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2008 Workshop for New Law School Teachers &
Workshop for New Law School Clinical Teachers

June 25 – June 29, 2008
Washington, D.C.

Program

Workshop for New Law School Teachers
click here for New Law School Clinical Program

Thursday, June 26, 2008
4:00 – 7:30 p.m.
Registration

5:30 - 6:30 p.m.
Small Group Discussions (by subject matter)
The planning committee strongly encourages attendance at this first set of small group discussions.

6:30-7:30 p.m.
AALS Reception

7:30 p.m.
AALS Sponsored Dinner
Welcome
John H. Garvey, AALS President and Boston College

Introduction
Michael Green, Wake Forest University and Chair, Planning Committee for the 2008 AALS Workshop for New Law School Teachers, Workshop for New Law School Clinical Teachers and Workshop on Retention of Minority Law School Teachers
-view welcome-

John E. Sexton, President, New York University

Friday, June 27, 2008

8:00 – 8:50 a.m.
AALS Section on Minority Groups Continental Breakfast with Questions and Answers

8:30 – 8:50 a.m.
Coffee, Tea and Breakfast Pastry

9:00 – 10:15 a.m.
Preparing for Your First Semester of Teaching
Dorothy Andrea Brown, Washington and Lee University -view materials-
Graeme B. Dinwoodie, Chicago-Kent College of Law -view materials-

In this give-and-take session, two experienced and successful teachers exchange views on a variety of “nuts and bolts” issues for the new teacher, including: choosing a casebook, preparing a syllabus for students, creating notes for teaching, establishing an effective classroom environment, using traditional and alternative teaching methods, and dealing with difficult students.

10:15 - 10:30 a.m.
Refreshment Break

10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Learning Theory
Alison Grey Anderson, University of California at Los Angeles -view outline-
-view materials- -view elements table-
Kristine S. Knaplund, Pepperdine University -view materials-

Professors Anderson and Knaplund will discuss learning theory and effective teaching methods.
-view bibliography-

12:00 noon - 1:30 p.m.
AALS Luncheon
The Honorable Guido Calabresi, U.S.  Circuit Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, New Haven, Connecticut

1:40 – 2:20 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions – Teaching Techniques and Demonstrations

2:20 – 3:00 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions – Teaching Techniques and Demonstrations

3:00 – 3:15 p.m.
Refreshment Break

3:15 – 4:00 p.m.
Exam Preparation, Reading, Grading, Review and Course Evaluations
Eric R. Claeys, George Mason University -view materials-
David Vladeck, Georgetown University

This session will address the basics of examining and grading students. The session will cover how to generate the ideas for writing an exam; the different types of exams you can employ and different methods for administering them; collaborating with others in drafting an exam, especially for the first-time teacher; sources of exam banks and how best to use them; reading and evaluating exam answers; assigning final grades when there are mandatory curves at your school; how best to handle post-exam review with students.

4:00 – 4:45 p.m.
Challenging Conversations in the Classroom
Angela Mae Kupenda, Mississippi College -view materials-
James J. Tomkovicz, University of Iowa -view materials-

Sometimes the classroom can seem like an enemy minefield: “race,” “rape,” “immigration,” “the Iraq War,” and “sexual orientation” are some of the topics that may “blow up” unexpectedly. Especially when they are relevant and/or crucial to the courses we teach, we prepare ourselves and our students to discuss these issues. But how do we deal with them when they emerge spontaneously from students during in-class discussions? How do we, as professors, channel students’ and our own surprise, anger and pain so as to continue to foster a positive learning experience for all students? Is there a “right” way to do this? The panel will discuss their experiences and the techniques they utilize for addressing these and other challenging subjects, both when discussion of those subjects are part of their syllabus for the course and when they arise unexpectedly. Their presentations will focus on mechanisms that foster healthy discussion and affirm student experiences and identities, while teaching the conceptual, societal and doctrinal issues applicable to the challenging issues.

5:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Small Group Discussions on Teaching
(attendees will self-select small group to attend)

Upper Level
First Year
Technology
Seminar
Exam Preparation
Challenging Conversations in the Classroom

6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
AALS Reception

6:00 – 6:30 p.m.
AALS Section on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Issues Informal Gathering

6:00 – 6:30 p.m.
AALS Section on Legal Writing, Reasoning and Research Informal Gathering

Saturday, June 28, 2008

8:00 – 8:50 a.m.
AALS Section on Women in Legal Education
 Continental Breakfast with Questions and Answers

8:30 – 8:50 a.m.
Coffee, Tea and Breakfast Pastry

9:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Plenary Session - Scholarship
 Angela J. Davis, American University -view materials-
Cheryl Hanna, Vermont Law School -view materials-
Ronald F. Wright, Wake Forest University -view materials-

Professors Davis, Hanna, and Wright will address many of the hard questions about the “how-to” of scholarship. How do you start the writing process? When, where and how should you submit your manuscript? How do you handle student editors? What should you do when it is in print? How can the new professor approach that first article with an appreciation both for the practicalities of succeeding with the initial piece and for the longer term implication of being able to build on the earlier work?

11:00 – 11:15 a.m.
Refreshment Break

11:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Junior Faculty Feedback
 Cara Drinan, Catholic University (1st year) -view materials-
Deleso Alford Washington, Florida A&M (2nd year) -view materials-
Roger A. Fairfax, Jr., The George Washington University (3rd year) -view materials-

This panel will include three “alumni” of past AALS New Law School Teachers Workshops. They will address the variety of issues and challenges new law teachers face and tell you what they wish they knew then that they know now.

