Law School Academic Support Blog

Deadline Today at Noon EST for Nominations for AALS Section on Academic Support Officers and Board Members

Good afternoon, 

I was asked recently to chair the nominations committee of the AALS Section on Academic Support.  Below  are instructions for submitting nominations.  There are four positions open:  secretary, treasurer, and two board positions.  I encourage everyone in our community to consider volunteering for these positions or nominating someone.  You can participate meaningfully even if you do not regularly attend the AALS Annual Meetings.

Best regards, 

Louis Schulze, FIU Law

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR OFFICERS AND BOARD MEMBERS FOR THE AALS SECTION ON ACADEMIC SUPPORT

At the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in San Francisco, the Section on Academic Support will have its Business Meeting on Friday, January 6th at 7:30AM (Room TBA).  Section members will elect the 2017 Executive Committee.  The Nomination Committee is now accepting nominations for positions to be elected at the 2017 meeting. 

The Executive Committee is comprised of:  Chair, Chair-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, four board members, and the Immediate Past Chair.  Two Board Members are elected each year, serving two-year terms.  Per the bylaws’ rotation rules, Danielle Kocal (Pace) becomes the Chair of the Section for 2017, and Staci Rucker (Cincinnati) becomes Chair-elect.  Positions to be filled at the upcoming meeting: Secretary, Treasurer, and two Board Members (with terms expiring 2019).  The Secretary and Treasurer serve as a Chair or Co-Chair of a committee during the year.  Board Members serve as members of at least one committee during their terms.

Who May Be Nominated: Candidates must be faculty or professional staff at AALS-member law schools (link to AALS-member-school list: http://www.aals.org/member-schools/).  The nominated person need not be present at the AALS Annual Meeting.

Who May Submit a Nomination: You may nominate yourself or any other eligible candidate at an AALS member school.

Contents of Nomination: Nominations must be in writing and include:  (1) the candidate's name, title, institutional affiliation, and business email address; (2) a brief description of the candidate's professional role at his/her institution and connection with law school academic support (3) a statement confirming that the candidate is willing to be nominated.

Deadline: Noon (Eastern Time) on December 29, 2016.

Where to send Nominations: Send nominations to Louis Schulze at [email protected].

The process after nominations close: The Nomination Committee’s three members will confirm nominees’ interest in serving; review nominations; choose a slate of candidates to recommend at the Business Meeting; and seek additional nominations at the Business Meeting.

Reminder Nominations for AALS Section on Academic Support Officers and Board Members - Deadline Tomorrow at Noon EST

Good afternoon, 

I was asked recently to chair the nominations committee of the AALS Section on Academic Support.  Below  are instructions for submitting nominations.  There are four positions open:  secretary, treasurer, and two board positions.  I encourage everyone in our community to consider volunteering for these positions or nominating someone.  You can participate meaningfully even if you do not regularly attend the AALS Annual Meetings.

Best regards, 

Louis Schulze, FIU Law

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR OFFICERS AND BOARD MEMBERS FOR THE AALS SECTION ON ACADEMIC SUPPORT

At the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in San Francisco, the Section on Academic Support will have its Business Meeting on Friday, January 6th at 7:30AM (Room TBA).  Section members will elect the 2017 Executive Committee.  The Nomination Committee is now accepting nominations for positions to be elected at the 2017 meeting. 

The Executive Committee is comprised of:  Chair, Chair-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, four board members, and the Immediate Past Chair.  Two Board Members are elected each year, serving two-year terms.  Per the bylaws’ rotation rules, Danielle Kocal (Pace) becomes the Chair of the Section for 2017, and Staci Rucker (Cincinnati) becomes Chair-elect.  Positions to be filled at the upcoming meeting: Secretary, Treasurer, and two Board Members (with terms expiring 2019).  The Secretary and Treasurer serve as a Chair or Co-Chair of a committee during the year.  Board Members serve as members of at least one committee during their terms.

Who May Be Nominated: Candidates must be faculty or professional staff at AALS-member law schools (link to AALS-member-school list: http://www.aals.org/member-schools/).  The nominated person need not be present at the AALS Annual Meeting.

