Teaching Support

Writing Assistance for Students

Writing is one of a lawyer’s most important tools. The Law School’s Writing Studio gives students the opportunity to work one-on-one or in small groups with a writing specialist to develop, practice, and improve writing skills and strategies for use in classes and beyond. Marcia Silver, our writing consultant, can assist with basic writing issues including organization, paragraph structure, thesis statements, development of arguments, grammar, and punctuation. Ms. Silver is available to meet with law students by appointment. Beginning Fall 2008, she will also have regular office hours at the law school for consultations.

Lewis & Clark College
The Writing Studio
0615 SW Palatine Hill Road
MSC 100
Portland, Oregon 97219
phone: 503-768-6166
email: wstudio@lclark.edu

Teaching Institutes

Find a wealth of teaching resources through the Gonzaga Teaching Institute sponsored by Gonzaga University School of Law or the Humanizing Law School network developed through the Florida State Unversity College of Law.

Teaching Resources Bibliography

There are a number of materials available to assist in strengthening your classroom skills. You will find a list of recommended titles below. Many of these texts are available in the Faculty Lounge or in the Legal Writing Conference Room in Wood Hall.

Robert H. Abrams, Sing Muse: Legal Scholarship for New Law Teachers, 37 J. LEGAL EDUC. 1 (1987) [with comments by Mary Kay Kane and Aviam Soifer on pp. 14-25]

Donald Bligh, What's the Use of Lectures, Jossey Bass Higher and Adult Education Series (2000)

James R. Davis, Better Teaching, More Learning: Strategies for Success in Postsecondary Settings, American Council on Education/Oryx Press Series on Higher Education (1997)

Gerald Hess and Steven Friedland, Techniques for Teaching Law, Carolina Academic Press (1999)

Philip C. Kissam, Seminar Papers, 40 J. LEGAL EDUC 339 (1990)

Lawrence S. Krieger, What We're Not Telling Law Students - And Lawyers - That They Really Need to Know: Some Thoughts-in-Action Towards Revitalizing the Profession From Its Roots, 13 J.L.H. 1 (1998)

Ronald B. Lansing The Agonies of Exam Grading, 23 RUTGERS L.J. 107 (1991)

Diania Laurillard, Rethinking University Teaching: A Framework for the Effective Use of Learning Technologies, RoutledgeFalmer, London (2000)

Lucy S. McGough, Staying Alive, 10 NOVA L.J. 671 (1986)

Wilbert McKeachie and Barbara K. Hofer, Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research and Theory for College and University Teachers, Houghton Mifflin Company, College Teaching Series (2006)

Jack Mezirow, Learning as Transformation: Critical Perspectives on a Theory in Progress, Jossey Bass Higher and Adult Education Series (2000)

Douglas K. Newell, Ten Survival Suggestions for Rookie Law Teachers, 33 J. LEGAL EDUC. 693 (1983)

Symposium, Seven Principles for Good Practice in Legal Education, 49 J. LEGAL EDUC. 367-466 (1999)

Kent D. Syverud, Taking Students Seriously: A Guide for New Law Teachers, 43 J. LEGAL EDUC. 247 (1993)

Jane Tompkins, A Life in School: What the Teacher Learned, Perseus Books (1996).

Eugene Volokh, Academic Legal Writing, Foundation Press, 2nd Edition (2005).

Douglas J. Whaley, Teaching Law: Advice for the New Professor, 43 OHIO ST. L.J. 125 (1982)

Electronic Teaching Aids

Read this quick reference on how to use TWEN in the classroom. For more in-depth information, access this link to the Boley Law Library TWEN Guidelines.

Access the home page for CALI (Computer Assisted Legal Instruction).

Take a look at the technology available in our classrooms and access instructions for using the Lewis & Clark Law School classroom technology.

Links to Outside List Serves

Interested in sharing your experiences and receiving others' wisdom? Join one of the many designated listserves provided by Chicago-Kent Law School.

Helping Students Write and Publish

Many of our faculty prepare writing guidelines for student papers. Click on the listed faculty name to view a copy of their student writing guidelines (pdf). Blumm, Mandiberg, J.Miller, Neuman, Steverson, Wold. You may also suggest that your students watch the video on "How to Write a Good Law School Paper" that Dan Rohlf and Jan Neuman made a few years ago. The video is on reserve in the library.

Publishing isn't just for faculty! When you are supervising good student papers in a class, independent research project, or for law review, encourage your students to send the papers out to law reviews or another appopriate forum. You can help students publish in several ways: (1) by giving plenty of detailed, substantive feedback on both content and style; (2) by offering to write a cover letter urging publication to go with the paper (or by having the student draft a letter for you to sign); (3) by working with the student to expand a paper to become a co-authored piece after the paper has been graded for class purposes; or (4) by recognizing significant contributions by research fellows or research assistants with co-author status.

Privacy/FERPA

Confidentiality regarding students’ records is explicitly spelled out in the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act of 1974, commonly known as FERPA, or the Buckley Amendment. FERPA protects student educational records including grades, official transcripts of academic work, and files in the Academic Dean and Registrar’s Offices. The Law School’s policies relating to confidentiality are contained in the student handbook “What’s What."

New Course Proposal Form

Each year we offer select courses taught by legal professionals as adjuncts. Proposed classes are brought to the Curriculum Committee for review. A pdf version of the materials requested when proposing a new course is available here.

Curriculum Committee Schedule

The yearly calendar for Curriculum Committee business is now available. For your further reference, so is the current Three-Year Plan.