Prof. Sarah J. Schendel
Each fall I teach Legal Analysis and Methods (“Methods”), a required class for students who have been placed on academic probation or warning.1 When planning the class, I try to pause and reflect about what the last few months have been like for these students. They came to a new school, entered a new learning environment, worked hard for months, paid a lot of money, sacrificed time with friends and family, and at the end of the year were told (in the form of low grades) that they needed to do better, to do more, to do something differently. That’s tough!
Now the summer has passed and they are back—what might that return feel like? Are they wondering whether they deserve to be here? Wondering who knows that they are on probation? Trying to avoid telling their friends about this innocuously-named two-credit class they go to on Mondays? Even assuming some of the students have some of these experiences—it’s a lot.
What can I, as their professor, do on the first day of class to address these concerns and try to turn the tide of class sentiment away from annoyance or frustration and towards engagement? Oh, and how to do this in the Fall of 2020…with all the political, technological, and logistical challenges that implies? Here, in nitty-gritty detail, is what I tried to do on Day 1. I hope this might help other professors attempting a similar balancing act.
I quickly realized that setting the stage for Day 1 actually begins in the weeks leading up to the start of the year.
Day 0 Hits
My first communication to students was an email, about two weeks before class, with three important pieces of information: the syllabus, a notice that there was no textbook to purchase, and a heads up that there was an assignment due the first day. I wanted to accomplish a few things with this email. First, I wanted to strike a certain tone in the syllabus, beyond simply listing the requirements of the class: I laid out the goals for the class as ones we would accomplish together.2 I also acknowledged all that students had going on right now in terms of public health concerns, social justice issues and protests, and the challenges of online learning. I was pleased when a colleague who reviewed my syllabus said it conveyed “positivity.” I hoped the tone, the content, and the fact I took the initiative to send it before the start of the semester reduced student anxiety.3
Next, information about the textbook. I knew from discussions with past students that anxiety about getting a casebook in time for the first class was exacerbated by monetary concerns (waiting for loan checks, for example) and that not having the option to look at books on reserve at the library this semester was only causing more anxiety. For this class, I chose not to assign a book, alleviating both these concerns.4
Finally, I gave them a heads up that there was an assignment for the first day of class: they were instructed to post to the class Blackboard discussion board and watch a short nine-minute video about statutory analysis.5 On the discussion board I asked what name they go by, what other classes they are taking, and one thing they would tell themselves if they could go back to the first day of law school. I enjoyed this. Their words of wisdom to their 1L selves were very telling, and the info about what other classes they were taking was useful in a few ways. First, I was able to let them know that the majority of them were taking either or both of two classes (Business Entities Fundamentals, and Professional Responsibility), which I hoped might help them form study groups and bond. Also, in response to this information, I uploaded some practice questions and resources I had about classes they were taking, conveying my investment in their success beyond my class.
I assigned the discussion board and video prior to Day 1 both because I wanted to make Day 1 of class productive and because I hoped to convey to them that I would not be wasting their time in the first class. I also wanted to try something I had never done before, which was moving the lecture to a pre-recorded video so that we could focus on more of a “flipped classroom,” doing exercises and discussion during our time together as opposed to lecture.6
Day 0 Misses
Like most professors I know, as soon as I sent the syllabus I noticed typos and changes I wished I had made. First and foremost, I immediately regretted falling short of saying explicitly that Black Lives Matter.7 Next, the discussion board: I didn’t require students to respond to each other’s posts, and I wish that I had—I’m not sure if they took the time to read them without an explicit assignment to respond.8 That defeated the purpose of the discussion board–without engagement or communication, it was essentially just an email to me.
With all that careful preparation, Day 1 of class must have been a success, right? Not quite…
Due to a combination of hating ice breakers as a participant (nothing makes me feel less interesting than trying to come up with an interesting fact about myself), and a struggle with wanting to be taken seriously as a non-tenured, relatively-young, non-podium teaching female professor, I’ve never used ice breakers. I worried they would be interpreted as silly and a waste of time. I have now learned that was a mistake. In fact, as Julia Roberts said in Pretty Woman: “Big mistake. Huge.”
