I failed! Now what? Part 4 - Making changes and sticking with them

This is Part 3 in my 4 Part series on what you should do if you fail in law school.


For those of you who missed the first part in this series I recommend you click the link and have a look.  Then you should check out the second part. Then, if you're not bored of me by then, check out the third part.

1. Identify the problem: Did you slack off and have no idea of the content? Did you have a medical issue going on through the semester? Did you try and learn in a way that just didn't suit you?
2. Work out your game plan: You can't just try to conquer the next semester the exact same way. You will need to make some changes. What are they going to be?
3. Make the changes (and be realistic about it): If you don't try to be realistic in your plan, passing will be anything but simple.

So my focus today is on actually making the changes (and trying to stick to them).

As I said in the third part, it can be easy to stick with a change when you don't have the pressure of 15 cases to read and 3 essays but the hard part is staying on track in the week where you have 4 pieces of assessment due in 3 days and haven't slept for 38 hours (not that you should ever do this! It is bad for your health). 


So how do you make sure you are sticking with these new and wonderful changes in your life? The thing that has worked best for me has been making sure I have some time each week where I sit down and go over everything that needs to be done. I read Getting Things Done last year and in a way my weekly time came from that. If I sit down every Sunday night and make a list of what I need to do, go over my calendar for the week and evaluate how I have been going, organisation-wise I can be sure that I am sticking to making a change in my life.


Another way to ensure you are sticking to any changes is to make yourself accountable. You can do this by asking a room-mate or family member to remind you to write down assignments or even just to ask you every now and then how your change is going. If you really want to make yourself accountable, why not start a blog? If you have a blog already, mention the changes you want to make to yourself. If you don't want to do that, just make a new one. Even if no one is reading it, you have still put your proposed changes out there for everyone, but mainly you, to see. 


Although it's probably a little immature, I've even considered starting a sticker chart for myself! 


If you find, after a few weeks, that you've done well at implementing your latest change why not pick another? Just remember to keep it realistic.


If you slip-up and start to revert to your old habits, don't worry! It's natural! You just have to get back on the horse of change and keep on going to the finish line. Don't wait until SWOTVAC/STUVAC/Study Week until you make huge changes because it's generally too late!  That first piece of assessment and first exam after failing will be tough, so you have to make sure you are super prepared! I'm talking starting the assignment the day you get it, not the day before it is due! 


So you failed a subject. It's not the end of the world and if you use the experience to make some positive changes to your study techniques and personal habits you will become a better person! Good luck in the coming semester!

Class selection

I thought I'd take a little break from my series on what you should do if you fail a subject to write about class selection, seeing as my university started Law Sign-on this morning (Mine is tonight).

In high school it was so easy. You'd make a list of all the subjects you wanted to do and the teachers would slave away and try to design a timetable that allowed most people to do all the subjects that they wanted to. The hardest choice you had was whether to do music or business!

I failed! Now what? Part 3

This is Part 3 in my 4 Part series on what you should do if you fail in law school.


For those of you who missed the first part in this series I recommend you click the link and have a look.  Then you should check out the second part.

1. Identify the problem: Did you slack off and have no idea of the content? Did you have a medical issue going on through the semester? Did you try and learn in a way that just didn't suit you?
2. Work out your game plan: You can't just try to conquer the next semester the exact same way. You will need to make some changes. What are they going to be?
3. Make the changes (and be realistic about it): If you don't try to be realistic in your plan, passing will be anything but simple.

So my focus today is on working out the game plan.

Okay so if you followed Part 2 you should have either a list or a basic idea of what you need/want to improve upon. Now in a perfect world you would be able to make all the changes at once and stick to them forever. In a perfect world you probably wouldn't have any changes to make either. So unless you're totally amazing (which you very well could be) you will probably have to choose one or two things to  to work on for now and come back to the rest another time. This may be next semester or even in a few weeks.


Okay so take out your list, or think about your list of things that you want to change. Pick one or two of them, depending on what they are. If you are wanting to work on time management, you're never going to succeed if you also plan to spend more time summarising your lecture notes on a weekly basis, to get involved in extra-curricular activities and to read every single word of assigned reading. 


If you're going to pick something like time management, you could take that on as a whole or break it up. Personally, time management is an ongoing area of trouble for me. I always have and always will have to work on it so rather than just trying to improve, I pick an area to work on. I've worked on developing study plans and sticking to them, worked on scheduling my work and so on. This means each semester I am improving in my time management without neglecting to work on other areas. IF I were to only try and improve my time management I would never get to work on anything else!


