Law School Academic Support Blog

Does the Early Bird Get the Worm?

Everyone knows the saying the early bird gets the worm.  I remember hearing it throughout my childhood.  I understand the idea that getting an early start to the day.  However, does getting up early really matter?  I think I can spend just as much time, or more, than anyone else while still starting later?  Are worms really a finite commodity where the second, third, or 10am riser won't get breakfast?  I firmly believe the saying is pure propaganda by corporate elites to squeeze even more out of workers (firmly may be a stretch).  

Robin Sharma advocates that everyone should wake up at 5am.  His newest book is The 5am Club, and he argues the first hour of the day using his 20/20/20 formula will dramatically increase productivity.  The formula includes 20 minutes of exercise, 20 minutes of reflecting, and 20 minutes of learning.  Sounds great, but I think I can do the same thing at 8am.  Scott Bedgood at Success Magazine tends to agree with me.  He was skeptical, but as a journalist, he was willing to put the formula to the test.  Read Scott's article about his experience.

In the end, Scott does think the 5am hour leads to more productivity.  2 people may not be enough to convince me.  I think I will do more research before my 5am start, but the idea of more productivity is appealing.  I will pass it along to my students though.

(Steven Foster)

Registration Open for WCCASP

The Importance of Relationships in Enhancing Belonging and Academic Achievement

Much of the time, it seems to me, I am occupied with trying to reach the minds of our law students.  But, perhaps that's putting the proverbial "cart before the horse."  The cart, so to speak, is metacognition, or the process of learning to learn (practices such as spaced repetition and the implement of desirable difficulties throughout the course of one's learning).  But, what might be the horse?

Well, a number of possibilities come to mind.  There's been much research of late on the relationship between growth mindsets in predicting academic achievement.  But, I think that there's another horse at play, a factor that might even serve as a necessary precondition for the development of such mindsets as grit, resiliency, and a growth mindset.  In my opinion, that prerequisite is a well-formed sense of belonging...as empowered members of a vibrant learning community.

I love that word "belonging." It's chocked full of action with its "ing" begging us to be fully embraced (and to embrace others), despite all our blemishes and surprises.  And, it starts with the prefix "be," which resonates and comes only alive within the present ongoing moments of community with others, indicating that this is something that we enjoy in the here and now rather than later.  And, it's all-encompassing of the person, with its incorporation of the word "long," reminding me of arms outstretched, to be overtaken in the presence of others, to be accepted as we are...fully and completely (and to stretch our hearts around others within our midsts).  In other words, the word "belonging" is full of action.

So, that brings up a few questions.

First, is belonging even much of a problem in law schools?  

Second, what sort of spark might lead to the type actions that can then develop into a well-spring of belonging for our law students as members within learning communities?  

Well, with respect to the first question, as Prof. Victor Quintanilla documents according to research at the Law School Survey of Student Engagement (LSSSE): "[W]orries about belonging are endemic to law school." http://lssse.indiana.edu/tag/belonging/  That's the bad news.  And, in my opinion, that's why many fall to the wayside.  It's not because of LSAT scores or a lack of motivation.  It's just darn difficult to succeed when you don't feel like you are a part of something, that you belong within the community, that you are welcome and embraced as vital law school participants.

But, there's great news to be had.  Indeed, as Prof. Quintanilla further explains, the quality of one's relationships with students, faculty, and administrators significantly predicts one's sense of belonging in law school...and the strength of one's sense of belonging significantly predict's one's academic performance even controlling for traditional academic predicators such as LSAT scores.  Id.  In other words, "law school belonging is a critical predictor of social and academic success among law students." Id. (Quintanilla, et. al, in prep).   And, that's great news because - as educational leaders in academic support - we can serve in the frontline of developing, strengthening, and securing our students in positive relationships with others throughout our law school's learning communities.  

That brings me to our final quandary.  How might we actually empower our students to be in vibrant relationship with others in law school?  

In my own case, it means that I need to listen to my students. That I need to frequently pause to take in and hear and observe what's happening to my students, not as students, but as people.  It means that I need to step up to the plate, so to speak, to proactively engage with my students.  Nevertheless, with so much on our ASP plates, that sure sounds hard to implement.  

So, here's an easy way that we might share with our students in order to help spark relationships that can then lead to a sense of belonging.   It's called the "10/5 rule."  Next time you're at your law school, when you come within 10 feet of another person, break out a brief smile.  It doesn't have to be much, but it does have to be sincere.  Then, when you're within about 5 feet of that other person, briefly recognize them with a short "howdy" or "hi."  That's it.  

You see, according to social science research, such actions of a brief smile lead to a sense of belonging, a feeling of inclusion, even, amazingly, if the other person doesn't even recall seeing your smile.  See The Surprising Benefits of Chit Chat, Eye Contact, and a Hello for Law Students & ASP (and the 10/5 Rule)! 

So, please join me in sharing a smile.  It's a great way to not just brighten your day but brighten the lives of those around you.  Indeed, who knows?  Perhaps that brief smile that you just shared today (or will share in just a bit) will lead another to smile, and then another, and then a whole circles of smiles.  And, isn't a circle of smiles the sort of spark that can create relationships that can lead to belonging and therefore might even help to empower successful learning?    (Scott Johns). 

 

Predictors of Success

 My inbox is crammed with pictures of pangolins. Pangolins with claws turned under walking on the ground, pangolins scaling trees, pangolin babies clinging to their mothers' backs and tails, pangolins held in the palm of a human hand, even pangolin skeletons in natural history displays. 

For those of you quite as ignorant of this fascinating mammal as I was last week, the pangolins, also known as scaly anteaters, are the only mammals covered with sharp, protective keratin scales. The family consists of eight remaining species, four in Africa and four in Asia, some burrowing and some tree-dwelling. When threatened, they typically spray a foul substance (think of skunks) and roll into a tight protective ball like an oversized pine cone. Because pangolins typically produce only one offspring per year, don't fare well in captivity, and are extensively poached for their distinctive scales, they are among the most endangered species in the world.