Other professors have noted9 that even for those who switched to teaching online in the spring, building community in online fall classes is different: whereas in the Spring we had already built a classroom community, and students and teachers alike were sharing this sudden switch, this fall there is likely no (or little) pre-existing relationship, and we are “starting from scratch.” On Day 1 of Methods, I jumped right into the lesson—no ice breaker, no intros, no syllabus review. I intended this to convey to students that I valued their time and wanted to use it wisely but instead there was a real lack of connection and participation. The Zoom “room” felt cold.
Similarly, I kicked off the class with a very lax camera policy—I said I would like them to be on, but that students weren’t required to do so and didn’t need to provide me with a reason for having them off. I did this because of the myriad concerns raised about issues of equity with regard to forcing students on camera, and because I don’t love the tone of pushing students to participate in a way that they aren’t comfortable with. However, this resulted in a difficult mix. About a third of the class was on camera (and of that third, two students were silent with headphones and masks on, since they were working in the school building). The rest of the class had their cameras off, and a few of them had tech issues and so were on their phones, an additional challenge. This added to the difficulty of connecting. While I agree with my camera policy because I think considerations of equity should come before all else, I think that building community earlier on and making a polite preference for cameras known would’ve helped.
So, with no ice breakers and only a smattering of faces and voices, I hopped right into the lesson. I acknowledged the video they had watched on statutory analysis, and I put up the Massachusetts Statute defining employees. I shared the statute as an image and marked it up (via my iPad and stylus) as I asked them (using what they had learned from the video) to note the red flag words, any tests (factor or element) they saw, questions they had about the meaning of any words, and how they might turn this statute into a test.10
Next, we listened to a short podcast, the NPR Planet Money Indicator episode “Weird (Amazon) Flex But OK” about how Amazon Flex works, following one worker (classified as an independent contractor) throughout her day. I was hoping that by hearing the voice of the worker and having a audio narrative media portion of the class, it would break up the monotony of the screen, hold student interest, and potentially connect with them emotionally.11
While listening to the podcast, I kept the statute up on the screen so that students could keep the rule in mind and keep their eye out for any relevant language. However, after class, one of my colleagues12, who is fantastic about thinking through issues of accommodations, pointed out that for those with processing challenges, it might be difficult to only focus on audio for nine minutes. In the future, one option might be to play the podcast and arrange to have close captioning for the audio on the screen or send a transcript of the podcast to students before or after listening.13
After listening to the podcast, I attempted to talk students through applying the facts of the podcast to the statutory rule. While some students had interesting observations, and one anticipated my next step by bringing up the ongoing Lyft/Uber lawsuit in California, for the most part discussion lagged.14 I asked them about policy implications of the classification of Amazon, Uber, Lyft, and other workers as independent contractors versus employees, which got some discussion going. Most, if not all, students had experience either working for one of these companies or being a customer of the services, as I had hoped.15 However, overall, the class was not the success I had envisioned during my careful planning. Most students did not speak, and I didn’t feel positively about their impressions of or investment in the class. I signed off worried about the class.
So, put bluntly: Day 1 was a bust! (And Day 2 was not much better.) Students groaned to me about no one talking in class and how awkward it was. I couldn’t disagree. However, as someone focused on self-assessment as both a scholarly pursuit and a personal interest, I was anxious to figure out why—and as a result, learned a lot about online learning and my own style as a teacher. In brief: sometimes all the preparation, studying, and reading about best practices still is not a recipe for success. But, for those of you who are also off to a rough start, I’m here to provide hope!
How I’m turning the class around could be a whole other article, but here are three quick notes for anyone in the same boat. First, following two underwhelming classes, I met with all students individually. I traditionally do this in Week Three or Four, which has worked fine, but for an all-online class I wish I had done it in Week One. This reflects one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned: building trust and connection is even more important in online classes and should be made a greater (and earlier) priority than in face to face teaching. It was easier to learn more about each student and build a connection after meeting them individually, where they could discuss their 1L struggles frankly. It also gave me an opportunity to be transparent: I told them I wasn’t thrilled with how the class was going, that I would love to hear what was working or not working in their other online classes, and that I was always open to suggestions.16
When we met again as a class after these individual meetings, I started with an ice breaker,17 and then I got honest: I told them all how much I enjoyed meeting with them individually and what interesting and dynamic people they all were. I also told them that I thought we18 had the same goals for the semester: to make the best of a tough semester, for me to give out as many A’s as possible, and to not suffer through awkward Zooms. That got a lot of smiles and nods. We then got a little “meta” by doing a class exercise focused on student behavior on Zoom (cleaning a gun, appearing to smoke marijuana) and assessing whether each behavior violated our schools Rules and Regulations, or brought up Character and Fitness concerns for the Bar. That class was our best yet, with more cameras on, more student engagement, and more authenticity on my part.