I think time management is likely to be high on many law students lists, in some form or another. Although classes don't start for weeks, have a go at making up a rough daily schedule. Take your diary or calendar and mark in dates your assessment is due, as well as any classes that have already been set. If you have your Course Profiles (or whatever it is that your school calls the outline for each course), go through and look at the assessment page. While you may not have your assessment topics yet, break down each piece of assessment. If you do this for each subject and, depending on how nerdy you are feeling, put them up on your wall you will have a good idea of where you are heading.


The idea is to know exactly how you want this next semester to go. I once read somewhere that basketball teams run certain plays over and over again until they can do them automatically without thinking. These aren't the plays they use all the time, but when push comes to shove and they are exhausted, they can do them automatically. You need to be as prepared as possible now so when your work starts to pile up you will automatically know what to do. 

Return for Part 4 where I will be talking about making (and sticking) with the changes.

I failed! Now What? Part 2

This is Part 2 in my 4 Part series on what you should do if you fail in law school.


For those of you who missed the first part in this series I recommend you click the link and have a look. To summarise, the best thing to do immediately is to talk to the examiner and have a look at your exam or the piece of assessment that led you astray. While this is useful, my focus is on what to do in the following semester. I broke this into a number of steps.

1. Identify the problem: Did you slack off and have no idea of the content? Did you have a medical issue going on through the semester? Did you try and learn in a way that just didn't suit you?
2. Work out your game plan: You can't just try to conquer the next semester the exact same way. You will need to make some changes. What are they going to be?
3. Make the changes (and be realistic about it): If you don't try to be realistic in your plan, passing will be anything but simple.

So my focus today is on identifying the problem.

If you failed a subject, like it or not, something went wrong. You may have procrastinated a little too much and spent much too long on Facebook. You may have completely missed the point of a major essay and was unable to recover later on. Maybe you just had a hell of a semester. The fact is, whether there were unavoidable factors (such as poor health or a messy breakup) or whether you spent too much time watching Buffy reruns, there is a good chance that you could have done better if you had been prepared or had different study techniques.

Personally, I've always thought that I can be very effective. I have, however, often been told that my study habits are hardly time efficient. Each semester I try to reflect on how I worked the semester before and how I can improve my study habits. I have done this all semesters, whether I have done poorly the semester before or not. Certain things (ahem time management ahem) crop up nearly every time I look over how I could improve. I also often find I could start working earlier and be more organised.

Nobody is perfect and I am sure that you all have an idea of what things you can work on improving. Whether you failed a subject or not, you need to sit down (or stand - it's really up to you) and reflect on your habits and work out a few areas you need to improve on. Be honest with yourself and you may be surprised.

Return for Part 3 where I will be talking about forming your semester game plan.

I failed! Now what? Part 1

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been wanting to write something about what happens if you fail a class (or two) in law school. It's an experience that I have had the displeasure of having (more than once) and one that I hope to never have again. It's a little disconcerting to check your grades and discover that you didn't really ace that contract law exam. Failing is horrible. You feel sick in the stomach and a feeling of dread every time you get results from there on in. Sometimes however, failing isn't all that bad. I've failed. I'm not proud of it, but it's a part of my academic history and I think it has helped me to become the law student that I am today.

When I failed my first subject (yes that is right folks, I've failed more than one), I told a few people, but I didn't really mention it to any of my law friends. I was dreadfully ashamed of it. The thing is, keeping it to yourself isn't necessarily the way to go. Don't get me wrong, I hardly go around uni wearing a t-shirt that says "I failed! How about you?" on it, but I no longer hide my past.

So what should you do? If you've talked to other people about it, they may have suggested contacting your lecturer and making a time to speak with them, particularly to review any assessment. I definitely recommend doing this, although I did not do this myself. I had the intention, at least with my first subject, but was embarrassed. If you, like me, are too ashamed to do this, at least try to look over the  answer guide if it is made available to you. It is not the same as looking at your actual exam script and seeing what you wrote although it is fairly good. You will usually be able to get a general idea of whether you were way off in your answer or if you were on the right track.

While it is most definitely the first step you should take, my focus of this series is more what to do after that, in the semesters that follow. The steps are:

1. Identify the problem: Did you slack off and have no idea of the content? Did you have a medical issue going on through the semester? Did you try and learn in a way that just didn't suit you?
2. Work out your game plan: You can't just try to conquer the next semester the exact same way. You will need to make some changes. What are they going to be?
3. Make the changes (and be realistic about it): If you don't try to be realistic in your plan, passing will be anything but simple.

I will cover each of these in the coming week in this four part series.

