Law School Academic Support Blog

Showtime!

 

My neighbor (and fellow ASP'er) in our faculty suite leaves for his classes by clapping his own face and announcing, “Showtime!”  He is quoting a drug-addled playboy from the movie All That Jazz, and we are all old enough to get that reference and find it funny[1]. I think as we move into exams, students are also contemplating these weeks as their “showtime”, but they are more likely channeling the movie Beetlejuice. Why?

1. They may feel like they are haunting us for information. They aren’t-this is information they need, and we should be able to share it with them. They should not have to channel superpowers to be able to move forward on their journey.
2. They are looking to feel powerful in a system intended to render them somewhat powerless. Right about now, I am fielding more questions about the structure of exams than the material they contain. Attempting to game (or find the patterns in) the system is honestly a way of procrastinating while continuing to think you are being productive. Yes, knowing the “enemy” is a strategic tool; knowing the law is better.
3. Students are attempting to help each other through a new situation. And unlike our favorite freelance bio-exorcist who has his own agenda, students are not using their “knowledge” for their own gain. They are truly attempting to guide others. This is heartening in these times.
4. Exam time is chaotic. There isn’t a lot of structure imposed on students’ schedules, but there is a lot to do (see my prior posts on exam plans).  And finally,
5. Fatigue and a lapse in personal hygiene might lead to hair and wardrobe choices similar to those seen above. Exams are exhausting and stress about exams is exhausting. 

The good news is that if you say, “Academic Support” three times, we will come and help you. Well, okay, you would need to be in our direct vicinity to actually summon us this way, but you could email, text, stop by, call-and you would only have to do it once.

(Liz Stillman)

 

[1] Since law professors are so not any of these things really….

Marathon Tuesday

Classes end here later this week[1] and while this date was on the academic calendar for well over a year at this point, this is news to some students. To be fully honest, I was taken by surprise as well. In fact, I was taken by surprise that yesterday was Monday and I should have written and posted this blog entry then. To be fair, there have been many distractions in the past week: protests, Passover, and here in Boston, a marathon coupled with some sports teams getting to the play-offs. It has been a lot.

I have to wonder (because if you know me, you are fully aware that I have never run a marathon and would have no direct experience), if the Boston marathon feels the same way the spring semester does: slow and steady at first, a bit of energy depletion at the 1/3 mark, regained momentum at the half to 2/3 mark, and then a feeling of going uphill[2] with no reserved resources left until you crest that hill and then have even more running to do before it all ends somewhat abruptly. The giant slope slightly after mile 20 of the Boston Marathon is literally called Heartbreak Hill.

Our students are closing in on the foot of Heartbreak Hill today. Exams loom over them and look huge and insurmountable from where they stand. Their race strategy has to change at this point because classes will end and then they need to approach, climb, and get over the exam hill to get to finish line. If there were only one exam our students needed to take, then this would be the point where we distribute the shiny blankets and medals and send them on their sweaty way, but they often have still more exams to take. Too often students prepare for exams as if the one hill were the end of the race, or worse yet as if it were an entire series of Heartbreak Hills. In Boston, there are more than 5 miles to go once you have survived Heartbreak Hill.

I think approaching exams the same way you would approach a marathon might be helpful, so here is what I suggest to students:

1. Have the right equipment: do the case briefing and outlining. Go to class, take notes, go the TA review sessions. Gather your materials and synthesize them. Test some different strategies out early in the semester to see if they can withstand the task.
2. Start training early: do hypos, practice exams, and multiple choice questions early and often. But don’t over train by trying questions that you haven’t covered in class yet, you will strain and panic. Study what you have learned.[3]
3. Be organized in your training: plan out your studying. It may seem like there is a lot of time for studying (hopefully), but unplanned time can be easily squandered. Make to-do lists (not too long), and enjoy the satisfaction of crossing things off of them.
4. Build stamina: by starting to time yourself on answering the training questions about ½ through the semester.
5. Know your route: make an exam plan that is a calendar of what exams you have when and how you plan to prepare for them.
6. Take care of your body and mind; before, during, and after exams. This is not a good time to not feel your best. Eat, sleep, exercise, and breathe.
7. Warm up before you start, and cool down after you finish: otherwise you will be very, very sore the next day. I’ve seen some Boston runners on the Tuesday morning after the marathon wearing their medals but unable to walk down the stairs to the subway. For students this means taking some mental space to enter and exit the exam zone.

Reminding students that exams are not a series of sprints but rather a cohesive marathon of tasks is one way of making sure they look at the big picture and plan ahead. Planning is everything.

(Liz Stillman)

 

[1] Well, law school classes end, but my undergraduate classes go for a week longer. The lack of sync amongst academic calendars just baffles me.

[2] The Boston Marathon Route: https://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/enter/course-information

[3] Or think you should have learned but didn’t quite get in class. Not ideal, but it could be foundational material you need to move forward.

Track Work

The “spring” semester is underway here at my school. I say “spring” because anyone who has ever been in Boston in January knows that green leaves, blue skies, and dry sidewalks are a long way off. Recently, I took an involuntary month-long vacation from my normal commute. The train that I have taken to work for many years was shut down for almost all of January for track work. Not running at all. Not going inbound or outbound. Not moving under or over ground-just not at all. So, I had to change my usual routine and take a bus to a different train line and then walk a different route to the law school. As I joked with a Bar Prep buddy, my commute went from an MEE to an MPT in terms of timing. But after four weeks of this new daily odyssey, I suppose I got used to it[1].

Today, I was finally able to take my normal route into work. I thought it would be glorious, but after a month of doing it differently, it was strange and even a little awkward[2]. Even going back to something that is very familiar is still a transition. I might even miss some of the small joys I found in the “new normal.”[3] I thought that this must be how our students feel after taking a month long break from law school and then starting up-except in reverse. I am sure a month away from school with no reading or papers or exams was lovely.

Now that we have started up again, I have been meeting with 1Ls over these past weeks. I am mainly seeing students who did not do as well on exams as they (or we) had hoped. We have spent time trying to determine the reason why things went awry during exams and try to start better habits in the place of the methods that were not effective. Yet, the abrupt jolt back into law school after a month off is not something we have discussed or given much thought.  Even if this is familiar, it is still a transition. And, to make things worse, I am asking students to try different routes to success just when they thought they knew the way after surviving the fall. It is a lot to ask all at once (with the additional stress of non-stellar grades looming).

I think articulating that I am making a big ask at a stressful time might go a long way to developing an honest relationship with students moving forward. I do them no favors by just saying, “it’ll be fine.” I can assure students that there is great relief in plotting a course and making a plan to move forward. I cannot make the train run before the track work is done, but I can help them navigate this detour.