So why is my inbox crammed with pangolin pictures? Because in my Academic Skills class, I want an early indication of who might need early intervention and who is already engaging in the practices of successful law students. Among my first assignments is explicitly requiring students to carefully read the syllabus. Stealing an idea from my colleague Rebekah Cudé, I embed into my syllabus a sentence telling students to send me a specific kind of picture. (Last year's platypuses were equally adorable.) When students don't send pictures in, it usually means: (a) they are not careful readers; (b) they aren't linked into a social network of information-sharing; or (c) they resist engaging in activities they feel are beneath them. Because careful, critical reading is so instrumental to success in law school and the practice of law, students who miss important information immediately garner my attention. Likewise, social isolation often foreshadows academic difficulty. Since I expect there will be some "buzz" and explicit sharing about the picture assignment, not sending a picture can be an early indication that certain students aren't linked into peer networks. Finally, I've found a correspondence between weak analysis and those who read but don't comply with directions; not complying can presage a student who easily identifies issues and spits out rules but considers the step-by-step process of careful legal analysis to be an unnecessary bother on the way to a foregone conclusion.

I also use the first weeks of the semester to give private feedback solely on the importance of following directions.  Complying with directions, of course, pays dividends whether one is answering the exact call of an exam question or following the local rules in court proceedings. Especially when students go well beyond what my directions call for, they can feel somewhat aggrieved when I point out, for example, that the directions asked for a one-sentence answer but their answer was four sentences, or that the directions asked for the number of elements and their answer named the elements instead. Nevertheless, by continually tying the importance of following directions to exams and practice, the message usually gets through.

The best thing about careful reading and following directions as predictors of success is that these are factors totally within a student's control. Undergraduate GPAs and LSAT scores certainly have some predictive value, but from my experience, careful reading and following explicit directions are far more powerful indicators of future success as a law student.

(Nancy Luebbert)

When Difference Makes a Difference

Last year I wrote a post about "simulation training" that described the benefits of rehearsal and practice under conditions that are as close as possible to performance conditions.  When preparing for a final exam, for example, taking practice tests under exam conditions of strict timing and silence in a room similar to the room in which you will actually be tested can help you score better on the actual exam.  The improvement seems to be linked to the reduction of unfamiliar stimuli and the association of familiar conditions with execution.

Given the demonstrable benefits of creating consistency between exam practice and exam execution, I would have presumed that a similar effect might have been observed with respect to the precursors to exam taking -- namely, study and memorization.  If it makes sense to practice taking law exams in silence and in one particular environment, wouldn't it also make sense to learn all the rules, exceptions, and examples under the same conditions?  In his book How We Learn, Benedict Carey suggests that may not be the case.

Learning facts like rules of law is different from learning how to perform tasks like timed essay writing, largely because of the different roles of background stimuli.  When learning tasks, the consistent quality of background stimuli is important, because it helps provide a comfortable environment that we associate with the task.  While this is also somewhat true when learning facts, it turns out that the quantity of stimuli is of relatively greater importance.  An absence of stimuli makes it more difficult to memorize material.  In one experiment, students were asked to memorize a list of forty words.  While they studied, the scientists played either jazz or classical music in the background, or, alternatively, no music at all.  Students who studied while listening to jazz had the highest rates of recall when tested while jazz played in the background, and those who studied while listening to classical did best when tested while classical was playing.  When each of those groups of students were tested while listening to different music, or to no music at all, their rates of recall were cut roughly in half.  But the students who studied in silence did not have higher rates of recall when tested in silence.  Their recall rates were also about half that of jazz listeners who were tested with jazz, or classical listeners who were tested with classical.

The explanation seems to be that, when we are learning facts, it helps to have some level of background stimulus.  The external stimulus seems to provide a framework within which learners can organize and attach meaning to the facts they are learning.  Thus, when the external stimulus is present at testing time, it is easier for the test takers to access the facts for recall, because they have access to the framework in which they learned them.

Most professors, however, do not allow students to crank tunes during exam administration.  Not even smooth jazz.  And duplicating the silence of testing conditions will not be as helpful for memorizing the rules as it is for applying them, since silence does not provide the necessary external stimulus.  So how should students learn their rules and examples?

Carey suggests that the best strategy for this kind of rote learning is to work in a variety of different environments.  He points to another word-memorization experiment, one in which subjects were asked to study in two separate, ten-minute sessions.  Some subjects spent both sessions in an untidy basement room.  Others spent both sessions in a windowed room overlooking a green courtyard.  And a third group of subjects spent one session in one of those rooms, and the other session in the other room.  When all subjects were tested for recall later in a third room (a classroom), those in the last group, who had studied in two different environments, had 40 percent higher rates of recall.  While no one knows for sure, the theory is that those who studied in two different rooms had the benefit of two different sets of external stimuli, and thus built two different, overlapping "frameworks" within which they learned the words.  Having two different frameworks provided additional memory access points that might be used in the neutral third environment.

So what are the lessons for law students?  First, we should help them to recognize that there should be different study strategies for learning and memorizing rules and facts, versus developing one's skills in applying those rules.  Second, we can suggest that students add some variety to their study environments when they are performing more of the basic rote memorization (such as at the start of the semester, when they are first learning the relevant rules).  Encourage them not to spend all their time in the same spot in the library, but to break up their study into chunks of time spent in different milieus -- spending some time in the library, some time outdoors, perhaps some time in a coffee shop (especially one playing jazz or classical music).  Students who associate the learning of the same rules to different external stimuli will be more likely to be able to recall those rules under any set of external stimuli, or even when there seems to be no external stimuli at all.

[Bill MacDonald]

CSLSA Annual Conference

Do you have a great writing idea but don't know how to get started, or a project that you've started but pushed aside for other tasks? Bring your great writing idea or very rough draft to the Central States Law Schools Association ("CSLSA") annual conference September 20-21, 2019, at the University of Toledo College of Law. CSLSA is a regional organization of law schools dedicated to providing a supportive forum for conversation and collaboration with respect to scholarly activity by law school academics. CSLSA recognizes that scholarship ideas come in many shapes and stages, so presentations are welcome, whether just an early-stage idea or a completed draft.  CSLSA is about helping you grow as a scholar, so you’ll enjoy a relaxed and encouraging environment where you can ask questions and get helpful feedback on your work. At the CSLSA conference, faculty from across the country and around the world come together to collaborate and forge lasting connections. Finding childcare can be challenging, and your children are welcome at the law school while the conference is being held.  If you need help finding a local childcare provider, please contact the CSLSA president at [email protected]. Registration is free to faculty and staff at member schools. For a list of member schools and registration information visit the CSLSA website.