Who May Submit a Nomination: You may nominate yourself or any other eligible candidate at an AALS member school.

Contents of Nomination: Nominations must be in writing and include:  (1) the candidate's name, title, institutional affiliation, and business email address; (2) a brief description of the candidate's professional role at his/her institution and connection with law school academic support (3) a statement confirming that the candidate is willing to be nominated.

Deadline: Noon (Eastern Time) on December 29, 2016.

Where to send Nominations: Send nominations to Louis Schulze at [email protected].

The process after nominations close: The Nomination Committee’s three members will confirm nominees’ interest in serving; review nominations; choose a slate of candidates to recommend at the Business Meeting; and seek additional nominations at the Business Meeting.

Reminder Nominations for AALS Section on Academic Support Officers and Board Members - Deadline 12/29/16

Good afternoon, 

I was asked recently to chair the nominations committee of the AALS Section on Academic Support.  Below  are instructions for submitting nominations.  There are four positions open:  secretary, treasurer, and two board positions.  I encourage everyone in our community to consider volunteering for these positions or nominating someone.  You can participate meaningfully even if you do not regularly attend the AALS Annual Meetings.

Best regards, 

Louis Schulze, FIU Law

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR OFFICERS AND BOARD MEMBERS FOR THE AALS SECTION ON ACADEMIC SUPPORT

At the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in San Francisco, the Section on Academic Support will have its Business Meeting on Friday, January 6th at 7:30AM (Room TBA).  Section members will elect the 2017 Executive Committee.  The Nomination Committee is now accepting nominations for positions to be elected at the 2017 meeting. 

The Executive Committee is comprised of:  Chair, Chair-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, four board members, and the Immediate Past Chair.  Two Board Members are elected each year, serving two-year terms.  Per the bylaws’ rotation rules, Danielle Kocal (Pace) becomes the Chair of the Section for 2017, and Staci Rucker (Cincinnati) becomes Chair-elect.  Positions to be filled at the upcoming meeting: Secretary, Treasurer, and two Board Members (with terms expiring 2019).  The Secretary and Treasurer serve as a Chair or Co-Chair of a committee during the year.  Board Members serve as members of at least one committee during their terms.

Who May Be Nominated: Candidates must be faculty or professional staff at AALS-member law schools (link to AALS-member-school list: http://www.aals.org/member-schools/).  The nominated person need not be present at the AALS Annual Meeting.

Who May Submit a Nomination: You may nominate yourself or any other eligible candidate at an AALS member school.

Contents of Nomination: Nominations must be in writing and include:  (1) the candidate's name, title, institutional affiliation, and business email address; (2) a brief description of the candidate's professional role at his/her institution and connection with law school academic support (3) a statement confirming that the candidate is willing to be nominated.

Deadline: Noon (Eastern Time) on December 29, 2016.

Where to send Nominations: Send nominations to Louis Schulze at [email protected].

The process after nominations close: The Nomination Committee’s three members will confirm nominees’ interest in serving; review nominations; choose a slate of candidates to recommend at the Business Meeting; and seek additional nominations at the Business Meeting.

Happy Holidays to Our Readers

All of us here at the Law School Academic Support Blog wish you and yours the happiest of holiday seasons. Enjoy the days off while your law school is closed. Spend time with family and friends. Eat lots of wonderful food. Catch up on sleep and recharge your batteries. Count your many blessings. Best wishes for 2017!

The Blog will be taking a partial holiday break with a few posts and resume daily posts after the new year begins.

 

Call for Nominations for AALS Section on Academic Support Officers and Board Members - Deadline 12/29/16

Good afternoon, 

I was asked Friday to chair the nominations committee of the AALS Section on Academic Support.  Below  are instructions for submitting nominations.  There are four positions open:  secretary, treasurer, and two board positions.  I encourage everyone in our community to consider volunteering for these positions or nominating someone.  You can participate meaningfully even if you do not regularly attend the AALS Annual Meetings.