Hopefully, they will extend the same understanding to me when I am cranky that my train is out of service again in late February to early March.

(Liz Stillman)

 

[1] Well, most of it. I did see a fistfight on the bus that was a bit rattling and intense. Physical violence in a small moving space is not something I’d like to grow accustomed to….

[2] Although back to MEE commute times which was glorious indeed.

[3] It was faster train, there were more coffee options on the walk from the station to the law school, and I could walk through Primark on the way in or out if I needed anything….

Diving into Spring...

I spent yesterday at a collegiate swim meet. It was indoors for those of you wondering just how crazy we are in Massachusetts (not quite there yet). I sat with an alum of my son’s team, and as a relative newbie (he’s a freshman), I asked a lot of questions about the etiquette and process of this kind of competition. My son is a walk-on to the team (maybe a dive-in?), and he didn’t swim in high school, so my knowledge of swim meet procedure fossilized somewhere in late middle school. My alum guide was very patient with me (she is planning a demeanor-appropriate career in clinical psychology).

As much as I was excited to see my son (he’s my youngest and college has hit me hard), swim meets are not the most pleasant spectator sport. First of all, it is hot-and humid--I could hear my hair frizzing, the “seats” in the viewing gallery are hard (and without backs), and it is incredibly loud in a space that seems intended to warp and amplify sound. Having spent time underwater in my lifetime, I was surprised at the way coaches were cheering for their swimmers although it seemed like the swimmers would be unable to hear them (as their ears were mostly in the water) or see them (as they had to look straight ahead or at the ceiling for the back strokers). I asked my kind college swim meet guru who was in that position just a few years back if the swimmers could even hear the cheering. She confirmed that you really couldn’t hear it, nor could you really see the folks on the side of the pool jumping up and down and urging you to go faster.

But, every single person on the side or end of the pool was either a current swimmer or coach (who has no doubt had competitive swimming experience) and thus must have known that the swimmers couldn’t hear or see them. To me, this is almost the team sport definition of altruism: cheering for someone who couldn’t see or hear you just because they are your teammate. It is true that everyone wanted to win the swim meet, but each individual swim was neither victory nor loss defining.

In a way, Academic Support folks are the coaches on the side of the pool. As students start to come see us (or are asked to see us) with their fall grades, we will review their performance and coach them on their form, their entry, their turns, their methods between exams (meets), and their finishes.  We will tell them that grades are not defining (and they might not believe us, and they are, sadly, somewhat right about that).

First, we will consider entry. We will go back to beginning of how students handled the competing tasks of the semester and look for cleaner and more efficient ways for them to get into the material. Then we will look at the course of the semester in terms of study methods, outlining, juggling responsibilities, and time (and resource) management. Finally, we will discuss how to push to the finish. We will work towards personal records rather than pure wins.

Getting students to understand that you are on their team in helping them succeed is pivotal in this process. Like college athletes, our students may have had other coaches who taught them differently; or may have been told that they have natural talents that will propel them through challenges. Some students will blame outside circumstances for poor grades-and while this may be true in some circumstances[1]- it is often not  a helpful mindset. Students need to see that there are things that they can control that can be tweaked (or entirely overhauled) in order to perform better. Pools may have warmer or colder water than where you practice, but you can be ready for these issues if you prepare. The issues students have can be input issues like reading, outlining, engagement in class; or output issues like exam writing or multiple choice methods. And we need to remind them that they valuable members of our community/team. Everyone in law school belongs on the team and (this one is not easy to see) we all win when we do our personal best.

In the meantime, I’ll be sweaty and frizzy and yelling my support to all the students who were hoping for better grades whether they see me or not. 

(Liz Stillman)

 

[1] Family emergencies, medical emergencies, mental health, financial issues, disruptions during the exam, and many other things happen-and they can change exam outcomes. However, it is very unlikely, especially in a school (like ours) that uses blind exam grading, that personal animus or even annoyance on the part of faculty is a factor in a final grade.

A Visit from ASP (with apologies to Clement Moore)

‘Twas the night before finals, and all through the house, only a law student was stirring and clicking a mouse[1];

Casebooks were stacked by the monitor with care, in hopes that the answers were hidden in there;

Most people were already snug in beds, while law students crammed adverse possession into their heads;

Professors and TAs were in for the night, knowing that grading was surely in sight;

The morning of exams would soon appear, and students would file into the test rooms with fear;

One last look at a study aid and search for a sign, perhaps one last perusal of their outline;

They’d sit and pray to the study aid masters, and hope to avoid essay question disasters;

Now Glannon, now Dressler, now Prosser and Keaton, On Erwin[2], on Crunchtime, on Answers and Questions[3]

To the top of the class! to the top of the curve!
Now write away! Write away! Write it with verve!;

On the first question, the students would start, to prove what they learned and that they are smart[4]

Working to IRAC each issue they spotted, students strived not to exceed the time they’re allotted;

After the essays they moved on to the multiple choice, reading the calls of the question and remembering their voice;[5]

The questions were tough from the facts to the answers, but they carefully read the qualifiers[6] and enhancers;

After weeks of studying, with no sleep or gym sessions, they were pale, tired, and lacking expression;

They said not a word as the proctors would scold, and worked hard until all of the test time had tolled;

When told to put their pens down, the students complied, they packed up their highlighters and other supplies;

But I heard them exclaim as they fled down the hall,

“So glad that’s it over, I gave it my all.”

Happy whatever-if anything-you celebrate in this season! I hope that your smaller and greater worlds are filled with peace and joy in the new year.

(Liz Stillman)

 

[1] Touchpad really doesn’t rhyme with anything…..

[2] With all due respect to Professor Chemerinsky, I could not find anything that rhymed with Chemerinsky either.

[3] Yes, I know I reversed it, but let’s call it artistic license….

[4] Remember, exams do not actually assess intelligence!!! Poetry is a harsh taskmaster.

[5] Remember, you can be a judge, an advocate, or a scholar on MCQs!!!

[6] With thanks to Ashley Cetnar for her MCQ tips last week!

Final Exams & Multiple-Choice Questions

Final exams are in full swing. I met with a student yesterday who was terrified about their next exam because it’s going to be all multiple-choice questions. So often, students put down their ability to solve multiple-choice problems. I hear things like:

“I’m terrible at multiple-choice problems.”

“I’ll never pass an exam if it’s all multiple-choice questions.”

“I get stuck between two answers and ALWAYS pick the wrong one.”

“I fall for the tricks on multiple-choice exams.”