Let's WRITE!

Associate Director of Academic Support at Golden Gate University

Golden Gate University Law School in SF is hiring.  They are looking for an Associate Dir. of Bar Performance & Assessment and an Associate Dir. of Academic Achievement – both are full-time, staff positions.  At GGU, the academic support and bar services are separate programs that work very closely together. They are a team of 5!

The postings for the two positions are below.

https://www.paycomonline.net/v4/ats/web.php/jobs/ViewJobDetails?job=23461&clientkey=1A449B35167BB40706C055A54E4FB0DA

https://www.paycomonline.net/v4/ats/web.php/jobs/ViewJobDetails?job=23459&clientkey=1A449B35167BB40706C055A54E4FB0DA

Geographically, GGU is in the heart of tech/business/social justice opportunities and students are excited to be here.

Reichi Lee ([email protected]) and Rana Boujaoude ([email protected]) are happy to answer any questions you have.

Director of Academic Support at University of Connecticut School of Law

Director of Academic Support (Assistant Clinical Professor of Law)

The University of Connecticut’s School of Law, in Hartford, Connecticut, seeks candidates for the position of Director of Academic Support (Assistant Clinical Professor of Law) to develop, implement and support an Academic Support Program, to commence summer 2020. The Law School hosts four student journals, over forty student organizations, extensive clinical and service engagement with the surrounding communities, and one of the largest law libraries in the world. More than 100 research centers and institutes serve the wider University’s teaching, research, diversity, and outreach missions, leading to UConn’s ranking as one of the nation’s top research universities. The School of Law is committed to building and supporting a vibrant, multicultural and diverse community of students, faculty and staff. As an Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity employer, and in keeping with our strong commitment to build a diverse community, we encourage applications from such traditionally under-represented populations as members of minority groups, people with disabilities, veterans and women. The Academic Support Director is responsible for designing and implementing an academic success curriculum.    Reporting to the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, the Director develops a curriculum, which will include an emphasis on developing analytical skills, writing skills, time/management skills, and other skills that will assist law students in achieving a high level of academic performance.   The Director teaches one section of an academic support course each semester (fall and spring).  The Director also works closely with staff from student affairs, career development and the registrar’s office to develop a bar preparation program – from identifying students at risk to creating and providing bar prep courses and/or workshops, as needed.   The Director currently teaches one bar prep course each semester (fall and spring). MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS A J.D. degree from an ABA-accredited law school; Strong academic credentials; Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively, in both written and verbal forms; and Ability to identify, develop and assess the essential skills law school students need to achieve academic success, with a focus on legal analysis and writing; 2-4 years of relevant experience. PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS Experience in developing and directing academic support programs; Previous legal practice experience; Prior teaching experience, preferably with graduate level students; experience counseling students in a higher education setting;  Demonstrated willingness to keep abreast of legal developments and to continuously improve course content; and Demonstrated interest in and involvement with the academic support community and/or professional organizations related to teaching academic support, legal writing, or law. APPOINTMENT TERMS This is a full-time 9-month appointment, non-tenure track, long-term contract eligible position.  The initial appointment will be for one year, with the potential for renewals.  Salary will be commensurate with background, qualifications, and experience.  Candidates should expect to work at the Law School located in Hartford, Connecticut. TO APPLY Click on the link below to be redirected to Academic Jobs Online to complete your application. Please include a letter of interest, curriculum vitae, list of three references, a writing sample, teaching statement, diversity statement, and recent teaching evaluations, if any. Review of applications will begin immediately. Employment of the successful candidate is contingent upon the successful completion of a pre-employment criminal background check. (Search #2020093) Any questions about application materials may be directed to the search committee chair at [email protected]. This position will be filled subject to budgetary approval. All employees are subject to adherence to the State Code of Ethics, which may be found at http://www.ct.gov/ethics/site/default.asp. Application Materials Required: Submit the following items online at this website to complete your application: ·         Curriculum Vitae ·         Teaching Statement ·         Letter of Interest ·         Writing Sample ·         Recent Teaching Evaluations, if any(s) (optional) ·         Diversity Statement ·         Three References (no actual letters, just names and email addresses ) And anything else requested in the position description. Further Info: https://www.law.uconn.edu/ University of Connecticut School of Law 55 Elizabeth Street Hartford, CT 06105-229   https://academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/14250 The University of Connecticut is committed to building and supporting a multicultural and diverse community of students, faculty and staff. The diversity of students, faculty and staff continues to increase, as does the number of honors students, valedictorians and salutatorians who consistently make UConn their top choice. More than 100 research centers and institutes serve the University’s teaching, research, diversity, and outreach missions, leading to UConn’s ranking as one of the nation’s top research universities. UConn’s faculty and staff are the critical link to fostering and expanding our vibrant, multicultural and diverse University community. As an Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity employer, UConn encourages applications from women, veterans, people with disabilities and members of traditionally underrepresented populations.

Assistant Professor of Academic Support - Suffolk University Law School

Suffolk University Law School has begun the search process for an Assistant Professor of Academic Support. The successful candidate will be invited to start as soon as January 2020 but no later than June 2020.

At Suffolk, we have two separate departments that address bar preparation and, more generally, academic support. Initially, the successful candidate will work predominantly in the area of bar prep support.  The job description is below.  Application information is located at this site:  http://jobs.jobvite.com/suffolkuniversity/job/oCNzafwS.