Best regards, 

Louis Schulze, FIU Law

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR OFFICERS AND BOARD MEMBERS FOR THE AALS SECTION ON ACADEMIC SUPPORT

At the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in San Francisco, the Section on Academic Support will have its Business Meeting on Friday, January 6th at 7:30AM (Room TBA).  Section members will elect the 2017 Executive Committee.  The Nomination Committee is now accepting nominations for positions to be elected at the 2017 meeting. 

The Executive Committee is comprised of:  Chair, Chair-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, four board members, and the Immediate Past Chair.  Two Board Members are elected each year, serving two-year terms.  Per the bylaws’ rotation rules, Danielle Kocal (Pace) becomes the Chair of the Section for 2017, and Staci Rucker (Cincinnati) becomes Chair-elect.  Positions to be filled at the upcoming meeting: Secretary, Treasurer, and two Board Members (with terms expiring 2019).  The Secretary and Treasurer serve as a Chair or Co-Chair of a committee during the year.  Board Members serve as members of at least one committee during their terms.

Who May Be Nominated: Candidates must be faculty or professional staff at AALS-member law schools (link to AALS-member-school list: http://www.aals.org/member-schools/).  The nominated person need not be present at the AALS Annual Meeting.

Who May Submit a Nomination: You may nominate yourself or any other eligible candidate at an AALS member school.

Contents of Nomination: Nominations must be in writing and include:  (1) the candidate's name, title, institutional affiliation, and business email address; (2) a brief description of the candidate's professional role at his/her institution and connection with law school academic support (3) a statement confirming that the candidate is willing to be nominated.

Deadline: Noon (Eastern Time) on December 29, 2016.

Where to send Nominations: Send nominations to Louis Schulze at [email protected].

The process after nominations close: The Nomination Committee’s three members will confirm nominees’ interest in serving; review nominations; choose a slate of candidates to recommend at the Business Meeting; and seek additional nominations at the Business Meeting.

Breaking Free from the Stress and Strains of Final Exams: Try Out the "Smile Loop!"

Wow.  At long last, final exams are over...sort of.

For most of us, we have a very difficult time with uncertainty in general, which is particularly exasperating as we wait - sometimes for weeks - for our grades to arrive.

So, despite the festive times of this month, we often find ourselves unable to relax, to enjoy the season, and to simply wind down and rest.  

Nevertheless, there's a simple way - in just a flash of a moment - to help break free from the many stresses and strains of the past few weeks of final exams.  Why not try out, today, the "smile loop?"  It sounds, sort of, fun, doesn't it?  So, here's the scoop (and the science too):

You see, according to an excellent article in the Wall Street Journal by Elizabeth Bernstein:

"Smiling produces neural messaging in your brain that makes you happier. Some studies have shown that when we smile our facial muscles contract, which slightly distorts the shape of the thin facial bones.  This leads to an increase in blood flow into the frontal lobes of the brain and the release of the feel-good chemical dopamine. And, when we smile at someone, that person tends to smile back. So, we've created a feel-good loop."  http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-fall-back-in-love

For those of you that are not scientists (that's me!), the short scoop is that smiling brightens not just our days but the days of those around us.  And, it sure seems to me that smiling at another person gets us on the right track to thinking about others rather than worrying about the past few weeks of final exams (with its lingering wait for grades).  

I had the chance to put smiling to the test in very unforgiving circumstances over the course of the past few weeks as a volunteer attorney.  There's a little Greek island just a few short miles off the Turkish coast.  Because of its locale so close to Turkey, thousands of people have been fleeing on small inflatable boats across the Aegean Sea to escape persecution, calamity, and in some cases war in their native countries - from Syria to Iran to Iraq to Afghanistan to South Sudan - with the hope of receiving refugee in the European Union.  I talked with a man, his wife and his adorable small children that risked it all traveling by land from Afghanistan through Iran and Turkey only to be finally living for months in a small UNHCR tent in a refugee camp on the island of Chios.

Despite the lack of resources and the uncertainty of still waiting - for months on end - to receive as of yet an asylum hearing, he smiled.  And, then his children smiled. Why, his whole family smiled.  In the cold of the wind swept coast of this little island refugee camp, we all smiled...together.  He and his family may not have had much to give but they gave something immeasurably priceless...they shared smiles with me.  

