Misdirection

I attended a 1L study skills workshop yesterday hosted by the Oregon State Bar. The workshop facilitator is an attorney; he is also a former law professor. For 5 hours, the facilitator pulled back the veil, letting us gaze into the devious abyss that is the mind of a law professor.

We discussed study techniques, memorization, tips for exam preparation, and the history and function of the Socratic method. We spent even more time laughing about eccentric law professor behavior. The facilitator told us why law professors call on you in class, why they answer your lame questions with another question, how they prepare final exams, why they really hate to read your exams, why they call on you in class when you're not prepared and don't let up, and why they think they're wise and all-knowing but don't really know how to teach. Law professors are all about misdirection; they love it, they love it, they really love it.

Top 5 Tips:

1. Preemptive volunteering: Volunteer before you get called on. Even if what you say is really stupid and adds nothing to the discussion, your professor may go easy on you the next time he or she calls on you because you participated.

2. 50/10: Study for 50 minutes and make sure to take a 10 minute break every hour. This allows your brain to refresh itself. During the 10 minute break, don't watch TV, check your e-mail, or play computer games. A 10 minute break will suddenly be an hour break.

3. Studying: Study one subject at a time, study during the day, and if you study at night, stop studying one hour before you go to bed. This helps you stay organized, awake, alert, and allows your brain to process information while you're still conscious. Do you really want to dream about Civ Pro?

4. Memorization: There are a variety of memorization techniques. For example, when you are trying to memorize information, create visual pictures in your mind for each piece of information. The more outrageous, violent, or sexual the picture is, the more likely you will be to remember it.

5. Grades: In law school, in the vast majority of your classes, your grade is based on one final exam at the end of the semester. Spend the semester preparing for the final exam, not for classes. If you bomb in class, so what. If you bomb on the exam, it matters. The exam is the key.

To memorize negligence, I'm going to create a visual picture of myself in a negligee. And now you are too. I'm so sorry. You're not going to forget negligence now, are you?

Power to the people.