Job Description:

Suffolk University Law School in Boston invites applications for a full-time Assistant Professor of Academic Support. Responsibilities will include teaching an upper-level bar preparation course, a second-year legal analysis course, and/or academic support classes; individually assisting students studying for the bar exam; and providing academic support to help students develop the study and analytical skills necessary for academic success during law school. Academic Support Program faculty must be available to work with both day and evening-division students, including during the summer months. This position will be jointly supervised by the faculty directors of our Academic Support and Bar Preparation Programs. This an entry-level non-tenure track position, renewable annually with the possibility of longer-term contracts after the second renewal. The successful candidate will be invited to start as soon as January 2020 but no later than June 2020.

Applicants should submit a curriculum vitae, a list of references, and a cover letter addressed to Professor Herbert Ramy and Professor Sabrina DeFabritiis, Co-Chairs of the Academic Success Committee, Suffolk University Law School. Please send any materials that are not able to be uploaded to Maureen Dooley, Employment Coordinator, at [email protected].

The Committee will begin reviewing submitted materials immediately and will continue until the position is filled.

Suffolk Law is an equal opportunity employer and will give careful consideration to all qualified applicants regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Suffolk Law is committed to a diverse faculty and strongly encourages applicants from historically under-represented groups. For more information on Suffolk Law’s commitment to diversity, please see https://www.suffolk.edu/about/mission-history/diversity-inclusion

 

 

The "Unexamined Case" Might Not Be Worth Reading

I hear voices.  Not all of the time, mind you.  But, definitely at the most inconvenient of times...like when I'm trying to read!  [I think this is called sub-vocalization.]  You see, I can only read as fast as I speak (and I don't tend to speak very fast unless I'm excited or nervous, which I often am, particularly when I'm trying to digest dense legal materials).  

Indeed, when a student asks me to work with them through any reading passage (whether a case, a statute, or a multiple-choice problem or essay prompt), I really want to go in hiding, into a "sound chamber" so to speak, so that I can read slowly and not so-silently, as I work out the meaning of the text through hearing - in my mind - the words as they become alive, the punctuation marks as they spring up from the page into my voice, and the paragraph breaks as they give me time to catch my breath.  

In short, if you haven't caught the gist of what I am saying, I feel like I am a poor reader because I am a slow reader.

Now, I suspect that most students don't sub-vocalize when they read, i.e., they don't hear voices when they read.  Nevertheless, I gather that most first-year law students (and perhaps most law students in general) feel like they read too slow.  If so, then you're exactly like me (and I'm supposed to be an expert at critical reading, particularly in reading legal texts, etc.).  

But, before I get too far, in my opinion, rushed reading is not reading.  To paraphrase Socrate's famous line that the "unexamined life is not worth living," an "unexamined case" is not worth reading.  In other words, in law school, it's not how fast you read but what your learning about the law and legal problem-solving as you read.  To cut to the chase, reading is about examining the cases and the statutes and the legal texts assigned in law school.  And that takes time, lots of time. Or, to put it more bluntly, reading is really about "cross-examining" those legal materials, evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the arguments and  analysis, and then forming your own opinion about the merits of those arguments (and how you might use those arguments in the future to solve hypothetical problems posed on mid-term exams and final exams).

That gets me to the next question.  How might I teach reading?  

When I first started in academic support, I taught case briefing but not case reading, most likely, because it seemed to me that by briefing a case I had read the case.  I'm not so sure now.  That's because most case briefs (at least most of my case briefs) are composed of just bits of quotes and paraphrases of what the court said...rather than my evaluation of what the court said (or didn't say).  Indeed, as Professor Jane Grisé writes, "critical reading is about 'learning to evaluate, draw inferences, and arrive at conclusions.'" J. Grisé, Critical Reading Instruction: The Road to Successful Legal Writing Skills, 18 W. Mich. Univ. Cooley J. of Prac. & Clinical L. (2017) (quoting L. Christensen, Legal Reading and Success in Law School: An Empirical Study, 30 Seattle U.L. Rev. 603, 603 (2007).  Thus, because critical reading is about learning, it is something that can be taught.  Id. Consequently, based on Professor Grisé research, let me offer the following suggestions on how one might teach critical reading, particularly reading cases that are jam-packed into the massive casebooks that comprise the bulk of reading in law school.

1. First, confess.  Set the stage for learning by sharing the worries and frustrations that you had (and perhaps still have) as a legal reader.  Let students know that it wasn't a natural skill for you (or for anyone for that matter).  Rather, critical legal reading is a skill that is developed, like muscles through exercise, bit by bit, in which we can all learn.
2. Second, model pre-reading strategies.   Share with students some of the ways that you engage in reading, even before you begin to read, by, for example, figuring out the purpose of the case by placing it in context with the prior and later assignments based on the case's position in table of contents and it's placement in the course syllabus.  Then, get to know the players.  Learn something about the case from the case caption, figure out the stage or setting for the case by talking through the information gleaned from the citation, etc., picture yourself as another judge or advocate for one of the parties, hypothesize how you might use this case in the future when it comes to exam time, skim through the case to capture the sorts of sections of the case and its organization (either by looking at headings or by skimming the paragraphs), and then poke around at the very end of the case to see what the court decided.  Indeed, that's my favorite pre-reading strategy: Peeking at the end before I begin. That gets my focus jumpstarted! 
3. Third, read with gusto.  Reading takes energy and focus, so if the time doesn't feel quite right, wait.  But then, when you are reading to go, read the case facts - not as fiction - but recognizing rather that the facts involve real people and entities with real struggles.  After all, cases often come to the court because people couldn't resolve hard-felt (and heart-felt) disputes on their own. As you read, look up words that you don't know.  Write the meaning of those words, in your own words, in the margins of the text.  Rather than highlighting lots of phrases that you think are important, make a notation on the text as to why you think that phrase or sentence might be important.  Feel free to draw pictures or make paraphrases to help you capture the meanings of the words.  If something seems unclear, it probably is, to you and to most of us.  So, go back to those sections, in which the court often times doesn't explain its analysis, and make inferences (guesses) as to what is going on.  Realize that the most (and perhaps all) cases are subject to different interpretations.  Be creative to scope out connections with previous readings.  Look for patterns.  Dialogue with the materials.  Question them, indeed, interrogate the court.  Don't let the court baffle you.  Instead, be on the lookout for mistakes that the court might have made in its analysis.  In sum, talk back to the court and with the court as you read.
4. Fourth, reading doesn't stop after you read.  Instead, after reading, be an explorer to construct your own meaning of the case.  As a suggestion, compile a list of questions that you would like to have asked the court or the advocates.  Summarize in your own words what you think the case stands for (and why it was assigned for your course).  Evaluate the case as to whether its reasoning was puzzling, or startling, or settling (and why).  Conjure up different facts to test how the decision might have been impacted in different circumstances.  Finally, synthesis a one sentence or phrase statement for what you've learned from the case, such as: "Vosburg (involving a schoolhouse kick) stands for the proposition that people are liable for battery even when they don't intend to harm anyone as long as they intended the contact because the purpose of battery is to protect people from - not just harmful contacts - but from all contacts that interfere with another's bodily integrity as a co-human being."

