June 23-26, 2005
The Westin Grand
Hotel
Washington, DC
Program - Workshop for New Law TeachersThursday, June 23, 2005 4:00 - 8:00 p.m. 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. 7:00 p.m. Welcome Introduction Teaching As Your Career The vast majority of people who start out as law teachers retire as law teachers. Dean Rogers will address the habits, attitudes, and ups and downs of successful professors over their careers in law teaching. Dean Rogers will discuss both the challenge of teaching a single course and the challenge of teaching through one lifetime. Friday, June 24, 2005 8:00 - 8:50 a.m. 8:30 - 8:50 a.m. 9:00 - 10:15 a.m. Professors Lustbader and Zimet will model a variety of interactive teaching methods. Using videotape of law students discussing their learning experiences, they will focus on the classroom from the learner’s point of view. This will stimulate a conversation about learning theory and effective teaching methods. 10:15 - 10:30 a.m. 10:30 - 11:30 a.m. 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. 11:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. 12:00 - 1:30 p.m. New law teachers must not only learn to teach, produce scholarship and perform law faculty service, but they must adapt to the institutional culture of their law schools. What does it take to be a good colleague, an effective institutional citizen, and a successful member of the community? Drawing on his experience as both a faculty member and a dean, Dean Schmoke will share some thoughts on this topic. 1:30 - 2:45 p.m. Two experienced teachers will show and tell, as they use video excerpts of their classes to demonstrate a range of teaching techniques and approaches, including traditional Socratic teaching, teaching which integrates non-legal materials and non-doctrinal perspectives into course material, and teaching which draws on modern technology. Following their presentations, participants will have a chance to discuss the pros and cons of various approaches in small group discussions. 2:45 - 3:45 p.m. 3:45 - 4:00 p.m. Professors Friedland and Iijima will address four topics: principles of effective assessment, lessons learned by experienced teachers, feedback to students, resources for constructing exams and other forms of assessment. 5:15 - 6:15 p.m. 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. Saturday, June 25, 2005 8:00 - 8:50 a.m. 9:00 - 9:45 a.m. One of the most daunting challenges for the new professor is figuring out how to create a research agenda. 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 implications of being able to build on the earlier work? Dean Wu shares his thoughts on these difficult questions. 9:45 - 10:30 a.m. Professor 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 (finally) is in print? 10:30 - 10:45 a.m. 10:45 - 11:30 a.m. 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. 12:45 - 1:45 p.m. 2:00 - 3:00 p.m. This panel will include three “alumni” of past AALS New Law 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. 3:00 - 3:30 p.m. A good course sometimes evolves during the term, with the professor and students, through interaction, developing new insight, and the professor wrapping up those insights with a coherent overview at the end of the term. In this session, Dean Rogers will pull together the insights of the workshop, reflect upon how participants might best make use of them in the future, and remind participants of their career - long challenges and opportunities. |