Finally, as a result of overwhelming enrollment in Professional Responsibility and general confusion about how that class connects to the MPRE and the requirements of the exam, I spent 15 minutes of one class giving them an introduction to the MPRE, discussing timing of when to take Professional Responsibility (for those not enrolled) and when to take the MPRE—this was very popular and appreciated. I think this information about the MPRE and Professional Responsibility was popular for a few reasons. It’s the sort of information students are told in the midst of big “info dumps” about required classes and curriculum that can get lost in the shuffle of overwhelming logistics. And also, I think and hope it was popular because it was (accurately) viewed by students as me listening to their needs and concerns and actively responding.19 This was a small way to both show my concern and to “give control” to students.20 I will continue to do so: in upcoming classes I will be discussing course registration and selection, meeting experiential education and legal writing requirements as well, with the same aims.
No matter what next fall looks like, it won’t look the same as this one, that much is sure. But there will always be more to learn about what helps make a class a success. I’m finding that my definition of success includes authenticity on my part; a willingness to get silly with ice breakers; balancing flexibility of student needs with maintaining clear requests for participation; use of different forms of media with an eye towards accessibility; and, most importantly, a sense of wellness to the class, by intent, design, and tone, encouraging students to take ownership of the class—through the hits and the misses.
Prof. Sarah J. Schendel: is an Assistant Professor at Suffolk University Law School. She was previously an instructor at Emerson College, Northeastern University, and Northeastern University School of Law. She was an immigration attorney for 7 years, representing immigrants facing deportation, seeking security and safety in the United States, and reuniting their families. She is a NUSL grad (Class of ‘09) where she was a Public Interest Law Scholar.
1 Based, primarily, on GPA. Suffolk Law Academic Rules & Regulations.
2 Specifically, I wrote: “This class is designed to help you meet a number of goals.Together, we will help you:
- Excel in your Fall 2020 classes
- Reflect on what kind of law student you are, and what kind of lawyer you want to be
- Understand more about the process of learning, and your strengths as a student”
After writing, I was pleased to see that the “we” language was consistent with recommendations like those by Prof. Jessamyn Neuhaus: “In every way possible, foster student buy-in on the idea that it’s not ‘my’ (the professor’s) class, but rather ‘our’ class, students and professors together.” Jessamyn Neuhaus, Geeky Pedagogy: A Guide for Intellectuals, Introverts, and Nerds Who Want to Be Effective Teachers, at 73.
3 Reducing student anxiety is not just a nice thing to do–it’s helpful for learning! “[A]nxiety of all kinds has an extremely detrimental effect on the willingness of our students to explore new ideas and to ask questions.” Joshua R. Eyler, How Humans Learn: The Science and Stories Behind Effective College Teaching at 39.
4 For my Spring class, which requires a casebook, I am including a note in the syllabus letting students know that one of the reasons I choose the assigned book is that it comes in paperback, is less expensive than other case books, is available either digitally and in hardcopy, and that they can get a 10% discount if purchased directly from the publisher. I also reached out to the publishers of all casebooks I was considering, asked them about potential discounts, and expressed that I chose not to use one of the books because of its high (almost $300) price. I’m hoping that conveying this information will have a similar impact of letting students know that I am mindful of the challenges (economic and logistic) they are facing. I plan to scan and upload the first week (if not the first two weeks) of class reading for the Spring to alleviate anxieties about getting the book in time. Talk to your law librarians about copyright issues and possibilities for uploading the first class assignment. Additionally, I follow, with much interest, the important discussion about Open Source Casebooks, and am grateful to those working to make law school materials more accessible. Finally, even if you assign an expensive book, explaining why may help create connection and trust with your students. Along the same lines of acknowledging economic constraints and stresses, I also included a Basic Needs Statement in my syllabus thanks to the inspiring work of Real College.