Now, before I let you go, just one more word about speed.  You don't get faster at reading cases by trying to read fast.  Rather, over time, much like water as it heats slowly on the oven range, using these strategies won't feel like an improvement...at all.  Instead, if  you're like me, you feel like its taking lots more of your time, energy, and perspiration to learn to be a critical legal reader.   And, it is!  But, by going slow, conversationally with the text, through practice in pre-reading strategies, then reading the text with robust gusto, and finally polishing off the reading by making sense and connections with the text for future use, you'll end up becoming a faster reader without even trying.  

Much like learning to ride a bike, if you are like me, you fall lots and get lots of bruises along the way.  That's because learning is hard difficult work.  But, just like learning to ride a bike, once you get the hang of it, you'll be well on your way to being a better legal reader (and a better advocate on behalf of your clients in the future).  (Scott Johns).

 

An Act of Sustained Thinking

Writing across the curriculum guru (and now Vermont woodturner) Toby Fulwiler has written, "[A]ny act of sustained writing is an act of sustained thinking -- which is just plain hard work." Several years back, my National Writing Project cohort chose this quote as our watchword as we devoted ourselves to our own demanding writing projects and to learning how to inspire our students to do the same.  

Fulwiler's quote came back to me today during a student panel for Orientation. Speaking to our incoming class, one of our 2Ls contrasted the mental effort of law school with her former profession as a bank auditor. No stranger to long hours and sustained effort, she told the 1Ls she had been unprepared for the higher level of mental effort required by law school. 1L year, she told them, didn't offer the times she had experienced in her former position where exacting but repetitious tasks might not require full mental effort. Instead, she was "on" the whole time she did the work of a law student, putting out huge amounts of mental effort, which was just plain hard work -- harder work than she had done before, harder work than she expected, harder work that demanded she give her absolute best every day. And it was worth it. 

I love the promise of the beginning of a new academic year, infused with the excitement of those newly arrived and the passion of 2Ls and 3Ls enthused by their taste of lawyering work over summer externships and internships. The sustained thinking and just plain hard work involved in becoming a lawyer -- or being a lawyer, or being an academic success professional --is a cause for celebration, not shrinking, as long as that sustained work is accompanied with a passion for serving others and a commitment to living life as a whole, fulfilled person. 

(Nancy Luebbert)

As a Matter of Course

It is the start of the school year, and we are welcoming new classes of students to begin their courses of study in law school.  Each course of study will comprise a score or more individual courses in particular subjects, and we hope that in due course every student will consume and fully digest a rich multi-course legal banquet. Of course.

Our versatile word "course" is derived from the Latin word "currere", meaning "to run" or "to flow".  In all of its varied uses, it alludes to a sense of movement and progress, and this is particularly fitting when we think of the course of a law student's passage from matriculation to graduation.  They arrive at school, eager and perhaps a bit awed as they imagine themselves advancing, starting off slowly, developing the knowledge, skill, and judgment of an attorney as they make their ways along, and then racing to the finish line to collect their prizes.

To many incoming 1L students, law school may seem like a watercourse -- like a channel through which they will be carried, sometimes swept through dizzying rapids, other times dragged through muddy waters of confounding breadth, ultimately to squeeze past a perilous bar and then be deposited at the port of Career, where their next adventure begins.  In this view, all students need to do is learn to paddle, avoid rocking the boat, and make use of their brains and perseverance, and they will arrive at their destinations.

But there are better courses for comparison.  Law school is best considered like a racecourse or a golf course -- not because their structures are more precisely analogous, but because of the way successful performers approach them.  Sure, great sports performers make the most of their talents and training.  But before they begin a race or a tournament, they get to know the course.  A runner will trace out the course route, measuring the flats and the hills, and will plan out her pacing accordingly.  A golfer will play or at least walk the course, making note of obstacles, slopes, and doglegs, and getting to know the feel of the greens.  A skier will take practice runs down the course, developing a mental map so he can plan when to be cautious, when to be daring, when to push for speed.  Knowing the course means they can make the best use of their skills and strategies over the long term.

So it is in law school.  Week to week, month to month, semester to semester, knowing what it coming means students can expend their resources (time, attention, energy, etc.) more wisely.  It means they can allow sufficient time to prepare for opportunities, or for challenges.  It lessens the chances that they will wander out of bounds or run around in circles.  

This is one of the reasons I love the start of the new academic year.  It gives those of us in Academic Success a wonderful opportunity to provide something of immediate and long-term value to every new student we meet.  We can walk them through the course!  We can explain to them what a typical week will be like.  We can preview all the major tasks of their first semester -- reading, attending class, outlining, midterms, legal writing assignments, practice tests, and final exams -- and help the students develop their own mental maps of the course.  We can give them a bird's-eye of the entire tournament: the timing, value, and effort required of the opportunities and expectations they will encounter over the next few years.  And we can do all of this for them painlessly -- not in response to an individual's frustration or anxiety or poor performance.  It's the best part of the year, because we can give our students something they all can use, whether or not they have come into law school having learned the lesson that so many champions have learned: Successful performers don't see the course as running and carrying them along with it.  They see the course as something they themselves run.

