It’s that time of year, college campuses around the world are welcoming new and returning students. Anxiety is high for many, especially among the law school crowd.
Even the professors.
Michael Hunter Schwartz at Washburn University School of Law offers some advice for his fellow law profs in two posts on the Westlaw Insider blog. The posts are titled “Back to School – Part 1,” and “Easy Ways to Make a Difference With Your Students (Back to School – Part 2)”.
Like any profession, a law professor needs to be prepared and Hunter Schwartz says that’s a key:
Know your stuff and be organized. Students will forgive a lot if they perceive that you know your subject, have taken the time to provide structure to the class, are working as hard as they are, and care as much as they do.
He also suggests professors should always be mindful of the importance of setting high expectations for their law students:
Relentlessly communicate high expectations, both in terms of what you ask of them and in terms of your belief that your students can meet your expectations. The research in this area is rock solid; students live up or down to our expectations of them.
Again, you can read the full posts from Michael Hunter Schwartz on the Westlaw Insider blog. They are titled “Back to School – Part 1,” and “Easy Ways to Make a Difference With Your Students (Back to School – Part 2)”.
Michael Hunter Schwartz is Associate Dean for Faculty and Academic Development at Washburn University School of Law. He also is co-director at the Institute for Law Teaching and Learning (http://lawteaching.org) which offers law review articles, books, videotapes, and both a teaching article of the month and a teaching idea of the month.
Posted by Kevin Hunt in:
Education | In Practice |