Here are some tips I share with students for improving on multiple-choice questions.

TOP 10 TIPS FOR MULTIPLE-CHOICE EXAMS:

• No matter how you performed on multiple-choice tests in the past, it’s a new day. If properly prepared, you can answer each question correctly!
• Remember that law school multiple-choice questions usually ask you to apply a rule – not just recognize an answer. This means you should approach them with your legal problem-solving skills. Instead of relying on recognizing the right answer, try to identify the rule the question is asking about. Then, apply that rule to the facts. This will lead you to the correct answer.
• Don’t rush. Don’t get stuck. Figure out how much time you can devote to each question and stick to it.
• Carefully read each question and watch out for qualifiers— these are words like all, always, often, most, least.
• If you have it narrowed down to two responses and can’t decide, treat the answers like a true/false problem. Consider if one is completely true, while one is “only true if…” The correct answer is completely true.  
• Don’t make any assumptions or add any facts to the question that aren’t there. This is sure to lead you astray.
• Is the answer mostly right? Then it’s wrong.
• Trust your gut. It’s usually correct.
• Don’t change answers unless you truly misread the question or have another very good reason. Your first answer is usually the right one.
• Keep track of time.

Bonus tip:

You need to practice multiple-choice problems to improve. As you practice, make sure you keep track of WHY you missed the question. Did you misunderstand the rule? Did you read too fast? Did you misapply the rule? Diagnose why are missing questions and use the tips above to create a strategy. Your scores will improve!

(Ashley Cetnar)

The Problem with Outlines

It’s the last day of classes. There is palpable stress in the air that can only be brought on by the collective dread of law school final exams. This time of year, I always seem to reflect on my own 1L fall exams. I remember a string of late nights spent furiously editing outlines. I can also clearly remember thinking to myself, “I’ll never have time to study if I don’t finish these!” Finally, I realized something was wrong with that picture. Isn’t creating a study tool supposed to help you study?

I felt an unbelievable amount of pressure to make outlines for every class.  But the outline structure made it difficult for me to see the hierarchy of concepts, to synthesize the material (to cut an anecdote about a case felt like torture and a word document is endless anyway), or frankly to even review the material in a meaningful way. My strength in learning comes from my ability to see the big picture and make connections back to that structure. Working systematically on an outline each week, when many law classes are not taught with the big picture in mind, was painful. I was behind on my outlines, not because I wasn’t working hard or was procrastinating – I was behind because the process of outlining didn’t work for me. So, I did the unthinkable. I hit delete on all my outlines.

How did I manage to succeed on my final exams after I pressed delete? I created study tools that helped me see the big picture, synthesize rules, and think about how those rules apply to new scenarios. I made the same study tools I used successfully during my undergraduate career. I called them “concept pages.” They were single sheets of paper, each dedicated to a major concept in a class. They were messy with arrows connecting ideas. They also contained clear, concise rule statements and showed how the rules connected. I could make them quickly. They improved my understanding because they acted as a series of capstones on each major concept. They aren’t for everyone, but they worked for me. And that is my point.

Over the years, when students come to me panicked about the state of their outlines (not started, WAY too long, class notes with roman numerals that mean nothing to them, etc.), or crying because they will never finish their outlines in time to study for exams, I start the same conversation. “What if you tried something else? What type of study tool did you make in college? How do you like to organize material? Flow charts? Tables? Maybe something handwritten and messy?” I have seen many students do better in law school when they stop making outlines and start making something else. What would happen if we supported students to make the study tools that work best for them? If we gave them other options from day one? If we talked about creating study tools instead of using “outlining” as a synonym for law school success?

The best study tool to create is one that best organizes the information. For some topics that might be a short, traditional outline. For other topics, a table or flow chart will work better. We should be flexible about study tools because they need to flex around the subject matter and around individual needs. I’ve stopped telling students to outline. Instead, I ask what type of study tools they are working on and how the tools are working for them. Who’s with me?

(Ashley Cetnar)

Once Around the Park and Home

There are a number of sources of the phrase, "once around the park and home," according to the Urban Dictionary.¹  I prefer to think it comes from an old Tony Bennett song: Please Driver (Once Around the Park Again).² The song is sung from the point of view of a man who has been dumped and is longing for his usual company around the park.  As Bennett says, "The trees tonight are snowy white. We drove around like this till dawn last New Years Eve."³ But let's be clear: driving around a park is a loop, you are not going to get anywhere new driving in circles, but you will take in the view. 

Just now, I met with a student who came in to chat about their (ungraded) property midterm and wanted me to take a look before the peer review occurred in the next property class.  Luckily there was a grading rubric and a copy of the question for me to follow along with-it has been a good long while since I took property. As I looked over what the professor was looking for and what the student had produced, I saw a large gap. The student had essentially spotted the issues and came to a correct (per the rubric) conclusion about each one but had not (with maybe two exceptions) mentioned any law or used the facts they were given to reach the conclusions.  They explained that they were only hoping to get the "correct answer" to each question. I gently pointed out that instead of IRAC, they had used IC-and that was only because I gave them credit for stating an issue because they had resolved it. On the rubric, 2 points were to each I, R, and C per question, but there were 4-6 points assigned for the analysis-and rightfully so.  Based on what I saw, they had scored badly. 

They were adamant that they knew the material. I agreed that it was more an output rather than input issue (putting law in students' heads is a different thing altogether), but unlike undergraduate exams (and ironically more like 7th grade geometry), they needed to show their work. On the one hand, I could see (but not really assume) that the student understood the class because they reached the correct conclusion, however, since all of our 1L exams are graded anonymously, their property professor would just be surprised entering the poor exam grade and could not know whose exam it was until that moment. On the other hand, it would be a shame to get an unsatisfactory grade on the exam despite knowing the material. It was a question of showing the work, contextualizing the conclusions by analyzing fact and law together, and just taking a minute to slow down and admire the scenery of IRAC as a format.

I showed the student the picture below (I took it this morning on the way to a haircut) and asked if they had ever taken a drive to look at the foliage (it is a very New England thing to do) and they said they had. I asked them where did you end up when you did that? What was your final destination? They couldn't recall but agreed that the drive was worthwhile. I made my "teachable moment noise"-which I can only assume is extremely annoying but unavoidable (sorry-not sorry). I told them that this is mainly the idea of law school essay exams:  you need to state the route (issue), take the best road (rule), and look for the reasons you have taken the trip (analysis). And where you end up is not nearly as important as the road you took and what you saw along the way (the good and the bad).  Getting from point A to point B without taking a detour into the rule and analysis is efficient but will leave you at point C (as a grade). 

