Have you started outlining?

Every semester law students ask themselves: when should I start outlining?  Or rather: just how long can I put off outlining?  

Your average law student will tell you they started outlining in October or November and that they struggled to finish and comprehend their outlines before Final Exams.  This is because outlining should be an on-going process.  The moment an issue or cause of action is completed in class, you should be able to outline it.  This means THE TIME TO START OUTLINING IS NOW!  

1L example:

Torts: By now you should have completed your class time for battery.  You know the rule statement for battery and the elements of battery.  That means you should be able to start your outline.

Property: Property usually starts with Finder's Rights.  If you've completed this concept, you should be able to outline.

Civil Procedure: You should be wrapping up Subject Matter Jurisdiction and possibly Supplemental Jurisdiction.  That means you know the cases you need to know for the exam, the elements of both types of SMJ (Federal Question and Diversity), and can outline.

2L example:

ConLaw: By now you should have completed Judicial Review and possible Justiciability.  Outline those concepts!

CrimPro: While you haven't finished the 4th Amendment readings yet, you probably have completed what "reasonable expectation of privacy" means.  You can starting outlining this concept.

Evidence: By now your class should have completed Logical and Legal Relevance--this means you can outline both concepts!

Give outlining a try, and if you have questions come in to our office hours or email ASP with questions and your outline attached and we'll take a look at it for you!  Once you've got an issue outlined you can then start taking practice exams (more on this later).

Good luck!

Did you miss the workshop last week?

If so, feel free to come by the ASP suite during our office hours and one of the Graduate Fellows would be happy to review the workshop with you one on one.

Prof. Schandler, Fellow
kschandler@law.whittier.edu
MONDAY: 12:00pm-3:00pm
TUESDAY: 10:00am-12:00pm & 1:00pm-4:00pm & 4:00-6:00pm (in the library)
WEDNESDAY: 9:00am-12:00pm & 1:00pm-5:00pm
THURSDAY: 9:00am-10:30am & 1:00pm-5:00pm
FRIDAY: 12:00pm-1:30pm

Prof. Seigler, Fellow **(Prof. Siegler will be out of the office Wed 9/12- Thurs 9/20)**
hseigler@law.whittier.edu
MONDAY: 12:00pm-3:00pm
TUESDAY: 9:00am-12:00pm & 1:00pm-5:00pm
WEDNESDAY: 10:00am-12:00pm & 1:00pm-4:00pm & 4:00-6:00pm (in the library)
THURSDAY: 9:00am-10:30pm & 1:00pm-5:00pm
FRIDAY: 12:00pm-1:30pm

SAVE THE DATE:
Workshop #2: Preparing for Midterm Exams
Section A: Thurs 10/4, 12-1, Room 8
Section B: Wed 10/3, 2-3, Room 10
Section C: Tues 10/2, 12-1, Room 12

Updated Workshop Time for Section B - Workshop #1

 

Workshop #1: Law School Fundamentals: Efficiency and Effectiveness

SECTION A: Thursday, September 6th, 12:00pm-1:00pm in Room 8
SECTION B: Wednesday, September 5th, 2:00pm-3:00pm in Room 10
SECTION C: Tuesday, September 4th, 12:00pm-1:00pm in Room 12

Other Upcoming Workshops this Fall:
Workshop #2: Preparing for Midterm Examinations
Workshop #3: Preparing for Final Examinations

Email banderson@law.whittier.edu for more info!

*If you are unable to attend your section's workshop, you are welcome to attend one of the other section's workshops*

Save the Date - 1L Skills Workshop #1

The Skills Workshop Series is a series of voluntary workshops covering fundamental law school skills. The workshops are presented by section to first year students, and offer students direct information about fundamental skills such as IRAC, reading, briefing, outlining and effectively preparing for examinations. Workshops consist of PowerPoint presentations, interactive exercises and an opportunity for questions and answers.

Workshop #1: Law School Fundamentals: Efficiency and Effectiveness

SECTION A: Thursday, September 6th, 12:00pm-1:00pm in Room 8
SECTION B: Wednesday, September 5th, 1:30pm-2:30pm in Room 10
SECTION C: Tuesday, September 4th, 12:00pm-1:00pm in Room 12

Other Upcoming Workshops this Fall:
Workshop #2: Preparing for Midterm Examinations
Workshop #3: Preparing for Final Examinations

Email banderson@law.whittier.edu for more info!

Welcome to Whittier Law School!

We would like to extend a big welcome to all the new 1Ls and a welcome back to the 2Ls and 3Ls. This semester ASP can be your resource to work smarter not harder! Feel free to come in with any questions regarding preparing for class, law school study skills or any other law school related question. We are located in Building 1 (by the fountains). Below are our office hours for Fall 2012.

Prof. Homer
jhomer@law.whittier.edu
TUESDAY: 9:00am-12:00pm
WEDNESDAY: 9:00am-12:00pm
THURSDAY: *Torts A-2 only 3:30pm-5:00pm*
FRIDAY: 12:00pm-1:30pm

Prof. Schandler, Fellow
kschandler@law.whittier.edu
MONDAY: 12:00pm-3:00pm
TUESDAY: 10:00am-12:00pm & 1:00pm-4:00pm & 4:00-6:00pm (in the library)
WEDNESDAY: 9:00am-12:00pm & 1:00pm-5:00pm
THURSDAY: 9:00am-10:30am & 1:00pm-5:00pm
FRIDAY: 12:00pm-1:30pm