Let me say, this was not unique.  As I walked through the refugee camp with a number of refugee-seekers, even though we often didn't speak the same language, we were able to communicate in ways that are often richer than words.  Over and over, refugees would just come up to me with big generous smiles and warm handshakes of greetings.  Memorably, a small Syrian boy grabbed my hand one day by the lunch tent as a group of young people were dancing, asking me to join in the footsteps and singing.

You see, smiles are not just a trick to make your life better or happier.  No, no at all!   Rather, smiles are the sweetness of life itself in helping us to make the world a little better for others.  So, as you wait for final exam grades to come in, be of good courage and share smiles with those around you.  Who knows?  That brief smile might get you up and dancing!

(Scott Johns).

Call for Nominations for AALS Section on Academic Support Officers and Board Members - Deadline 12/29/16

Good afternoon, 

I was asked Friday to chair the nominations committee of the AALS Section on Academic Support.  Below  are instructions for submitting nominations.  There are four positions open:  secretary, treasurer, and two board positions.  I encourage everyone in our community to consider volunteering for these positions or nominating someone.  You can participate meaningfully even if you do not regularly attend the AALS Annual Meetings.

Best regards, 

Louis Schulze, FIU Law

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR OFFICERS AND BOARD MEMBERS FOR THE AALS SECTION ON ACADEMIC SUPPORT

At the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in San Francisco, the Section on Academic Support will have its Business Meeting on Friday, January 6th at 7:30AM (Room TBA).  Section members will elect the 2017 Executive Committee.  The Nomination Committee is now accepting nominations for positions to be elected at the 2017 meeting. 

The Executive Committee is comprised of:  Chair, Chair-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, four board members, and the Immediate Past Chair.  Two Board Members are elected each year, serving two-year terms.  Per the bylaws’ rotation rules, Danielle Kocal (Pace) becomes the Chair of the Section for 2017, and Staci Rucker (Cincinnati) becomes Chair-elect.  Positions to be filled at the upcoming meeting: Secretary, Treasurer, and two Board Members (with terms expiring 2019).  The Secretary and Treasurer serve as a Chair or Co-Chair of a committee during the year.  Board Members serve as members of at least one committee during their terms.

Who May Be Nominated: Candidates must be faculty or professional staff at AALS-member law schools (link to AALS-member-school list: http://www.aals.org/member-schools/).  The nominated person need not be present at the AALS Annual Meeting.

Who May Submit a Nomination: You may nominate yourself or any other eligible candidate at an AALS member school.

Contents of Nomination: Nominations must be in writing and include:  (1) the candidate's name, title, institutional affiliation, and business email address; (2) a brief description of the candidate's professional role at his/her institution and connection with law school academic support (3) a statement confirming that the candidate is willing to be nominated.

Deadline: Noon (Eastern Time) on December 29, 2016.

Where to send Nominations: Send nominations to Louis Schulze at [email protected].

The process after nominations close: The Nomination Committee’s three members will confirm nominees’ interest in serving; review nominations; choose a slate of candidates to recommend at the Business Meeting; and seek additional nominations at the Business Meeting.

Take a Real Break

As my students wrap up the semester and head home, they are filled with excitement. Students recognize that they survived the semester although at various points and particularly during the exam period they viewed this feat as impossible. Smiles on their faces and relief felt from completing exams provide glimmers into their true selves which were previously masked by stress and the rigors of law school. Some students are not quite excited because they are filled with concern about the results of their efforts, grades, and the desire to go through a complete postmortem of their preparation and exams. My job is to calm concern, remind students that they have no control over the results that are now in the hands of their professors and stressing about the results changes nothing about how quickly they will receive the results and what the result will be. I say to them with enthusiasm: “All you can do now is enjoy your break!”