 

In other words, the "correct answer" is the journey.

(Liz Stillman)

 

 

 

1. Urban Dictionary: Home James
2. 1954 HITS ARCHIVE: Please Driver (Once Around The Park Again) - Tony Bennett - YouTube,
3. Id. I mean who does not love Tony Bennett?

Ten Hours

I had a student ask for an appointment to come in and discuss their study strategies. In the email asking for the appointment, they wanted to know if I had time to meet and discuss their, “dismal (by choice) first-month performance.” Yes, I also read that more than a few times trying to decipher what it meant. I offered them a quick sliver of time that very day to come in and set up a longer appointment on a different day, but to hopefully get something jumpstarted in the interim.

They told me that in the first 4.5 weeks of law school, they had worked for about ten hours. Hmm, I asked, is that ten hours a day (troubling because that seems like too much) or a week (too little)? “Total.” I did not gasp out loud (and I am quite proud of that). I asked them if that included the legal writing assignment that had been due the past week, and they said it did, and in fact, they had spent almost two of those hours on the paper. Another deep breath for me…

I asked a series of follow-ups after that revelation:

1. Are you doing the reading?: Sort-of-I am skimming the cases and then we talk about them in class.
2. Are you taking good notes in class?: Not really-It just makes sense.
3. Have you started outlining?: Outlining what?
4. Are you quizzing yourself after class? No.

They asked me if they were doing it wrong and when I said that it seemed to be the wrong choice, they went on to tell me about their undergraduate career that included a prestigious scholarship given to a handful of exceptional students. They told me their undergraduate GPA and how they never really worked hard at academics. I believe it. They seemed quite intelligent and quick to catch on to things. I took another deep breath and told them that law school was going to come and bite them in the ass (yes, I am a crass girl from the Bronx) if they didn’t do the reading, take notes, do practice questions, and start outlining-like right now.  And, I added that my undergraduate GPA from the very same institution was also pretty good.[1]

I explained the Dunning-Kruger effect to them: “a cognitive bias in which people wrongly overestimate their knowledge or ability in a specific area. This tends to occur because a lack of self-awareness prevents them from accurately assessing their own skills.[2]” I told them that finding out what you don’t know when it counts towards, or even accounts for the entirety of, a grade is risky, particularly in law school. In classes where there is only one assessment, you will have absolutely no idea whether you are doing it right until it is too late.

Here’s the thing though, I am not 100% certain they needed the standard “how to do law school” menu of tasks. This may not be how they learn best, but their current “method” didn’t seem conducive to the 3.0 GPA the student wanted to have by the end of 1L year in order to move into our hybrid JD program and take their final two years online. In all honesty, I was really alarmed at the idea that after this year, they might be totally remote and have no 3-D peer or faculty reminders that they are not doing the same work-either qualitatively or quantitatively until they face the bar. They seemed like an unconventional learner who was very smart and not yet excited by what they were studying. But that is an excuse that flies in 7^th grade, and not before our Academic Standing Committee.

I didn’t sugarcoat my concern with this student. Gentle cajoling wasn’t going to be an effective process here. I straightforwardly laid out the unnecessary risks I believed they were taking and then sent them a series of Outlook meeting invitations to check in on their progress. We’ll see if they come to anything.

In the meantime, this kind of student prompts me to remind my doctrinal faculty colleagues that the old school one high-stakes summative assessment at the end of a semester is going to be the downfall of otherwise smart students. This will weed out students who need to have their ass (gently) handed to them early on in order to light a fire in them to get the work done as well as those who cannot genuinely succeed.  It is widening the net and letting otherwise good students fall through. We will ultimately lose students who will be world-changers this way. Is this coddling? In the first semester of law school, in particular, it is not. If our goal is bar passage, we need to make sure students can accurately self-assess by modeling what that looks like from day 1.

As for this student, while I am not absolutely sure they need to follow the regular path, I am certain that they will find the path they have taken thus far is unlikely to end in the place they hoped. I only hope I was persuasive in making that point.

(Liz Stillman)

 

[1] Normally, I would never, ever do that, but I got the very real sense that my perceived intelligence would be a factor in whether they deemed my admonitions credible.

[2] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/dunning-kruger-effect

Recalculating

Have you ever used a navigator when you are driving? I am probably the user that navigator designers despise the most: I argue and don’t always listen to their advice--mainly because I do not have complete faith in them. I have a strange feud with one particular navigator that I swear is a trust exercise because it will take me to places I have never been to before (like someone’s backyard it seems), but when I make a mistake (or willfully disregard their advice), they just shut down altogether. I swear mine is just leading me to strange places and seeing if I trust them enough to get me out. I don’t and am thus abandoned.

We have noticed (actually, this has been an issue for a long while) that students are not engaging with our 1L study seminars or office hours. Some seem skeptical about them, and some are surprised to learn that these were even happening despite numerous weekly emails, announcements during orientation, and the billboard we erected near Fenway Park (okay, there was no billboard, but it isn’t a crazy idea…). By the time students come to see us, often they are already in some academic distress and likely behind in some aspect of successful “law studenting.” It is frustrating. We spend a lot of time developing and offering resources and yet students seem to want to follow their own path or are afraid to ask for and accept help.

And they need this help because this is a place they haven’t visited before.

So, we decided to do what my (non-trust exercise) navigator does (at least three times during every excursion) and recalculated. This year we created a “Success Syllabus” for our 1L students and posted it on our Academic Support Canvas page. It takes students through the semester-week by week- and tells them what they should be doing during those weeks to be prepared for exams. I included their legal writing assignment due dates, calendar shifts (Monday schedule on a Tuesday for the win!) as well as any already knowable midterm dates. Basically, it tells students when to begin reading and briefing for classes (right now and all semester), outlining (in a few weeks), and practicing exam questions (a week or two after that). It also refers to outside resource lists that we created for each class 1Ls take based on a conducting a survey of 1L faculty members for their recommended study sources.  We added a bold, underlined caveat that anything their professors say to the contrary should take precedence (we are lawyers).

In the end, the route is pretty simple: Prepare for class, Engage in class, Review after class (by outlining), and Practice for exams (PERP), but gaining students’ trust to follow this itinerary is the hard work ahead. If anyone would like an electronic copy of our Success Syllabus, please email me: [email protected], but only if you believe that I know where I am going with it.

Happy fall semester everyone!