[Bill MacDonald]

Unsung Heroes

A hero is any person really intent on making this a better place for all people. – Maya Angelou

The other day I emailed a colleague, that I won’t identify by name, seeking advice. The colleague, as expected, responded with very helpful information that I had not before considered. As I gushed my profuse thanks upon my colleague, my inner monologue said, “wow this person knows all the answers, I wish I could be like them!” My thoughts went immediately to a dream-like vision of them on some faraway campus with alphabetized, date-sorted, color-coded files of perfect teaching evaluations; an impeccably clean desktop; an email inbox that has been zeroed out; and a tickler with everything checked off. I fantasized that this person, my ASP hero, was respected and listened to by the faculty at their school and has well-behaved children at home to boot.

A phone call on my office line interrupted my fantasy daydream. It was a different colleague, this time calling me for help. I offered a suggestion to a problem presented, based on my experience. As the caller thankfully responded to me and then offered unsolicited extolment on something I’d published recently, it dawned on me that we are all, at some point, “heroes” to someone else.

I snort-laughed at the thought that someone outside of my building could be imagining me with the perfect office, the perfect classes, and the perfect life. My desk is cluttered, and my children are complex. There is far more in my to-do box, than in my outbox.

The point of my message is not about perceived perfection or praise. It is about our own reluctance to recognize how bad ass we really are. Sure, humility has its purpose, but too often ASPers are the unsung heroes of the law school. I champion my ASP colleagues who are teachers, leaders, and scholars. To all the adjuncts, instructors, lecturers, deans, directors, visitors, professors in residence, professors of practice, teaching professors, clinical professors, professors of academic support, and tenured professors, you may not have set out to be hero to anyone. But with every returned phone call and each answered email, with every listserv question and comment, with each textbook recommendation and syllabus share, you have become a hero to us all.

 (Marsha Griggs)

ASP Podcasts

I enjoy listening to books or material while driving.  Music is nice, and a good break for some, but I don't need to listen to music often.  My commute is about 30 minutes, which I believe can help me learn.  Some of our students have longer commutes and feel the same way.  Halle Hara put together a good resource that could help those students.  Her new website lawschoolplaybook.com has numerous podcasts on critical law school skills.

I always warn my students that listening to material cannot be the exclusive way to absorb information.  I don't absorb as much as I should when driving and listening to a book.  However, listening to these podcasts could reinforce skills we are all teaching.  I plan to see if I could integrate them into my D2L course as an additional quick assignment.

From my brief glance, I like the topics.  We are spending significant time this year on reading comprehension.  The podcast section of the site has 10 episodes on reading cases alone.  I know my students need that information.

I am glad to see another one of our colleagues producing material that has the potential to help our students.  Keep up the good work.

(Steven Foster)

WCCASP Accepting Proposals

The West Coast Consortium of Academic Support Professionals is hosting their 8th Annual Conference on November 1st in Las Vegas.  The theme is Technology and Data Assisted Academic Support Programming.  They are accepting proposals through September 23rd.  I attached an image of the flyer they sent out below.

AASE Bi-Annual Diversity Conference Information

2019 AASE Bi-Annual Diversity Conference

DePaul University College of Law, Chicago, Illinois

Thursday, October 3, 2019 through Friday, October 4, 2019

 

Registration

To register for the conference, please use this link: https://associationofacademicsupporteducators.wufoo.com/forms/z8he2cx03wfewy/. 

Registration fee:                 $50

Registration Deadline:      Wednesday, September 11, 2019 at 11:59 PM

 

Hotels

There are 2 hotel choices.  They are listed below with instructions for reserving your room.  The room rates are available for October 2 – 5.  The hotels are 1 ½ blocks from the conference.

 

Palmer House Hilton

Below is the hotel booking information for the Palmer House Hilton.  Reservations can be made today online at the Palmer House Hilton booking website link below or guests can call referencing the conference hotel block code “DLU” . Reservations can be made until September 11^th, 2019 at 4:00pm CT.  The rate is 199.00 per night excluding tax. After September 11^th the room block will be released and regular room rates will be apply. 

Palmer House Hilton

https://book.passkey.com/e/49919808

Phone-in

1-877-865-5321

 

Union League Club of Chicago

All participants in this year’s Academic Support Conference will also be housed at the Union League Club of Chicago. All reservations must be made by calling the Union League Club's reservation line: 800-443-0578. They  will need to refer to the code, DePaul University College of Law: Annual Academic Support Conference.  The room rate at the ULCC is 179.00 per night excluding surcharge. Reservations must be made no later than Monday September 2, 2019 after this date regular room rates will apply. The reservation line is open today.

 

Union League Club of Chicago

800-443-0578

 

If you have any issues reserving a hotel room before the rate cut-off date, please contact Jamie Kleppetsch at [email protected].

 

 

Travel Scholarships

AASE is pleased to announce that we will be awarding a limited number of scholarships up to $800.00 per award recipient to attend the AASE Bi-Annual Diversity Conference on Thursday, October 3, 2019 through Friday, October 4, 2019, at DePaul University College of Law, Chicago, Illinois to cover the costs of airfare to the conference and hotel for two nights.

If awarded a travel scholarship, upon the presentation of travel cost receipts within thirty days of the end of the conference, ASSE will reimburse travel costs up to the amount awarded.  Reimbursement will be paid via check or Paypal deposit, at the discretion of the scholarship recipient

Further information about the conference can be found at www.associationofacademicsupporteducators.org/conferencesevents.html.

AASE is aware that law school travel budgets are shrinking. In some cases, academic support professionals may not even have a travel budget at all. The purpose of the AASE Bi-Annual Diversity Conference is to further the professional development of the academic support community. To do this we need “you” at the conference.

To help subsidize some of the costs of attending the AASE Bi-Annual Diversity Conference, we will be awarding need-based travel scholarships. AASE members will be given preference when awarding travel scholarships. To become an AASE member, please go to www.associationofacademicsupportproessionals.org.

If you wish to apply for a travel scholarship, please submit the following information to [email protected] by September 3, 2019:

Name;

Position;

School Affiliation;

Email and phone number;

Describe your academic support responsibilities at your school;

State whether you are an AASE member;

Describe the circumstances evidencing a need for a travel scholarship;

State the amount of financial assistance being requested (please provide actual estimates [as close as possible] for airfare and hotesl; and

Provide any additional information you feel is relevant to your application.

