If you are a law student, I wouldn't be surprised if your approach to assessment is dissimilar from mine: I have a tendency to get super-motivated and start an assignment the second I receive a topic. That motivation lasts about an hour, often less, as I realise the topic is boring/difficult/easy/stupid. At some point (often a week or so before it is due, although sometimes in the days before) I become super motivated yet again. This all ends up with me handing in an assignment that I am totally sick of and, a week later, would not be able to tell a person the topic.
We all know it isn't the best way to go about getting a lousy few marks down before our big exams, but we all do it anyway. We all wonder if it was the adrenaline, Red Bull, coffee or lollies that kept us going and vow to ourselves that it will not happen again as we drift off to sleep, still standing in front of the submission box. Other students behind us growing impatient, we promptly forget the promise we made to ourselves and carry on, destined to forever forget to start the next assignment early.
When I start an assignment, or even studying for that matter, early enough, I have a tendency to assume it is too early and 'no one could possibly be starting now'. WRONG! Someone else always will have started before you and law school is WAR. Well, not really, but you get the idea! Do you really want to be the last person to start? Even factoring the stress of starting an assignment with so little time remaining, neglecting to start in a timely fashion means you run the risk of losing valuable resources, if you are like me and like using library books.
So starting early is a given, right? But what do you do when you are in a situation like I am now, with 3 assignments and 1 exam in a short period of time? Someone told me in high school that when you get an exam timetable you should always plan to start studying for the last exam first. It sounds counter-intuitive, but it makes plenty of sense. I'm planning on taking this idea and using it for my assignments. While I won't completely finish the one due last now, I plan to have a great draft done in the next week or so which will enable me to spend the time I need to spend on my other pieces of assessment.
What is your take? Do you start super early or are you like me, a perpetual procrastinator?
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
Here we go again....
So the moment I have been dreading has finally come. Life got hectic!
After a super busy week of uni and trying to catch up on readings (a result of my decision to do my readings after classes... still fine tuning the system) I decided to take a look at the assigned topics for assessment. Did I mention I was so busy I didn't notice essay topics for one of my subjects were released for almost a week? On top of that I almost forgot about my external subject yet again. It seems my rather strict study schedule is not strict enough... or maybe too strict.
After a super busy week of uni and trying to catch up on readings (a result of my decision to do my readings after classes... still fine tuning the system) I decided to take a look at the assigned topics for assessment. Did I mention I was so busy I didn't notice essay topics for one of my subjects were released for almost a week? On top of that I almost forgot about my external subject yet again. It seems my rather strict study schedule is not strict enough... or maybe too strict.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
ALL I DO IS READ!
AHH law school! I seriously think all I ever do is read! Read this, read that!
I generally have a fairly strict rule about finishing the assigned readings before a class. I tend to feel that if I do not do the readings first I will not do them. Of course, this works negatively because if I haven't done the readings I have previously felt that the class would not be of any benefit. Obviously this isn't a good way to go! In my first year I varied between reading before and after and I felt that before worked better for me.
I've changed this policy this year, at least for my Medical law subject. While the lecturer may have a general plan as to where he will finish each lecture each week, the course is divided into seven general topics. It has taken two weeks thus far to complete the first topic and I almost gave myself a heart attack looking at the learning guide and seeing how much reading was expected for that first week. Needless to say I was unable to complete the hundreds of pages and was relieved to see that we only completed a third or so of the topic. I then decided it was probably more beneficial to do the readings after the class so I would know how far to go.
This week I extended the reading after lectures idea to all classes. It wasn't intentional as I had family commitments over the weekend that prevented me from doing all preparation over the weekend. I learnt that a real benefit of reading after you have been to class is that anything a lecturer emphasises is going to be something you pay more attention to. If you are reading prior to class you just have to assume everything is important. Sometimes a lecturer disagrees with the text they have assigned on important points and taking the text as gospel is useless. Of course, lecturers sometimes go the other way and don't emphasis parts of the textbook but expect you have paid attention to them in your readings when it comes to the final exam.
So what did I learn? I learnt that it is definitely the way to go for subject where how much content will be covered is not known, like my medical law subject. It is also a good way to go when the lecturer may have a different perspective to the text. Reading, or at least perusing the text, is better for more difficult subjects. For me, Trusts is more difficult and very heavy. It isn't helped that the class does not finish until 8pm and I have a busy day. When it gets to my trusts lecture, I'm exhausted, both physically and mentally so I struggle to actually absorb the information if it is 100% new. For this subject, I really have to be familiar with the content before I get to class.
What is your approach? Do you do your readings before or after class? Do you vary your approach based on the subject itself? I'm interested to see what others do!