Here are my two recommendations to students for the holiday season:

(1) Take a break

Catch up on sleep and enjoy family and friends, if possible. Catching up on sleep is imperative. You probably abused your body and sacrificed sleep as you prepared for exams. Please give yourself a few days to catch up on sleep and to simply be lazy. This is the best time for that. Here is a good resource for an 8 hour deep sleep music or peaceful music for relaxation and meditation: Sleep, Meditation, and Relaxation Music

(2) Plan for next semester

Plan for when you will start the gradual transition to reading and preparing for next semester’s classes so you are not overwhelmed. Set a date and time when you will complete specific tasks. If you are a 3L, this may be the ideal time to plan for your bar application and bar review process. This may also be the time, while at home, to assemble all of the necessary documentation you might need as you prepare to apply for the bar exam, if you have not already. (Goldie Pritchard)

Call for Nominations for AALS Section on Academic Support Officers and Board Members - Deadline 12/29/16

Good afternoon, 

I was asked Friday to chair the nominations committee of the AALS Section on Academic Support.  Below  are instructions for submitting nominations.  There are four positions open:  secretary, treasurer, and two board positions.  I encourage everyone in our community to consider volunteering for these positions or nominating someone.  You can participate meaningfully even if you do not regularly attend the AALS Annual Meetings.

Best regards, 

Louis Schulze, FIU Law

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR OFFICERS AND BOARD MEMBERS FOR THE AALS SECTION ON ACADEMIC SUPPORT

At the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in San Francisco, the Section on Academic Support will have its Business Meeting on Friday, January 6th at 7:30AM (Room TBA).  Section members will elect the 2017 Executive Committee.  The Nomination Committee is now accepting nominations for positions to be elected at the 2017 meeting. 

The Executive Committee is comprised of:  Chair, Chair-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, four board members, and the Immediate Past Chair.  Two Board Members are elected each year, serving two-year terms.  Per the bylaws’ rotation rules, Danielle Kocal (Pace) becomes the Chair of the Section for 2017, and Staci Rucker (Cincinnati) becomes Chair-elect.  Positions to be filled at the upcoming meeting: Secretary, Treasurer, and two Board Members (with terms expiring 2019).  The Secretary and Treasurer serve as a Chair or Co-Chair of a committee during the year.  Board Members serve as members of at least one committee during their terms.

Who May Be Nominated: Candidates must be faculty or professional staff at AALS-member law schools (link to AALS-member-school list: http://www.aals.org/member-schools/).  The nominated person need not be present at the AALS Annual Meeting.

Who May Submit a Nomination: You may nominate yourself or any other eligible candidate at an AALS member school.

Contents of Nomination: Nominations must be in writing and include:  (1) the candidate's name, title, institutional affiliation, and business email address; (2) a brief description of the candidate's professional role at his/her institution and connection with law school academic support (3) a statement confirming that the candidate is willing to be nominated.

Deadline: Noon (Eastern Time) on December 29, 2016.

Where to send Nominations: Send nominations to Louis Schulze at [email protected].

The process after nominations close: The Nomination Committee’s three members will confirm nominees’ interest in serving; review nominations; choose a slate of candidates to recommend at the Business Meeting; and seek additional nominations at the Business Meeting.

Call for Nominations for AALS Section on Academic Support Officers and Board Members - Deadline 12/29/16

Good afternoon, 

I was asked Friday to chair the nominations committee of the AALS Section on Academic Support.  Below  are instructions for submitting nominations.  There are four positions open:  secretary, treasurer, and two board positions.  I encourage everyone in our community to consider volunteering for these positions or nominating someone.  You can participate meaningfully even if you do not regularly attend the AALS Annual Meetings.

Best regards, 

Louis Schulze, FIU Law

 

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS FOR OFFICERS AND BOARD MEMBERS FOR THE AALS SECTION ON ACADEMIC SUPPORT

At the 2017 Annual Meeting of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) in San Francisco, the Section on Academic Support will have its Business Meeting on Friday, January 6th at 7:30AM (Room TBA).  Section members will elect the 2017 Executive Committee.  The Nomination Committee is now accepting nominations for positions to be elected at the 2017 meeting. 