(Liz Stillman)

Come as You Are

You’ve got love this time of year in Massachusetts. Last Thursday, it was around 46 degrees and rainy, and on Saturday, I got sunburnt sitting at my daughter’s college graduation. On Sunday morning, I waited outside for an hour on line to get breakfast at a new bakery that opened in my neighborhood that appears to be “insta famous.”[1] I got on line at around 7:55 a.m. (they open at 8) and it had already stretched around the corner from the storefront. It was a great vantage point for seeing everyone walking by (and their truly adorable dogs) as well as the folks on line. As I waited, here is what I saw: some folks were wearing winter coats or down vests, some were wearing quarter-zip fleeces (yes, it is New England), some were wearing workout gear, some wore shorts, some wore jeans, and some were wearing pajamas. A look down showed me Uggs, sneakers, flip-flops, crocs, and sandals. And yes, someone wearing a winter coat was also wearing shorts and Uggs. Again, it is an insta-worthy kind of place. But it reminded me that there is no objective way to “feel” the weather: how someone feels in terms of comfort and temperature is almost entirely subjective.

In this same way, no student feels the same during exams. A student who has done very well all semester--has outlined, studied, and done practice questions--may be more nervous than I think they should be-and the truth is, my dismissal of their exam anxiety is not going to help. At this point in the semester, I am also weary and my patience (which was never endless) seems to be experiencing some supply chain issues. So, as much as I would like to just tell the student, “you are fine,” I need to hold back my exhausted sighs and listen. I can gently counter with the evidence I have that they will, indeed, be okay.  But my secret is that I always leave students with a task. It is something small-something they will likely excel at- and it is something to do rather than sit and stew in the feelings of being inadequately prepared for the exam. Am I giving them busy work to distract them from a self-destructive mindset? Yes, but I am also having them perform a task that will help them do better on the exam. Sometimes it is a set of multiple choice questions, sometimes it is making a Quizlet or other flashcards, sometimes it is going back and streamlining their outlines to just the headers (in a separate document-no deletions!) and use that to test themselves (added bonus: they can see that the number of possible issues on the exam is fewer than it seems). I have recommended making flow charts and/or tables.

Yet, I am careful. I always tell students that a little bit of exam anxiety is not a terrible thing, but anxiety that feels relentless or leads to mental paralysis is something that requires outside help. If I am really concerned, I will get our more specialized team to check-in with a student (Dean of Students, counselling center etc.). I am very cautious when I am walking in the territory of mental health.

The bottom line is that high-stakes summative assessments cause universal stress. There is no way around that-and for students who are seeing me because they have already hit some academic stumbling blocks, exams are even more fraught. And for students who have had nothing but academic success, the imposter syndrome can be overwhelming (“what if I was just lucky for the first exams?”). I should not be judging how students wear their exam nerves just because of the way I am looking at their forecast. How I feel about their likelihood of success carries some weight for sure, but it is not enough.

For the record, I was wearing a hoodie, shorts, and sandals; and my pistachio croissant was totally worth the wait.

(Liz Stillman)

[1] https://www.instagram.com/lakonparis.patisserie/?hl=en

*Please also remember to sign up for AASE Conference!*

Here is a final notification from our amazing host school colleagues:

We're asking that everyone planning to attend in-person register by May 8 for planning purposes.

Register here:  https://associationofacademicsupporteducators.org/events/2023-10th-annual-aase-conference/  (Make sure you're logged in for member pricing.)

Our travel and lodging advice is here:  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TwitZa9gnEPLRTcOuqMmZhQIiWTZic7owCcK5yXpJ78/edit?usp=sharing

-Your colleagues at Santa Clara Law

ChatGPT, Assessments, and Cheating: Oh my!

Last week I gave a quiz to my undergraduates: 14 multiple choice questions plus a short answer question. It was an open note, open book quiz. I had an honor affirmation at the start of it for those using their laptops for e-textbooks and notes. And there was still cheating. And I am not surprised that there was, but I was surprised at how it happened.

ChatGPT (and other forms of AI bots) are almost all we are talking about as a faculty these days. A student could very easily use one to answer a question on an exam, or to organize and write a paper, and it is extremely difficult to police. Additionally, at my school, we have recently begun slowly switching our platform from BlackBoard to Canvas-and our pilot version of Canvas does not have any anti-plagiarism software attached to it yet. (I miss SafeAssign.) I have asked the bot to do all my written assignments and have them handy for comparisons (and will add them to my platform’s institutional database when we have the software). But here is the real conundrum for law schools: is there any way to assess students that cannot be hacked at this point other than an old school closed book exam? Not every class can use the OG exam format for assessment.

There are, of course, two sides to the debate here: on the one hand, resourcefulness is a skill that we want students to have. We want them to ask the right questions in order to get answers that solve problems. Using a bot certainly can improve those skills. We do not actually have lawyers that to go into any form of legal employment where they will be given three hours, a water bottle, and a proctor in order to resolve a client’s case. We are not sure that the NextGen bar exam will ask anyone to memorize vast swaths of law anymore either.  So, if there is a resource that can be helpful (and it seems at the moment to be free-ish), why not train students to use it? If we are in front of the use --and behind it as well-- then we can frame the appropriateness of the use and have more control over it.

On the other hand, is this what we want our profession to be? Should we aim to be a group of educated and licensed typists? How can we assess learning about the law separate from learning how to use the legal resources available? In some ways, I suppose we all fear being replaced by machines. It is a common science fiction trope. A computer, however, no matter how sophisticated, may never be able to see the nuances of the human condition that a well-trained attorney can. A bot would probably not make a creative argument for a change in the law since they are limited to the existing law and interpretations of it. Can we teach a bot to think like a lawyer? Probably. Can we teach it to have an off the record conversation with opposing counsel that hammers out a better deal because of something that cannot be said in court? Doubtful. There are unique spaces for human attorneys, even in this brave new world.

I suppose we could always ask ourselves how we would feel if our doctors typed our symptoms into a computer and then used what was spit back as a basis for treating us. I’m not sure I would still need a doctor to do that for me. I could also game the system by avoiding telling it about things where the answer they give might frighten me. I could, in short, lie to the bot and get the answer I wanted if I asked it often enough and changed the variables I share. My doctor sees through my bullshit-and that is why I trust her. She knows that I am more than the sum of my parts. Perhaps this gestalt is why human lawyers will always be superior.

In all honesty, I am not sure what the answer is here-there has to be a balance and there also has to be some nimbleness on the part of law schools in finding it-and soon. In the meantime, I keep telling students that I am assessing their knowledge of what we discuss in class rather than their ability to look it up. And that is what I told the student who copied their short answer on the quiz (verbatim) from the textbook. I wasn't expecting outright handwritten plagiarism. I guess we still need to be vigilant at all levels of technology. I told the student that I enjoyed pg. 104 of our textbook as much as they did (which is why it was assigned), but just being able to identify these words as correct is not the same as understanding why they are correct. Parrots may make lovely pets, but they do not make good lawyers.