I generally have a fairly strict rule about finishing the assigned readings before a class. I tend to feel that if I do not do the readings first I will not do them. Of course, this works negatively because if I haven't done the readings I have previously felt that the class would not be of any benefit. Obviously this isn't a good way to go! In my first year I varied between reading before and after and I felt that before worked better for me.
I've changed this policy this year, at least for my Medical law subject. While the lecturer may have a general plan as to where he will finish each lecture each week, the course is divided into seven general topics. It has taken two weeks thus far to complete the first topic and I almost gave myself a heart attack looking at the learning guide and seeing how much reading was expected for that first week. Needless to say I was unable to complete the hundreds of pages and was relieved to see that we only completed a third or so of the topic. I then decided it was probably more beneficial to do the readings after the class so I would know how far to go.
This week I extended the reading after lectures idea to all classes. It wasn't intentional as I had family commitments over the weekend that prevented me from doing all preparation over the weekend. I learnt that a real benefit of reading after you have been to class is that anything a lecturer emphasises is going to be something you pay more attention to. If you are reading prior to class you just have to assume everything is important. Sometimes a lecturer disagrees with the text they have assigned on important points and taking the text as gospel is useless. Of course, lecturers sometimes go the other way and don't emphasis parts of the textbook but expect you have paid attention to them in your readings when it comes to the final exam.
So what did I learn? I learnt that it is definitely the way to go for subject where how much content will be covered is not known, like my medical law subject. It is also a good way to go when the lecturer may have a different perspective to the text. Reading, or at least perusing the text, is better for more difficult subjects. For me, Trusts is more difficult and very heavy. It isn't helped that the class does not finish until 8pm and I have a busy day. When it gets to my trusts lecture, I'm exhausted, both physically and mentally so I struggle to actually absorb the information if it is 100% new. For this subject, I really have to be familiar with the content before I get to class.
What is your approach? Do you do your readings before or after class? Do you vary your approach based on the subject itself? I'm interested to see what others do!
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Law on the Small Screen!
I love pop culture. If I had my way, I'd spend a ridiculous amount of time watching TV shows and movies. In one of my first law courses we actually spent a week studying the perception of law in pop culture. In class we watched Legally Blonde and we were required to watch a movie or TV show with a legal perspective for the tutorial. I jumped straight into the homework, watching the Legally Blonde sequel and numerous movies.
For tort law we also had a great deal of pop-culture injected. We, on occasion, watched excerpts from movies such as Scream and Home Alone and were required to list the torts that were on the screen.
Perhaps it was this lecturer-approved exposure early on in my degree that made me truly appreciate a good legal drama or sitcom in conjunction with my studies. Perhaps it was my long-lived love of pop culture and the characteristic was bound to emerge anyway. Whatever it was, I love a good legal tv show. I love the movies too, but I love that I can have a poor attention-span and still have an idea of what happened in a TV show!
So here goes, my favourite legal-themed tv shows, in no particular order:
For tort law we also had a great deal of pop-culture injected. We, on occasion, watched excerpts from movies such as Scream and Home Alone and were required to list the torts that were on the screen.
Perhaps it was this lecturer-approved exposure early on in my degree that made me truly appreciate a good legal drama or sitcom in conjunction with my studies. Perhaps it was my long-lived love of pop culture and the characteristic was bound to emerge anyway. Whatever it was, I love a good legal tv show. I love the movies too, but I love that I can have a poor attention-span and still have an idea of what happened in a TV show!
So here goes, my favourite legal-themed tv shows, in no particular order:
Thursday, March 8, 2012
Buried Alive
Oh readers, I am so sorry for my absence of late. I have been buried in work already. It also doesn't help that I haven't been using my laptop much, sticking to my iPad for much needed Internet time. Nw that I am responsible for my Internet, plus the difficulty in findin reception for my wireless Internet... It is hardly worth the effort.
So far I am enjoying the content of my subjects. There are, of course, boring aspects, particularly in my Trusts subject. At least I am not alone in my boredom as I am quite aware that most other students are suffering. In fact, the class size was much smaller in the second lecture this week, although this may have been due to the rain.I am loving medical law and my study group appears to be quite promising!
On top of my studies, I was offered a research position in a program that partners my law school with a community legal centre and am tasked with putting together a report. It is very exciting and a fantastic opportunity. I am very much looking forward to getting right into the meat of the topic.
I am also getting into competitions this year. I have already organised a team for mooting and possibly a partner for negotiation, which I have been rather excited about. It will be a great deal of work, particularly as I already am feeling the pressure, but I am looking forward to a great semester.
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