5 Drawn in part from A Lawyer Writes.
6 Additionally, my hope is that these videos can also be reused for future classes, in person or hybrid.
7 I wrote: “I want to acknowledge that this has been–and continues to be–an incredibly difficult year for many, either because of COVID, racist violence in our country, challenges around mental health, family, economic instability and job loss, or a myriad of other factors. I do not expect you to pretend like this is a ‘normal’ semester.”
8 However, I also admit that I have seen memes about how often professors are assigning “post a comment and respond to two comments” which makes me think students are pretty sick of this assignment!
9 See Caveman Teaching in the Time of Covid: “And teaching via Zoom last spring didn’t prepare me for the challenges I now face with new 1Ls. That’s because by the time we made the switch from face-to-face classroom teaching to going fully online, I’d already established a good foundation with my students. They were already “thinking like lawyers” by the time we made the switch in March, they knew my expectations by that point, and we’d developed the kind of rapport and shorthand methods of communicating that occurs when teacher and students hit their stride.”
10 One tech challenge was that as I scrolled through the statute the marks remained on the screen. Perhaps using the white board feature would make more sense next time. For a further discussion of challenges of screen whiteboard v. physical white board, see Caveman teaching in the time of Covid.
11 See Emotions in Online Teaching: A Powerful Tool for Helping Online Students Engage, Persist, and Succeed.
12 Thanks, Prof. Liz Stillman!
13 Research supports her suggestion: “Some students need additional processing time: don’t expect everyone to understand everything after being told once. Share the transcripts, chat logs, videos, and images for students to download and examine afterward. This will especially help students with dyslexia and other reading impediments.” Best Practices: Online Pedagogy, Harvard Initiative for Learning and Teaching.
14 One alternative would’ve been to have them start the discussion in break out rooms. In the second class, I broke the class of 18 students into two groups. I later found out the groups were largely silent–another failed attempt to create discussion and community! I later asked students about breakout groups that worked for them in other classes and did some research and determined that the ideal breakout room size is no larger than 5 students, ideally 3-4. This proved true in subsequent classes.
15 For professors interested in using or modifying this class activity with perhaps more success, one additional area to take the exercise would be into the realm of antitrust law. I was particularly interested by this podcast: The Discourse, Gigging The Economy. For those teaching skills classes, you could expand the lesson from statutory analysis into analogical reasoning using briefs from the recent Lyft/Uber lawsuits in AA.
16 “Practicing full transparency will yield benefits in motivation, heighten student perception of your supportiveness and honesty, decrease student anxiety, and alleviate psychological reactance.” Sarah Rose Cavanagh, The Spark of Learning, at 213 (transparency generally means that around course goals and assessment). See also the role of transparency in trauma Trauma-Informed Teaching: “Create a sense of trustworthiness and transparency. Be clear, transparent, and reliable in interacting with students. Creating and maintaining trust can help lessen stress and anxiety. Adopt and adhere to routines to create some level of predictability for students.” Beyond transparency generally, my hope is also that by being transparent about my own struggles as a teacher, I can help students take a different approach to their own challenges. See also the fantastic article by Prof. Cassie Christopher about normalizing struggle.
17 I eventually did icebreakers at the start of class and they were great, especially to fill that potentially awkward period of waiting for students to join in the Zoom class. The first question I posed was about choosing a walk on/campaign song, and the next was whether they think life exists on other planets.
18 Again, sharing ownership and control of the class with them, and emphasizing it as a group effort.
19 This is something I look forward to learning more about. While I don’t think that students can dictate the entire contents or focus of the class—as my research has often focused on, often times students don’t know what they don’t know!—I think that making it a joint project and responding to student needs can increase investment of the students, and the ability of professors to better understand students and meet them where they are.
20 See Sarah Rose Cavanagh, The Spark of Learning: Energizing the College Classroom with the Science of Emotion, at 150-151.