The Executive Committee is comprised of:  Chair, Chair-Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, four board members, and the Immediate Past Chair.  Two Board Members are elected each year, serving two-year terms.  Per the bylaws’ rotation rules, Danielle Kocal (Pace) becomes the Chair of the Section for 2017, and Staci Rucker (Cincinnati) becomes Chair-elect.  Positions to be filled at the upcoming meeting: Secretary, Treasurer, and two Board Members (with terms expiring 2019).  The Secretary and Treasurer serve as a Chair or Co-Chair of a committee during the year.  Board Members serve as members of at least one committee during their terms.

Who May Be Nominated: Candidates must be faculty or professional staff at AALS-member law schools (link to AALS-member-school list: http://www.aals.org/member-schools/).  The nominated person need not be present at the AALS Annual Meeting.

Who May Submit a Nomination: You may nominate yourself or any other eligible candidate at an AALS member school.

Contents of Nomination: Nominations must be in writing and include:  (1) the candidate's name, title, institutional affiliation, and business email address; (2) a brief description of the candidate's professional role at his/her institution and connection with law school academic support (3) a statement confirming that the candidate is willing to be nominated.

Deadline: Noon (Eastern Time) on December 29, 2016.

Where to send Nominations: Send nominations to Louis Schulze at [email protected].

The process after nominations close: The Nomination Committee’s three members will confirm nominees’ interest in serving; review nominations; choose a slate of candidates to recommend at the Business Meeting; and seek additional nominations at the Business Meeting.

More Bad News for Charlotte Law School Students

Federal Aid has been cut for Charlotte Law School. The law school plans to respond to the decision. Read the Inside Higher Ed post here.

A Hot Topic Program on Bar Issues at AALS 2017

Are you attending AALS this January? In addition to attending the programs for the Section on Academic Support, you may want to attend one of the Hot Topic Programs: Declining Bar Exam Scores, the New Bar Pass Accreditation Standard, and Ensuring New Lawyer Competence: A Perfect Storm. It is scheduled for Wednesday, January 4 at the 1:30 - 3:15 p.m. time slot.

Congratulations to Our Students

Most law students have completed exams and papers (or will soon). So congratulations on finishing another semester of law school! For those of you who are first-year students, you are now seasoned law students and no longer the newbies! For those of you in second or third year, you are well along your journeys to being law school graduates.

And for those of you who have graduated this December, special congratulations and best wishes come your way! We wish you well in your bar exam study and exam-taking. We wish you well in your new employment or job hunting efforts after bar results. 

Stay focused in your bar study. Complete the entire bar review course including the practice questions - not just some of it - so that you increase your chances of passing the first time. Bar review is essential to prepare well for the exam; this is not a time to coast just because you have been studying for three years. Pace yourselves because this is a marathon and not a sprint. You can do this! (Amy Jarmon)

Save the Date for the Southwestern Consortium Workshop

Save the Date – March 3, 2017 for the

5^th Annual Southwestern Consortium of Academic Support Professionals Workshop

 

Outside the Box:  Creative Strategies in Academic Support

at

University of Texas School of Law

in Austin, Texas

 

The Southwestern Consortium of Academic Support Professionals will host a one day conference focused on creative solutions to help students succeed.  ASP departments face the daunting task of reaching a new generation of learners with diminishing budgets.  Academic Support Professionals must adapt faster than most in academia, so we hope to provide a range of ideas to help all programs from first-year to bar passage. 

Similar to previous years, we are bringing in a great slate of presenters.  Cassie Christopher from Texas Tech School of Law, Carrie Sperling from the University of Wisconsin School of Law, Ellen Pryor from UNT Dallas College of Law, and Scott Johns from the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law are among those presenting during the workshop.

Registration is open to anyone interested in academic support.  Registration forms, hotel information, and additional details will be provided in early January.  UT School of Law is located in Texas’ capital city of Austin.  Austin’s music scene and beautiful weather will make this a great place to visit in early March.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact:

Steven Foster ([email protected])

Director of Academic Achievement at Oklahoma City University

 

Tentative Schedule

March 2^nd:

Dinner for anyone arriving early.