(Liz Stillman)

Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough

It is that time of year when ASP folks are inundated with students who have had an epiphany about their study habits -- usually brought on by grades that were less than stellar. It is also the time of year when students with grades that our law school is concerned about are told to come visit ASP. These students all have a few Cs and have been told that this GPA might not be good enough to continue after the first year. They are frightened, chastened, and often need the tissues and the chocolate I've stocked for this season. I have a general plan for working with these students-almost a template: go over the bad exams, let's see where the deficiencies are (not phrased that way!), and let's get started with building the skills to avoid them for the next set of exams. If the issue is output (lack of IRAC, multiple choice questions that were confusing, etc., time), I get them started on practice questions ASAP. If it is input (didn't outline, didn't study efficiently, missing classes, other distractions), I get them started on building better habits and practice. If it was a mental health issue, or some outside trauma, I ask if they are in a better place, make sure that they are getting help, and then send them to practice (but very gently). I'm sure you do something very similar. This is the bread and butter of ASP. Time-proven technology that is individualized for each student.

But (you knew there would be a but), what do you do with the students who come to you with very good grades? Recently, before I even got a chance to email the 1Ls who will be notified that they should be seeing me, another first year student asked to meet with me to discuss improving their grades. Their grades were: A, A-, A-, and the dreaded B+. I had some good advice about improving their social life--i.e., don't complain to anyone else about these grades--that I kept to myself. I also did not want to dismiss the student with a "those are great grades, whatever you are doing, keep doing it." Although, I will admit this was my first thought along with, "do you realize that there are students here who would kill for those grades????" All I could think of was that Michael Jackson song, "[k]eep on, with the force, don't stop. Don't stop 'til you get enough¹." Sigh.

Yet, I would never turn away a student who asked for help-even if my knee jerk reaction was that they did not need it. So, I followed the protocol-I told them to go talk to the professors and ask what was good, what might have been better on the exams,  and then to come back to me so we can start working on those things. I warned them that the professors might be seeing students with lower grades first so that they would need some patience.  I'm guessing I'll see them again by late February-hopefully.

In a way, I respect this student's drive, and in another way, I am a little concerned about it as well. So rather than act as a surly gatekeeper to the ASP resources in this situation, I thought it might be a good idea to keep an eye on this student to remind them every now and then that the goal is learning. I fully understand that if their grades are worse in the spring, I might be considered the reason. 

Academic support is more than academic. We all know it, so while this student may not need academic help, they do seem to need support. So, if I am their personal Stuart Smalley² who helps them see that they are good enough, smart enough, and doggone it, they belong in law school, maybe that will be enough.

(Liz Stillman)

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yURRmWtbTbo
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuart_Smalley#:~:text=%22I'm%20good%20enough%2C,%2Ding%20all%20over%20yourself.%22

Muscle Learning: A Hypo a Day

That's my summary of a wonderful article sharing a helpful learning practice and the reasons behind it.  In the article, Prof. Dawn Young at the University of Idaho shares that "working a hypo a day can help you grow a gigantic analytical muscle" because the daily practice helps organize thoughts, see patterns, and learn exam analysis skills.  I wholeheartedly agree.  Here's the link for the details: Brunette, J, "3 Reasons a Hypo a Day will Keep Bad Grades Away," National Jurist (Nov. 30, 2022) (quoting and referencing Prof. Dawn Young).  (Scott Johns).

P.S. And, if you're in the midst of final exams, as many of you are at present, there's still ample time to start the habit, today.  In fact, starring at your outlines, trying to memorize them, is not near as useful as using your outlines to solve hypes and past final exam problems.  So take charge of your learning by courageously tackling and experiencing problems before you take on your remaining final exams.

Midterms and Midterms

After last week’s onslaught of students with legal writing questions (and some tears), I was hoping to be less busy this week. Yet, this morning I received several requests for appointments from students who just got back their first midterms as 1Ls, so a calmer week is not in the cards here. I have to admit that I spent some quality time this morning trying to decipher why a doctrinal professor wrote question marks on some parts of an exam answer, but check marks on others. I did this without a grading rubric to look at-and to be honest, it was, at best, purely speculative. So here are some things you can do with students when discussing their midterms that does not involve the use of a crystal ball or calling your psychic friends (you can save these resources for determining what might be on the final…):

1. Send the student from whence they came: not to their parents, but to the professor who placed the check and question marks on the exam. They might know what they meant-and most likely have a better idea than you do. Or even the TA, who most likely speaks the professor’s language fluently. Tell them to ask for the rubric-or even to just see it.
2. Remind students about IRAC. Sometimes the reason a student got a B- on an exam that the rest of study group got an A on is (hypothetically) because they didn’t outline any rules upfront but rather let them accumulate throughout the answer.
3. Remind students that we are not mind readers. Yes, your professor knows the rules they are testing, but no, they don’t know what you know unless you tell them. So, tell them, even it is seems obvious, or they think it should “go without saying.” Nothing should go without saying.
4. A corollary of the prior rule is do not leave any analysis in your head. Yes, the answer is clear sometimes, but again, explaining why it is clear is where the points come from. The journey > destination.
5. Be sure to tell students that midterm exams are a gift. A midterm means that the stakes are lower than just having a final for the entire assessment of the course and understanding what your professor is looking for is a huge amount of helpful information. This also makes the doctrinal professors who give them (and grade them!) incentive to continue this important practice.
6. Be sure to remind students where they can find practice essay and multiple-choice questions. Law School exam success is like getting to Carnegie Hall: practice, practice, practice! A reminder of where the exam helpful resources are is always helpful. We have a hidden place on our law library website that is honestly full of great resources, but finding it is a little like looking for the room of requirement in Harry Potter. Since everyone needs these resources, be sure to share the links you know about with students!

As to the other midterms, please go vote. Or be proud that you already have.

"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
- Martin Luther King, Jr

(Liz Stillman)

A Possible Exercise in Interpretation

I heard a recent joke that goes something like this, in a conversation between an insurance agent and the insured homeowner:

• Agent: Hello.
• Insured: Hi.  I'd like to report a theft from my house.
• Agent: I'm so sorry to hear the news.  Let me take a look at your policy.
• [pause]
• Agent: Okay, tell me more.  Did your house also catch on fire?
• Insured: Oh, no.  Just a theft.
• Agent: Well, in that case, I'm so sorry.  You're not covered.
• Insured: What do you mean I'm not covered? My policy says right here that it is fire and theft protection.
• Agent: Well, that's precisely right.  You see, you bought fire and theft protection, not fire or theft protection.  So, since you didn't also have a fire, you aren't covered.  It's as clear as day.

