Why ASP?

An asp.

Today we will be welcoming a new class of 1Ls.  It is my job to introduce them to and interest them in the Academic Skills Program.  In thinking about how to do this, I was again struck by one of the fundamental challenges of communicating with 1Ls in the earliest days of their legal education, which is that they have not yet had the types of experiences that allow them to contextualize the information you are giving them.

Who are the Outsiders?

Usually translated as “The Stranger,” this choice of language conveys a significantly different meaning.

Recently I was talking with some of my colleagues, discussing the need to empower students to make informed decisions about how to best pursue their legal education.  And my colleagues expressed surprise at my belief that students need to be empowered.  So I started to examine the basis for my assumption.

Two Great Tastes That Taste Great Together: Student Loan Debt and the Debate Over the Value of Scholarship

So many possible captions for this image. I will allow you to choose your own.

Everyone knows that the level of debt imposed on law school graduates is unconscionable.  (They might not use that exact term, but I will.)  Everyone also knows that there has been considerable, sustained debate over the value of the scholarship produced by law faculties.   (See related post at http://susannahpollvogt.wordpress.com/2010/09/08/law-schools-law-professors-scholarship-andversus-teaching/.)

 

The Second-to-Last Day of Class: Witnessing Students Achieve Mastery

“The Student Has Become The Master.” (Note: this is the second appearance of the awe-inspiring Bruce Lee on this blog.)

We met on Monday to “workshop” my students’ final papers prior to them submitting their papers the following day.  As usual, I had prepared a number of exercises for them to go through that would prompt a new perspective on their writing, and thus more effective self-critique and editing.

“Talking to Teach” versus “Doing to Learn”

DU Law is doing something very exciting.  Namely, instead of just paying lip-service to all the hub-bub about reforming legal education, we are taking steps to put reform into practice.

UPDATE: Faculty Discussion of Scholarship [And/Versus?] Teaching

There are stranger bed fellows. Via cuteoverload.com.

In my last post I wrote about a (perhaps intentionally) provocative article suggesting that there was an inherent tension between law professor’s efforts at producing a sufficient volume of scholarship to merit tenure and doing an adequate job of teaching law students to be lawyers.  http://susannahpollvogt.wordpress.com/2010/09/08/law-schools-law-professors-scholarship-andversus-teaching/  In addition, the author of the article, Brent E. Newton, contended that the typical law professor is uniquely unqualified to teach law students to practice; rather, these professors are only qualified to produce reams of “impractical” scholarship.

Law Schools, Law Professors, Scholarship [and/versus?] Teaching

One of my colleagues recently circulated for discussion an abstract of a forthcoming law review article that accuses—in no uncertain terms—the majority of legal academics of being out of touch with the reality of legal practice and inappropriately preoccupied with producing what the author terms “impractical” scholarship.  See Brent E. Newton, Preaching What They Don’t Practice: Why Law Faculties’ Preoccupation with Impractical Scholarship and Devaluation of Practical Competencies Obstruct Reform in the Legal Academy, 62 S.C. L. Rev. ___ (Nov. 2010).

What happens to us in law school.

My psychic map of Yale Law School.

I recently re-connected with an old friend from law school.  I mentioned to him my current work (trying to gain an understanding of the movement to humanize legal education), and how it was in large part inspired as an effort to heal my own experience of the disappointment and alienation I experienced in law school.

Thinking Like a Lawyer is a Legal Skill, Not a Life Skill – Review of “The Hidden Sources of Law School Stress,” Part 3

Exhibit A: Disconnection

Today’s post finishes reviewing Professor Larry Krieger’s helpful booklet, “The Hidden Sources of Law School Stress.“  The booklet is available here.

What Students Can Do to Help Themselves; What Professors Can Do to Help Their Students

“Stress” = primarily images of white men and women in office settings clutching their brains. Ultimately, the head explodes.

Today I want to spend more time discussing the insights from Prof. Larry Krieger’s booklet, “The Hidden Sources of Law School Stress.“  It is an incredibly helpful resource in the battle to manage and reduce our overall levels of stress—primarily because it offers a different way of thinking about and analyzing the sources of stress in our education and career.  For this reason, I would argue that it is a good resource for law students and practicing lawyers alike.