March 3^rd:

9-9:50 – Using a Practical Skills Curriculum to Improve Academic Success

10-10:50 – Practical Methods to Integrate a Growth Mindset into the Curriculum

11-11:50 – Utilizing Early Assessment Tools to Help At-Risk Students in First Semester

12-12:50 – Lunch

1-1:50 – A Deep Look at Variables that Predict Bar Exam Outcome

2-2:50 – Providing the Last Piece of Supplemental Instruction to Get Students Passed the Bar

Everyday I Write the Book

If you are gearing up for final exams or the February Bar, one of the most helpful things to do while studying is keep a "Big Book of Things I Did Not Know."  

Basically, as you go over practice answers, keep a legal pad of reasons why you got an answer wrong (or right for the wrong reason).  Keep it short.  So, for example, you might write "Only defendants can remove to federal court."  Every evening, work on memorizing that list.

By doing this, you should never not know those things again.  In my experience, students who do this drastically improve their performance on exams and the bar. (Alex Ruskell)

Graduation Chatter

As detailed by the quotes in yesterday's post by Prof. Goldie Pritchard entitled "Hallway Chatter," it's so encouraging to hear people encourage one another throughout the final exam period.

But, for many law schools, there's another chance to support one another (and who doesn't like a celebration!).

That's right...it's December graduation time!

In particular, this is the season when some of your colleagues will no longer - ever - take a final exam...period.  Instead, they are going to cross the stage and transition from students to graduates.  Hooray!  So, if you happen to know a friend that is graduating, be sure to give them a big congratulations.  It's a herculean achievement!

And, if you are a December graduate, take time out to celebrate your wonderful accomplishment in earning your law degree with your friends, family, and law school colleagues.  After your big day, you might take a moment to send a note or make a call to thank the many people that helped you achieved your successes in earning your law degree.  It's really a great moment. So, congratulations to you...December graduates!  (Scott Johns).

Hallway Chatter

Exams are in full swing so students are focused and appear to be productive. The hustle and bustle of activity throughout the building has calmed down only to usher in the quiet sounds of exam study. I see and hear students prior to and after exams; meanwhile, I am able to complete administrative tasks uninterrupted. Topics of student conversation typically relate to stress, study strategies, complex concepts, time management, and study aids. Students have an array of “light bulb moments” which is quite interesting to hear. Conversations I have with students are slightly different and concern pre-exam confidence building and post-exam debriefing.

 

The most exciting thing I have observed is how students support one another as classmates, friends, and colleagues. Students are more likely to listen to other students, even more than they listen to academic support experts, so it is nice to hear students repeat to their peers’ advice I have given them. A few things I have heard students repeat in the hallways include:

“You can do this! We’ve got this!”

“You studied so hard and it is going to pay off.”

“You taught me the information so you know it.”

“We completed all of the professor’s past exam so we have some idea of what the professor is looking for. If worse comes to worse, we have a reference point and can write something down.”

“We were in office hours more than anyone else and figured out what we did not know.”

“You are smart!”

“Leave the past in the past; you have control over what is ahead.”

 

Encouraging hallway chatter makes all the difference! (Goldie Pritchard)

The Pipeline for Law School Diversity

I recently returned from an excellent Legal Writing Institute One-Day Workshop at California Western which focused on diverse students in law schools. Leslie Culver of CWSL and I presented a session on Creating Models for K-20 Pipelines to Law School to Encourage Diverse Populations to Study Law. Inside Higher Ed posted an article on projections for diversity in high school graduates which may be of interest. The link is here. (Amy Jarmon)

Book on "New Majority" Students

Inside Higher Ed posted a recent item about a new book by Sister Kathleen Ross on different classroom strategies for teaching first-generation-underrepresented students. Although the book focuses on reaching undergraduate students, it may be of interest. The link to the post is here.

The College Experience: Why Students Lack Critical Thinking Skills

Comments are often made among faculty and academic support professionals that students enter law school without solid critical thinking skills. An Inside Higher Ed post by Ben Paris considers why colleges fail at teaching students critical thinking skills: Failing to Improve Critical Thinking.