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17 Law Tchr. 1 (2010-2011)

handle is hein.journals/lawteaer17 and id is 1 raw text is: FALL 2010 Promoting the science and art of teaching The Law Teacher, Volume XVII, Number 1 The Law Teacher is published twice a year by the Institute for Law Teaching and Learning. It provides aforum for ideas to improve teaching and learning in law schools and informs law teachers of the activities of the Institute. Opinions expressed in The Law Teacher are those of the individual authors. They are not necessarily the opinions of the editors or of the Institute. Co-Editors: Aida M. Alaka and Gerald Hess Co-Directors: Gerald Hess and Michael Hunter Schwartz Advisory Committee: Aida M. Alaka (Washburn) Megan Ballard (Gonzaga) R. Lawrence Dessem (Missouri-Columbia) Olympia Duhart (Nova Southeastern) Keith A. Findley (Wisconsin) Steve Friedland (Elon) Barbara Glesner Fines (UMKC) Dennis Honabach (Northern Kentucky) Paula Manning (Western State) Margaret Sova McCabe (New Hampshire) Nelson Miller (Thomas Cooley) Lu-in Wang (Pittsburgh) @2010 Institute for Law Teaching and Learning. Gonzaga University School of Law and Washburn University School of Law. All rights reserved. ISSN: 1072-0499 In sid e... Breaking Down the Blank Page: A Technique for Outlining Essay Questions ...................... 3 Practical Preparation, Student Focused, Serving the Community-The Wills Clinical Lab Experience ................................................. 4 Reversing the Norm: Promoting Student Questioning Proficiency ................................. 6 Teaching Philosophy Statement ....................... 7 Focus Writing for Doctrinal Classes ................ 8 Call for Presentations: Engaging and Asesin Our Stdns .................. Professiona Deeomn Obiato 6......1 Cotxta Tethers Greater Under sta d n ...........................1 I INSTITUTE FOR II (LT L LAw TEACHI.NG AND LEARqN ING Everybody Weighs In By Gerry Hess, Gonzaga University School of Law T 'd like everyone to weigh in on this. I use that prompt several times each semester to ask every student to respond orally to a question I pose in class. Below is a brief description of the why, when, and how, of this discussion technique, along with an example. Why ask every student to weigh in? When students respond to questions in class they are actively engaged in thinking about the question, formulating a reply, and delivering a response. When we ask every student to respond to a question, we get active engagement from all of our students. Further, asking every student to contribute also conveys our expectation that all students will contribute to class and demonstrates our confidence that every student has something valuable to offer. This technique ensures that we hear from our quiet students, not just those who are most comfortable talking in class. Finally, as each student responds, the class gets a broad range of perspectives on the question. When to ask every student to weigh in? Although I use the everybody weighs in technique in every course, I limit my use of the technique to one, two, or three times during each course. This technique works best for open-ended questions which give rise to diverse responses. It takes a significant amount of class time for every student to respond; for example, thirty second responses from twenty students consumes ten minutes of class time. Consequently, ask every student to respond only to the most significant issues in the course. For example, I use this technique to have each student evaluate a statutory scheme at the end of a unit - Identify a major strength, weakness, or appropriate amendment for the National Environmental Policy Act. How to ask every student to weigh in? Several practices help maximize the benefits of asking every student to respond. * Pose the question in writing on a slide, handout, or the board so that all students know the prompt. * Give students a suggested time for their responses - I'm looking for a 20-40 second response from each of you. * Tell students who will speak first and how you will proceed around the room. - continued on page 2 THE LAW TEACHER I FALL 2010 I 1

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