 

 

If you have any questions regarding the above information, please contact:

 

Marla Dickerson, M.S., J.D.

Director of Prelaw, Academic Counselor, Instructor of Law, & ADA Coordinator

Office of Academic Support, Counseling, and Bar Preparations

Southern University Law Center

PO Box 9294

Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70813

Phone:  (225) 771-4913

E-mail:   [email protected]

What I Wished I Had Known When I First Started in Academic Support...

I love to talk, yap, and chat.  The more the better.  And, that's a problem.  A very big problem, at least with respect to my work as an academic support professional (ASP).  I'll explain, but first, a bit of a story to set the stage...

As mentioned in a recent blog entitled Obstacles or Opportunities, I'm on the slow mend after an accident this summer, in which I fractured my back.  Since the accident, I am mostly using a walker to navigate the world upright, step by step, as the fractures heal.

Not long ago, my spouse took me to the public library (in addition to talking, I love to read!).  It started out as a perfect day, with me hobbling straight ahead, walker in action - right up to the newly released books.  I felt like I was in a heavenly garden, with rows and rows of new books.  

Now, before I move on, you've heard of the saying that "you can't judge a book but its cover." Well, as a bit of background, I'm not allowed to "BLT" right now (with my upper-body brace trying to restrain my back from further injury).  That means no bending, lifting, or twisting (not that I could twist at my age even if I wanted to).  

But, the books that were most shiny to me were "bottom shelvers." Nothing was in arm's reach without offending the entire medical community...by bending, lifting, and twisting, too.  Immobilized, I gave up on books that day because, even though the covers looked enticing on those bottom shelves, I couldn't be sure that the titles were indeed profitable since I couldn't poke around the table of contents, the forward, and a few pages in-between.  I left empty handed because I don't get books based solely on the covers.

That brings me back to the world of academic support.  You see, when I first began serving as an academic support person, I set out to read all of the books and the literature, or at least as much as I could, to figure out how to best teach our students the necessary skills to be successful as learners.  Things like reading, note-taking, participating in classroom discussions, time management, creating study tools or outlines, and exam reading, analysis, and writing.  But, to be frank, I didn't learn what I now consider the most important skill at all, until - unfortunately - many years (and students) had past.  In short, I didn't learn to be a listener first and foremost.  In fact, rather than really listening to my students, I was quick to the draw to provide suggestions for them to implement, assuming that I knew the source of the problems or issues that my students were facing.  I wanted to be a source of wisdom rather than what is really wise, listening first before speaking.  How did I realize the errors of my ways?  Well, it happened due to the fortuitous circumstance of getting to know and work a bit with Dr. Martha (Marty) Peters, Ph.D., Emerita Professor of Law from Elon University.  

Dr. Peters would meet - one by one - with students struggling with multiple-choice analysis.  Rather than handing out sage advice (after all, she has a Ph.D. in educational psychology!), Dr. Peters would instead ask students to work through each question that they missed -  slowly - reading and navigating and pondering the problem to see if there might be anything at all, any patterns or words or pauses that might have helped them reach the correct answer.  Then, Dr. Peters would move on to the next question missed.  And, the next question, and then...the next question, etc.  She remained completely silent.  Observing. Hearing. Listening. Watching.  Finally, towards the end of one hour counseling sessions, Dr. Peters simply asked students what suggestions they might have for themselves in order to more successfully analyze multiple-choice questions next time.  In short, she asks students to share what they had learned.  The anecdotal results were simply miraculous.

First, students felt empowered; sorrowful countenances started to be reshaped as possibilities of hope and a future in law.  I know that it sounds a little (okay...a lot) dramatic, but it was unbelievably apparent as students started to actually believe that they could be law school learners, that they could help shape their destinies, that they might actually belong in law school as part of the learning community and future attorneys.  That's because it was they themselves who came up with the answers and the solutions to their learning conundrums (rather than the experts).  In short, students started to become experts in their own learning.  

Second, most students quickly realized that their analytical problems were not with the multiple-choice problems themselves or with the law but rather related to reading.  For the most part, they were missing clues, often because they didn't think that they could actually successfully solve the problems.  Rather than misreading problems and legal materials, students started to develop both their confidence and their competence as critical legal readers.  For helpful critical reading tips, see Jane B. Grisé, Critical Reading for Success in Law School and Beyond (West Academic 2017); see also, Jane B. Grisé, Teaching First-Year Students to Read so Critical that They Discover a "Mistake" in the Judicial Opinion, The Learning Curve (Summer 2014) (available at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu).

Third, in the next batch of multiple-choice problems later that week, scores skyrocketed.  No exaggeration!  Here's why.  Before, many students were answering problems that were in their heads but those weren't really the problems on the practice sets or the exams.  In other words, students were often solving problems that didn't exist.  Now, they were poking and prodding and probing the fact problems and the issues carefully with confident "critical reading eyes," evaluating words and phrases and debating their meaning and possible legal import.  

After working with Dr. Peters for a few days, I realized the most important lesson of my ASP life.  It sort of leaped out of my heart and into my mind.  Scott: "Talk less; listen more!"  Now, before I start to hand out suggestions and advice, I try to ask my students first what suggestions they might have to improve their own learning.  In short, I try not to judge my students by what I think might be their problems and issues but I rather try to let my students co-create with me a learning atmosphere in which to  empower and liberate them...to be the true experts for their own learning.  So, next time you see me, please stop me from talking so much!  It's really quite a problem for me.  

(Scott Johns)

What I Wish I'd Known as a 1L

I entered the academic support field with the goal of keeping law students from making the mistakes I made in law school. In the yin and yang of my first year, I think I might have made every mistake possible. Here are some of the things I wish I'd  known as a 1L.

You can make it as well as anyone else. I don't care if you're 16 or 65, just got out of college or finished college three decades ago, are the first in your family to get past high school or come from five generations of lawyers, went to nationals in debate or fear speaking in public. You belong here just as much as the rest of the class. 

