exams.  Schedule some fun activities for after exams so they know you will make it up to them after this last push.  If you do not feel guilty about family and friends, you will be less stressed. 
• Exercise for 30 minutes at least 2-3 times per week.  You may not have time for your usual long workout at the gym.  However, taking time to go for a walk or jog will help defuse stress.
• Eat three balanced meals a day.  Resorting to junk food deprives your brain of much needed fuel and contributes to stress.  Cook large quantities over the weekend or in a crock pot so that you have meals for the week.
• Avoid caffeine overloads, including energy drinks.  High doses of caffeine can have serious health side effects: increased blood pressure, panic attacks, increased anxiety, insomnia, and more.  Drink ice water instead.   
• Avoid sugar highs and crashes from too many candy bars and sodas.  Too much sugar will add to irritability which will cause you to feel stressed.   
• Get a minimum of 7 hours of sleep per night.  Shirking on sleep means your brain cells do not work as well, your productivity goes down, and your ability to cope with stress decreases. 
• Stock up on all of your exam essentials now: pens, pencils, ink cartridges, healthy snacks, healthy beverages, foods with long shelf life.  Fewer errands to run as exams approach will lower your stress. 
• Complete a "whirling dervish" clean of your apartment now.  Then just pick up and spot clean for the remaining weeks.  Finding time for major chores every week can be very stressful. 
• Switch to low-maintenance clothing so that you have less ironing to do and fewer dry cleaning trips to fit in to your schedule.  Again, one less chore to worry about will lower your stress.   

By adding even one or two stress busters, students can increase their coping skills as the semester winds down and the stress winds up.  (Amy Jarmon)

Director of Academic Success Programs Southern New England

Southern New England School of Law seeks applications for  Director of Academic Support, a full time administrative position. Salary commensurate with qualifications.  Southern New England has full-time, part-time and evening-weekend programs to serve its enrollment which is composed of over 30% minority students. Send letter of application and resume directly to Dean Robert Ward, rward@snesl.edu, at Southern New England School of Law, 333 Faunce Corner Road, North Dartmouth, MA, 02747; 508 998 9600, ext. 149.

Thank you

Thanks to those of you who have explained the pronunciation of Houston in NY City to me.  That makes a lot more sense!  Amy Jarmon

Beginners Brief Best By Briefing Backward

When preparing my briefing workshop this semester, it occurred to me how hard it was to create a well formatted issue statement.  Think about it:  one of the most common formats for an issue is:  whether [most crucial fact of case] constitutes [crucial element of rule] where [most relevant facts of case].  So the issue statement might be easier to formulate after students understood the facts.  But understanding which facts are relevant and which are distracters is hard before students understand the rule and the reasoning.  Even the rule is hard to put together in a cohesive, well-articulated format as a first step. 

So then it occurred to me that it might be easier for students to brief backward:  conclusion (who won), reasons (where they can piece together discreet information), rule, issue, and then facts. 

When I proposed this idea to my students, they all looked at me like I had two heads.  (Don’t I wish!)  But, a few days later, many of these same students popped by my office with light bulbs flashing above their heads, indicating they understood the cases better and faster using this technique. 

I more fully explain the logic behind this technique and why it could be easier for novice law students in the Teaching Methods Newsletter, Winter 2008, on page 7.

By Hillary Burgess