Prof. Seigler, Fellow
hseigler@law.whittier.edu
MONDAY: 12:00pm-3:00pm
TUESDAY: 9:00am-12:00pm & 1:00pm-5:00pm
WEDNESDAY: 10:00am-12:00pm & 1:00pm-4:00pm & 4:00-6:00pm (in the library)
THURSDAY :9:00am-12:00pm & 1:00pm-5:00pm
FRIDAY: 12:00pm-1:30pm

Preparing for Finals

We're in the home stretch of this semester.  For One-Ls, almost all of your classes were year long.  This means there is added pressure to either improve or stay at the top of the class.  With this increasing pressure it is vital to go into exam-prep mode with an "attack plan."  You know your learning style and strengths best, but here are some tips to make a successful attack plan:

• Test Prep:
• Apply the "Study Cycle" to Exam Prep-just like during the normal parts of the year, you should be utilizing the law school study cycle.  The law school study cycle normally consists of: prep for class/take notes in class, review class notes, update outlines, take exams, adjust outline accordingly.  The exam version of this cycle will be slightly condensed after your reading assignments are complete:

1. Consult Notes/Update Outline-by now your outline should be mostly updated.  Close to exams you should be fine-tuning it by going through your class notes to add any insights your professor gave during class, or add examples or tips to help you write an exam.
2. Take Practice Exams and Assess-toward the beginning of exam prep it's okay to do practce exams with the outline in front of you.  By the week before exams you should stop using the outline to ensure you've retained the information.  Once you have completed a practice exam, review the model answer.  Take note of any rules you had wrong, any organizational structure you were off on, or where your analysis was off. 
3. Adjust Outline-based on your self assessment, go back and change your outline.  This is as simple as hand-writing the fix on the already printed page or editing it on the computer.
4. Go Back to Step 1-By the time you've done a few practice exams, your outline should be very comprehensive and your performance on the exams should improve!

• Print out your outline for Professor/TA Review Sessions-Having an updated, close to complete outline when walking into a review session will make you that much more calm.  That way you can actually listen to the review and make small edits or changes to your organization.  Another tip for review sessions is to highlight or mark places on your outlines where you have questions.  That way, when the reviewer gets to that topic you will be reminded to raise your hand to get the clarification you need.

• Test Day:
• Be Confident-Ideally, walking into an exam you should be relaxed and ready for whatever issues the professor throws at you.  In reality you will most likely be stressed out and nervous but since it's expected it shouldn't throw you.  Combat those nerves with the knowledge that you've studied hard, taken several practice exams, and are prepared.
• Outline before writing-several students will not listen to this advice and will immediately start writing.  Don't let this freak you out!  In your head you will believe that what they're writing is pure gold.  In reality the people writing are just as nervous as you are and are making the mistake of not organizing their thoughts before answering the question.  Take 25% of the time alotted to outline.  Put your issues in order, include the facts you plan to use, and make sure you aren't missing any issues before you begin typing!
• If you know you're running out of time outline the rest-odds are there will be an exam you don't finish.  Certain subjects have exams that are known as "race horse" exams.  You usually are not expected to finish writing a thorough analysis on 20-30 issues in an hour and a half.  However, you ARE expected to spot all of the issues.  This means that when you realize you won't finish, at the 5 minute call, outline the rest of the issues.  If you have time throw in the rule statements and a few facts so your professor knows that you spotted the issue and that you recognized the facts that triggered the issue.
• Avoid discussing the exam after the fact-for your own sanity please resist the urge to discuss the exam immediately after it's over.  This leads to unneeded stress.  What's done is done at that point. You can't change anything.  If you're the person that messed up then you'll feel terrible.  If you're the person telling everyone how great you did you'll come off smug.  Either role is not good, so just don't do it!

• After your last exam:
• Enjoy summer!-unless you plan on getting your LLM, the years you have in law school will be the last time you can enjoy "summer break."  CHERISH THIS TIME.  You never get to enjoy being young (or young at heart) with ample amounts of free time in the summer ever again. Decompress and enjoy!  Even if you're taking summer school or interning, your schedule will be much lighter than during the fall and spring semesters.

VARK

VARK is a questionnaire that provides students with a profile of their learning style and preferences. These preferences are about the ways a person wants to take-in and give-out information. A learning style influences how you understand and process information best. Here at ASP we recomend determing your learning style and tailoring your study habits to your learning preferces.

To determine your learning style fill out the questionnaire here:
http://www.vark-learn.com/english/page.asp?p=questionnaire

Based on your learning preferance, here are some law school tips from ASP!

Visual Learners:

Visual learners could also be described as Graphic learners. They prefer diagrams, charts, graphs, flowcharts, etc. Visual does not include videos or powerpoint.

• Create flowcharts
• Use highlighting, circling,
  boxing, and underlying as visual cues for briefs, notes and exams
• Place emphasis on determining what visual aid best works for you, i.e. thought bubbles, charts, graphs, etc and implement throughout study process

Auditory Learners:

Auditory Learners prefer information that is heard or spoken. They learn best from lectures, tutorials, and tapes, discussing the material and talking things through.

• Place emphasis on listening in class vs. writing down everything said during class
• Talk with classmates after class about what you learned
• Purchase/use review cds and tapes
• Participate in class discussion

Read/Write Learners:

Read/Write learners have a preference for information displayed as words. They prefer text-based input and output, reading and writing in all forms.

• Place emphasis on writing notes prior to class and during class
• Create checklists for subjects
• Learns well from powerpoints
• Focus on words and their meaning

Kinesthetic Learners:

The perceptual preference related to the use of experience and practice (real or simulated).

• Create and engage in hypotheticals
• Find the connection to reality
• Include lots of examples in notes and outlines
• Put yourself in the shoes of the student who the Professor is speaking to.
• Participate in class discussion, request more examples or practical application in-class

Information for this blog posting adapted in part from the VARK website.