You're not better than anyone else. Congratulations if you graduated from an Ivy League school or worked 20 years as a top-level paralegal in a high-powered law firm or rose to prominence in the military or a corporation. Those experiences are enriching and will add depth to your understanding. Your classmates who attended community college or were river guides or worked the floor in a big box store bring equally valuable perspectives. If you have a tendency towards having a swelled head, ditch it now.

You don't have to study 100 hours a week to make it. Honestly, that's what our Dean of Students recommended at my convocation. I hope I was the only person stupid enough to follow his advice. Sufficient exercise, adequate sleep each night, and a day of rest each week, combined with a sustainable study schedule, will help you learn far more than putting in non-stop 15-hour days. 

What you did as an undergraduate isn't good enough. Skimming the reading, doing an assignment at the last minute, just doing what's assigned and no more, and cramming at the end of the semester were adequate for many folks as undergraduates. They don't cut it in law school. Even if you keep your head above water doing this in law school, you won't gain the deep understanding that good lawyers need.

If you don't understand a case, don't read it over and over without a strategy. One how-to-go-to-law-school book I read suggested reading cases six or eight times superficially to make the salient points sink in. Baloney. But don't read once and give up, either. Talk with your academic support professional about effective reading strategies. Previewing, talking back to the case, and asking questions might seem artificial and stilted, but they are some methods expert readers use to understand -- and as a lawyer you must be an expert reader.

Ask questions. Even if you're shy. Especially if you think your question is stupid. There's no shame in not understanding. Asking for help is something that good lawyers do, all the time. And chances are that your classmates will heave a sigh of relief when you ask something that they were afraid to ask, or when you expose a problem that they didn't even see.

Learn to seek and welcome criticism. Opposing counsel and judges will point out every weakness in your case and every place your argument doesn't hold water. So use your time in law school not only to develop a thick skin, but also to actively seek out oral and written feedback, positive and negative -- on your case briefs, on your outlines, on practice exams, and on legal writing assignments. Taking critiques seriously will make you a better lawyer.

Be open to learning in new ways. You're lucky to be going to school at a time when the ABA mandates that every law school offer academic support to its students. Taking advantage of your school's academic support (variously known as Academic Success, Skills, Excellence, Achievement, and similar terms) will help your first year's experience be more efficient, effective, and enjoyable.  

You're not here to learn the law. You're here to become a lawyer. Sure, you will be learning a lot of rules, just like a beginning medical student has to learn a lot of basic biochemistry and molecular biology. But just like a medical student is training to heal the human body, you are using the raw material of rules to learn how to use facts, words, and ideas to promote an orderly and just resolution of disputes. When you start to get bogged down and think all you're doing is memorizing, step back and think about how real people are affected by what you're learning. Use law school to practice becoming a great lawyer.

Be happy. Law professor Paula Franzese writes, "[L]ife will meet you at your level of expectation for it." If you expect to be miserable in law school, you will be. If you expect to be happy and fulfilled, you will be. Approach everything you do with a positive attitude, and 1L year will be a great stepping-stone not only to your life as a lawyer but to your life as a person living with purpose and joy.

(Nancy Luebbert)

Practicing Self-Care

Be sure to secure your own oxygen mask before assisting others. – Airline safety instructions

Academic support professionals are the first responders in law school. In many cases we guide entering students through new student orientation, provide critical skills workshops early in the semester, and offer practice exams and extra help later in the term when things begin to look bleak. First responders are professionals that we look to for help and comfort in times of crisis, be it related to health, safety, or law school survival. The start of a new academic year is a good time to remember, that by being there for others, first responders put themselves at risk, not just of physical harm, but of emotional burnout.

Heavy is the cape of those who play the role of professor, listener, solution provider, advocate, adviser, administrator, coordinator, counselor, collector and keeper of statistics (whether you like math or not), researcher, scholar, and more. Executive coach Donna Schilder says “if you don’t take care of yourself, you can experience burnout, stress, fatigue, reduced mental effectiveness, health problems, anxiety, frustration, and inability to sleep.” Sure, students may look to us for answers or coaching, but we sometimes will need to first coach ourselves to create a space for restoration.

Schilder recommends spending time each day on a renewal activity like sit quietly for at least 10 minutes before taking calls or responding to emails, listen to soothing or uplifting music throughout the day, set aside time to journal your thoughts or ideas, and infuse laughter into your daily routine to cut down on stress. When we practice self-care, we better position ourselves to be an effective resource for others.

(Marsha Griggs)

Welcome to Law School!

A new journey begins the next couple weeks for many students around the country.  1Ls at my school start tomorrow.  The emotions range from excited to anxious.  Whatever your emotion, I want you to know that someone else is probably feeling the same thing.  They are probably only 2-3 seats away from you in class.  Your feelings are normal.  Embrace the new journey.

Some students walk into law school worrying that everyone will be ahead of them.  I understand the feeling.  I wasn't planning to attend law school until the summer before my last year of college.  None of my family were attorneys (until I married into a family of attorneys later).  No one in my family graduated college.  Torts were still yummy desserts until 9am Monday morning of my first day.  I had no idea what law school entailed, but I planned to work hard to do my best.  Even without the background, I succeeded and became an attorney.  All of you can do that too.

My suggestion for entering 1Ls boils down to 2 points.  Work hard and seek feedback.  I love the quote hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.  I am a firm believer that most of us can succeed with the right amount of quality work.  The second piece of the advice is quality work.  Quality work requires feedback.  Don't aimlessly go through law school.  Ask professors and ASPers for help.  Seek feedback on outlines and practice essays.  Feedback helps demonstrate where to improve, which leads to our growth.  The right kind of hard works makes a difference.  Worker smarter and harder.  Everyone can do that.

My background and experience illustrates that you don't need lawyers in your family to succeed.  If you haven't worked at a law office, that is alright.  Most students entering your classes will not have a significant background in law.  Law school will be a new and exciting journey for everyone.  Do everything you can to maximize your potential and enjoy the journey.  Have a great first semester!

(Steven Foster)