All kidding aside, contracts are often like that, as is much of law.  

So, as you study cases, statutes, and other legal materials, pay attention to the writing, the terms, and the connectors.  Be curious.  Think outside the box.  Be on the lookout for ambiguities in the text because that's the heart of lawyering, precision.  Parse the words, particularly criminal statutes.  And, if you seen ambiguities, try to clear them up.  And, don't forget to do the same on midterm exams and practice exams.  That's because it's in the ambiguities in which the points are most heavily concentrated.  And if you'd like more advice and exercise in how to become better at reading, check on Prof. Jane Griese's book on Critical Reading for Law School Success.  It's the book that I wished I had had in law school. (SJ).

Making Memories that Stick - At Least Thru the Bar Exam

You've heard the quip about "the chicken or the egg, which comes first?"  

Well, as the joke goes, "I've just ordered one of each from Amazon, so I let you know tomorrow!"  

That got me thinking about memorization.  

Most bar takers are really concerned about memorization, particularly because most of their law school exams, unlike bar exams, were open book/open note exams.  But take a look at the word "memorization."  That's a word of action, of a process, of recalling something previously learned.  In other words, at its root core the word "memorization" derives from creating "memories."  So how do you create memories when it comes to learning rules of law?  

Or, to ask it another way, which comes first, memorization or memories?  

Well, I think that the answer to that question is in the question because it's memories that we memorize.  So the key to memorizing is to work through lots of problems, to test yourself with your study tools, to practice retrieval practice, and, in short, to create lots of memories with the rules.  

You see, memorization is just a fancy word for the process of experiencing memories through distributed and mixed practice over time.  So, instead of worrying about memorization as you prepare for your bar exam this summer, focus on making memories (and lots of them).   (Scott Johns)

Defending Self-Critique

Law schools have not yet fulfilled the Carnegie Report’s call for more formative assessment.  One reason for falling short is conflicting narratives about what is “good” formative assessment.  One specific narrative seems particularly troublesome:  That the only legitimate method for providing formative assessment is for the instructor to sit down with each student and explain their errors.  This post pushes back on that narrative.

1. Self-critique is more effective than we appreciate.

Most would agree that individualized feedback from an instructor, the expert both on the subject and the way the student will be graded, is most effective.  But especially when using a model answer or quality student answer,[1] allowing students to compare their work against the ideal version, doing so not only assists with doctrinal comprehension, legal writing, and exam skills, but also builds metacognitive abilities.[2]  Having the capacity to determine one’s own weaknesses is crucially important, as demonstrated by countless studies showing the performance-enhancing effect of improving metacognition.[3]

The assumption that all feedback must come from the instructor certainly undercuts the mission to improve students’ metacognition.  When students find themselves professorless during bar study, they will scramble around helplessly if they have absorbed the legal education fable that only professor knows best.  Moreover, new lawyers will certainly struggle in the early years of practice when they need to run to the partner/ division chief/ client to do the metacognitive work for them.

Although some students certainly will do a poor job of self-critiquing (“I mentioned res ipsa loquitur just like the model did!  I should get full points!”), this is no reason to underappreciate self-critique.  First, in my experience, most students DO figure out their weaknesses from this process.  While before the self-critique process they think their C-minus should be an A-minus, seeing the student essay that booked the course tends to leave them thinking otherwise.  Second, even if the student still does not see the problems, this is where academic support faculty come in.  In partnering with doctrinal faculty, academic support faculty can meet with underperforming students and comment not on the law but on the student’s metacognition.  This method distributes personnel resources in a way that makes robust feedback more possible, fosters metacognition, demonstrates to students the valuable connection between doctrinal and academic support faculty, and frees up time for doctrinal faculty.

2. Calcifying the status quo.

A particular danger with the solely instructor-based feedback narrative is that it preserves the status quo.  We all know that formative assessment is lacking in legal education.  The principal argument against remedying that problem is that individualized feedback is so time-consuming that one can accomplish little else.  When those inclined to pursue efficient formative assessment are then met with the chorus of voices claiming that self-provided feedback is inadequate, they throw the baby out with the bathwater, dismiss formative assessment, and turn back to the same one-final-exam process used since 1877.  Therefore, creating this strict dichotomy between individualized feedback and self-provided feedback makes the perfect the enemy of the very good and leaves students with nothing instead of at least something.

Final thoughts.

None of this is meant to say that instructor-led feedback is unnecessary or inferior.  Feedback from course instructors is crucial.  But when that type of formative assessment is not feasible, self-critique is a solid option.  

There is a lot more to discuss on this subject.  Unlike almost all other graduate programs, why do we think that TAs providing feedback is an unspeakable heresy?  Why do we almost never use summative assessment as formative assessment by improving the process of post-semester self-critique?  (FYI, simply letting students see their exam answers does not accomplish this goal.)  Why do we see testing only as formative and summative assessment but not as a learning tool in-and-of itself? 

Unfortunately, the time constraints on writing about the time constraints of formative assessments are such that I have to stop tying now.  Ironic.

 

Louis Schulze, FIU Law

--------------

[1] Self-critique without a model answer is possible, too, but I concede that having a model answer is preferable.  To those who would avoid providing such an answer because doing so would take time to write or risk being imprecise, I would argue that a simple solution is to release the strongest student answer.

[2] Metacognition is the process of assessing one’s knowledge:  Do I really know the felony murder rule, or do I just think I know it?  As I tell my students, it is like hovering over one’s knowledge and objectively scrutinizing one’s real comprehension.

[3] See generally J.A. Gundlach & J. Santangelo, Teaching and Assessing Metacognition in Law School, 69 J. LEGAL EDUC. 156 (2019) (reporting on empirical study of first-year law students, finding that students who demonstrated strong metacognitive skills were more likely to perform well).

Marathon

Today I am sitting on my chosen side of Beacon Street while the Boston Marathon is happening just down the road. I cannot even imagine running over twenty-six miles -- especially considering that my “running” occasionally consists of trying to catch the train in the morning and occasionally deciding that the next train would be fine too.

According to the organizers of the Marathon, there will be numerous places to get water[1]. There will also be places on the route to get some regular or decaf “hydrogel” (which honestly sounds like cheating, right?).[2] There will also be people on bicycles bringing up the rear so that the slower runners are observed and safe even when the roads are re-opened, as well as 26 medical checkpoints[3]. Don’t even get me started on the security surrounding the event (which is entirely understandable), I’ve been hearing helicopters overhead for about a week now. The route is marked on the ground and with signs. People are on the edge of route cheering all the runners on. Overall, the marathon runners are being cared for, protected, and encouraged all along the way.