12:15 – 1:30 p.m.
AALS Luncheon

1:45 – 2:45 p.m.
Assessment and Institutional Citizenship
 Hannah R. Arterian, Syracus University
Veryl Victoria Miles, The Catholic University of America -view materials-
Elizabeth Hayes Patterson, Georgetown University

2:45 – 3:15 p.m.
Workshop Wrap-Up
 Michael Green, Wake Forest University and Chair, Planning Committee for the 2008 AALS Workshop for New Law School Teachers, Workshop for New Law School Clinical Teachers, Workshop on Retention of Minority Law School Teachers

 

Workshop for New Law School Clinical Teachers

SATURDAY, JUNE 28, 2008

4:00 - 7:00 p.m.
Registration

5:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Small Group Discussions
 (by subject matter)

6:00 - 7:00 p.m.
AALS Reception

SUNDAY, JUNE 29, 2008

8:30 – 8:50 a.m.
Coffee, Tea and Breakfast Pastry

9:00 - 9:15 a.m.
Welcome
 Michael Green, Wake Forest University, Chair of the Planning Committee, Workshop for the 2008 New Law School Teachers, Workshop for New Clinical Teachers and Workshop on Retention of Minority Law School Teachers
-view welcome-

9:15 – 10:30 a.m.
Goals of Clinical Legal Education: Why Do We Teach?
 Jane H. Aiken, Georgetown University
Elliott S. Milstein, American University
-view handout- -view materials-

Clinical legal education is not only about teaching necessary lawyering skills. It is a unique opportunity to help new lawyers transition into practice with a sense of their professional identity, insight into the moral choices they will be asked to make as a professional, awareness of the possibilities and limitations of the justice system, and with the essential skill of reflecting on experience and learning from it. This session will utilize a variety of teaching methods to engage the audience in identifying and choosing among the various goals that can be accomplished by clinical teachers.

10:30 – 10:45 a.m.
Refreshment Break

10:45 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Skills and Values of Clinical Legal Education: What Do We Teach?
 Katherine Shelton Broderick, University of the District of Columbia
Phyllis Goldfarb, George Washington University
Alexander Scherr, University of Georgia
-view materials-

Students in clinics are in a crucial formative stage of their professional development, transitioning between the skills and values used to fulfill their role as students to the skills and values used to fulfill their role as lawyers. This makes clinical teaching an especially complex and multi-layered enterprise that has to employ pedagogical methods designed to meet a breadth of goals. These goals include inculcating the skills necessary to effectively represent clients, the values necessary to the formation of ethical conceptions of law practice, and the habits necessary to support these skills and values throughout one’s professional life. The supervisory relationship between clinical professor and clinical student is a key pedagogical site. This panel will use a supervision simulation to demonstrate and reflect on the transmission of skills and values through clinical pedagogy. The simulation is designed to address pedagogical issues that arise in supervisory settings in both in-house clinics and externships programs.

12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.
AALS Sponsored Luncheon- History and Future of Clinical Legal Education
 Margaret Martin Barry, Catholic University -view materials-

1:30 – 2:45 p.m.
How Do We Teach and Evaluate Students?
 Kim Diana Connolly, University of South Carolina
Michael Pinard, University of Maryland
-view materials-

Clinical teaching usually involves classroom discussion and individual supervision. Clinical work is often intimate and intense, and necessitates a hands-on approach from both the student and instructor. This session will explore some fundamental concepts (and tensions) underlying the clinical approach, including non-directive and directive instruction, reflective practice, problem-solving methods, teaching skills and substance, and adapting to your institutional and practice-based setting. The session will also explore the unique difficulties in evaluating clinic students, including what and how to evaluate, the variances in student experiences, grading group work, and avoiding adversely affecting the learning process through the evaluation process.

2:45 – 3:00 p.m.
Refreshment Break

3:00 – 4:00 p.m.
Small Group Discussions (by subject matter)

4:15 - 5:30 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions

  • Scholarship
    Muneer I. Ahmad, American University
    Peter Joy, Washington University
    -view materials-

    Many clinicians write and practice. But their scholarship may have a different foundation or focus than the work of podium faculty. And clinicians sometimes have less time to write or may face other challenges. In this session, two experienced clinicians and scholars will discuss how to balance scholarship and practice, strategies to develop writing projects that are connected to clinical work, and other topics. Bring your projects ideas to brainstorm with the panel.

  • Program/Clinic Design
     Bradford Colbert, William Mitchell College of Law
    Deborah Epstein, Georgetown University

    Clinicians are sometimes hired straight from practice to develop new programs. This panel will work with participants to identify a variety of clinical program goals. We will then discuss how to work backwards from these goals to design, operate, and continually revise a clinic. Bring your program goals and design questions to discuss.

  • Navigating the Academy
     Katherine Mary Hessler, Case Western Reserve University
    Josephine Ross, Howard University
    -view materials-

    Many clinicians are hired as short term or adjunct faculty. Even new “long term” faculty may not understand the sometimes confusing ways of the academy. In this session, two experienced clinicians – who themselves have held different types of faculty appointments – will address how to think about a career path in the academy, strategies to develop working relationships with non-clinical faculty, and other issues. They will also discuss recent work of a taskforce formed by the AALS Section on Clinical Legal Education that has studied these topics.