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2 Law Tchr. 1 (1994-1995)

handle is hein.journals/lawteaer2 and id is 1 raw text is: THE LAW GONZAGA UNIVERSITY Institute for Law School Teaching Fall 1994 Teaching law, learning French By Susan B. Apel 've been teaching law for twelve years. In struggling to language, and want an answer. While I had never seen keep myself and my students interested, I have read, myself as being stingy with positive reinforcement, I gained eflected, and experimented, diagnosed, and evaluated. a heightened awareness of how powerful a simple nod of the I've talked with students, practitioners, other professors, head can be. Moreover, I experienced that awful, difficult- and, on occasion, myself. All of these activities have been to-admit-to comparison of myself to others, who, it seemed useful. Quite fortuitously, however, the best thing I've done to me, probably dreamed in French and had the conditional was to audit a course in introductory French. and imperfect tenses for breakfast. For the teacher like myself whose own law school A couple of things saved me. One was that nothing memories have begun to dim, who (finally) has gotten to the important rode on the quality of my performance. I was, point where she feels she has mastered her subject matter thank God, already happily employed. I was there in the and technique, and for whom the classroom has become a most voluntary of senses, purely for the fun of it. comfortable place that holds no terror, I recommend a But I wondered: What if I had been, like most of my temporary exchange of roles. French.andimpeeclassmates, 18 or even 21 years Put aside the persona of the old? What ifme felt as ifmy fate confident professor, with years Put aside the persona of the confident were inextricably bound to of teaching and practice professor and become, for three hours a achieving in a course in which experience, and become, for mee a stvlnta oy answers were more often three hours a week, the student, wek, the s tef wrong than right? And not the dean's list student, either. Study something that has always interested you, but at which you don't excel. For me, speaking French was a long-time dream. When I began to study it, I realized that a thick tongue and a tin ear were not exactly assets. Traveling between my professor and student roles gave me a much greater insight into the feelings and behavior of my students. I thought I understood, even sympathized, with students who sit in the back row, avoid eye contact, want to say the answer but aren't sure they understand the question. In my French student role, I, the formerly A student from kindergarten on, found myself dismayed when the chairs in the room were arranged in a semi-circle so as to eliminate the back row. I rehearsed my answers in my head before I raised my hand and, when I didn't know the answer, was relieved when the professor's eyes looked to the other side of the room. Most of all, despite the fact that I have come to think of myself as an adult person who does not require approval to sustain her well-being, I was ecstatic when the professor smiled, nodded, or, wonder of wonders, said Good! after I uttered C'est moi. Back in my own classroom, my sympathy turned into empathy. Feeling ridiculously like Bill Clinton, I wanted to say I feel your pain to the students who tried hard to look elsewhere when I asked a question. I, too, knew what it was like to be called on, have someone speak in a foreign For those who would like to skip the pain and, upon reading this, might say to themselves that they can imagine all of these feelings without signing on for the rigors of becoming an actual student, I say I once thought so, too. Imagining the feelings and experiencing them are two entirely different things, however. Drawing from my insights from clinical teaching, it's the difference between imagining how a lawyer might feel conducting her first deposition and actually doing it. My advice is that you don't cheat yourself out of the authentic experience. Susan B. Apel is a professor of law and assistant director of the General Practice Program at Vermont Law School. For more information, contact her at Vermont Law School, RO. Box 96, Chelsea Street, South Royalton, VT 05068, (802) 763-8303, FAX (802) 763-7159. Inside Coping with research seminars . ......... 5 Cooperative learning ideas ............ 6 Working without a net ............... 10 A puzzle worth solving .............. 12 I. A.

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