Are we similarly helping our students in their upcoming exam marathon? We know students have been training for these final exams for months, and like the Boston marathon runners, since it is spring, these students have completed a set of exams that qualified them to tackle this one. We are getting to the point in the semester where just preparing and training will have to give way to running the actual course. Here are some things we can remind students to do for themselves, so they are ready when the starting gun is fired:

1. Remind yourself that you have studied and put in the time. While you might have some regrets about the way you have studied or the amount of time you have put in, there is no changing that now and focusing on that will take up valuable time and bandwidth.
2. Do not pull all-nighters before exams. This is not a sprint. You do not have the time to recover from a missed night of sleep before the next exam (if there is one), and more importantly you will need to be able to think clearly during the exam. Think of sleep as carbs for the busy work your brain needs to do.
3. Be sure you have the correct technical equipment before you get to the starting point. Have you uploaded the exam software? Have you done any tutorials or tests that are recommended? Is your charger working? Now is a much better time to assess your equipment readiness than ten minutes into the exam.
4. Do you know the rules? Have you looked over the exam requirements/restrictions? Is it open book, closed book, a hybrid? Can you bring in an index card? Write on the code (if that can come with you), tab your materials, bring in your outline? This will impact how you study and how you plan to access material during the exam (from your brain or other sources). Do you know what to do when you need to use a bathroom during the exam?
5. Do you know your exam numbers?? Do you know where to find them? Also, do you have your ID[4] with you for checking into the exam? Take a picture of it now just in case….
6. Do you have SHARPENED number 2 pencils or know where to find them-- and a decent eraser? If you somehow ruin all your pencils and erasers during the exam, do you know who to ask for assistance and where they are located in the building?
7. Do you have hydration for the exam? Is your water bottle clean and filled? Do you know where the water filling station nearest your exam room is? We will, sadly, be offering hydrogel (which, now that I think of it, may be the active ingredient in my sunscreen…).
8. Know that the folks cheering for you on your exam route are your ASP faculty. We are also the folks who will have chocolate, band-aids, tissues, and a place to stash the stuff you cannot get into your locker in an emergency. No, we cannot stand in the hall with banners and yell (distracting and all), but we are there. We know how hard you have worked to get here, and we are behind you 100%.

(Liz Stillman)

 

[1] https://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/enter/course-information

[2] Id.

[3] Id.

[4] Once I was proctoring an exam and the student forgot their school ID and showed me their gun permit as an alternate picture ID. I reminded them (and myself) that I was not grading that exam-just proctoring….

The Exams are coming!! The exams are coming!!

Next Monday is Patriot’s Day here in Massachusetts. I used to think that since it was the day of the marathon, we all got the day off because getting anywhere in Boston can be fraught when you cannot cross Beacon Street. However, there is a revolutionary war meaning behind the holiday (it is Massachusetts, right?). Patriot’s Day commemorates the Battles of Lexington and Concord that began the colonists’ fight for independence from Great Britain on April 19, 1775.[1] And we all know the story of Paul Revere, who warned the colonists here in the Commonwealth the day before-- if for no other reason than because we all had to memorize Longfellow’s poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride,” which starts with,

“Listen, my children, and you shall hear

Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,

On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;

Hardly a man is now alive

Who remembers that famous day and year.”[2]

I think some of my students might actually believe that I do remember that famous day and year-sigh. But, more importantly, I think at this point in the semester students are starting to hear the warning about exams coming and are looking to Academic Support to hang a lantern aloft[3] to help illuminate their approach to the battle ahead. Here is what I would be crying into the night as I rode through the towns where my students live:

Outlining: students who heard and followed through on our earlier admonition to start outlining in January (or even catch-up during spring break in March) have more munitions in stock here in April. But for those who did not, there is still time to outline-either in the standard or other useful formats-like annotated flowcharts or Prezi[4].  Outlining is both a review and the creation of a document to study from. It is what I like to call a two-birder,[5] it is useful to do and useful to have when you are done.

Practice: at this point in the semester, doctrinal professors are handing out and going over old exam questions. This is a gold mine, because it lets students know how a professor will raise an issue and the depth that is required to answer it appropriately. Even students who have already been through multiple sets of exams need this because knowing your audience is a good writing tactic no matter what type of legal writing you are undertaking. Also, practicing multiple choice questions daily, from multiple sources (because slight changes in terminology can really throw you off unless you’ve seen them before) is key. At this point in the semester (or year for yearlong classes), students can look to bar questions or even scramble around other sources because they have finally encountered most of the material (if done too early, students may panic at what they don’t already know even though it hasn’t come up in the class yet).

Planning: students should sit down with their exam schedule and work backwards to today to plan their study. An examplan™[6] is a REALISTIC plan that includes time for finishing up the outlines, practicing essay and multiple-choice questions, studying from your outline, and (please!!) remembering to attend to your personal hygiene, physical and mental health. I advise students to remember to preview for the exam that is after the one they are currently studying for-you need to stay mentally nimble and not have to relearn all of Torts or Con Law in the two days before that exam.  Having a plan has the added bonus of helping students feel more in control of the situation. Control is comfort in stressful situations.

Study groups: yes, but…every year I meet with a student on academic warning who assures me that they were the expert in their study group and all their “students” got better grades than they did. Remind students that if they are teaching the group everything, that the group is not putting anything they need on the table for them. I tell students that community, camaraderie, and shared circumstances are all important, but you cannot bring anyone else’s brain into the exam with you.[7]

So, while exams are indeed coming, and they will bring some panic and chaos into the lives of our students, there is a lot we can do to prepare them for the onslaught-more than I have listed certainly. All we can hope is that our students will hear our cry and know that it is,

“A cry of defiance and not of fear,

A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,

And a word that shall echo forevermore!”[8]

(Liz Stillman)

 

[1] https://www.history.com/news/what-is-patriots-day

[2] https://www.paulreverehouse.org/longfellows-poem/

[3] Id.

[4] https://prezi.com/

[5] I am really hoping this phrase catches on, but like “fetch” I am afraid it will not be a thing after all.

[6] Ok, I haven’t really registered this trademark, but if I see you all wearing t-shirts that say this, I’ll be pretty upset.

[7] This is what I am always thinking about when I say this to students (Gary Larson, 1986):

[8] https://www.paulreverehouse.org/longfellows-poem/