Check out the rest of the series:
Part 2 walks you through identifying what went wrong
Part 3 helps you to work out how you will move forward

How flash cards help me ace law exams

Image:limonada / Flickr.com

Flash cards... we've all used them at some point. Children use them all the time while learning basic mathematics and learning how to read. People use them extensively when learning vocabulary. So what about using flash cards to study law? I use flash cards extensively. I usually start making them in the first few weeks of a semester but struggle to continue making them until exams are close. Yet again it happened this semester, although I'm still ahead of last year!

Flash Cards? Why would I want flash cards?

Lots of people know what flash cards are and how to use them, but don't actually know how they work. According to Wikipedia, flash cards work by engaging active recall, which supposedly works better than passively reading notes. I'm not the only law student who uses flash card (here and here plus many more) and there is a good reason why: they work!

So what do I need?

Image: ObiterGirl/obitergirl.blogspot.com

You're going to need some index cards, preferably 3x5. In Australia you can buy a box of 500 for around $15 or a 100 card packet for less than $5. I prefer to use plain white, although you can get a number of different colours.  

You'll also need your notes and some pens. I like to use permanent markers, at least for the prompt side, but you have to be careful that the pen doesn't go through to the other side.

If you want to put your cards on a ring you will need a hole punch and some clip rings. If you want to colour-code them for each subject you could put coloured-circle stickers on them. I used to do that but don't anymore.

So how do I make these?

Take a flash card and write your prompt on the front. Flip the card upside down and write the answer on this side. On the bottom right hand corner of the card draw three squares in a pen not pencil. If you want to flip through them on a ring (or two) punch a hole in the card and attach the rings.

What goes on these cards?

If you usually summarise your readings and class notes, making flash cards is relatively simple. Some people recommend only making your cards once you have outlined. Ideally that does make it easier, especially in exam preparation. If I've already made a summary, I use that to guide my flash cards. If I define something in my summary, I make a flash card. For a legal rule, I try and put the entire rule on a card, but it can be difficult. 

If you haven't outlined your work or you are making your flash cards throughout the semester it can be more difficult. If you summarise your notes week-by-week (because we all intend to do it!) you can use that. I know that when I am making my cards week by week I end up with many more than I would if I was making them in the last few weeks before exams. 

For cases I write the name of the case on one side (usually just the parties and the year) and the facts on the other. I break a case card into a few sections. At the top of the card I write what it applies to, particularly if it is an authority case. The next section is Facts, which I try to keep minimal. I also put the Issue and what was Held. If there is anything else that is important to the case, I also put that in at the end. I don't recommend making a card for every case that you are given to read or is listed or you'll never finish making them. I just make a card for the authority cases and any cases that are starred in my teacher's notes. At my law school important cases (ie: the ones we should read) are starred and we are expected to know these in detail. If the teacher went into detail on a case I make sure that I make a card for that one as well. Ideally you want as little information as possible, so try and keep it simple; some facts, and the law. 

What about those little squares?

When I'm studying properly with them I try and review the cards 3 times a day. Every time I get a particular card correct I use a pencil to tick one of the boxes. The next day's first review is important. If I get a card with 3 ticks correct again it gets moved to the inactive pile. Inactive doesn't mean that I don't review it again but that I only review it once per day as opposed to 3 times each day. My ultimate aim is to have all cards in my inactive piles before the exam. 

Why 3 times a day? I got the idea from here a few years back. The main part of this technique is getting the answer correct after a night of sleep. If you get it wrong then you don't know it, no matter how many times you answered correctly the day before. Does it work? It works for me. Having the squares and the goal of moving it into the other pile is incentive. Yes, gaining the knowledge should be your incentive and goal but when you're frantically studying, gaining knowledge for your future career isn't exactly what is on your mind!

So what do I do with all these cards?

I don't write questions on my cards because, let's face it, it's not necessary. If you write a term or legal principle and definition on the cards you can usually use them back to front. I like to answer the cards out loud, mainly because it means that I can't cheat! You could get a friend or family member to help but in my experience it is easier to work through them myself. It does take quite a bit of time to work through all cards, particularly at the end of a semester and if you have made cards for each case. The time it takes in itself if incentive for getting the answers correct and moving them into the inactive pile.

What about all my subjects?

Flash cards are a great way of studying, but if you are taking a full load of classes, particularly law classes, getting through all flash cards can be a challenge, particularly if you keep the cards grouped separately. So should you mix them up? I say no, and I'm not alone. While there are topics that can interact, in law school it's a little unlikely as each subject has a distinct focus. Keeping the subjects separate also makes it easier if you want to focus solely on a single subject.

Electronic vs Paper?

I said I wasn't going to talk about Anki and such but I just couldn't help myself. If you have a look online there are plenty of people who are advocates of electronic flashcards through programs such as Anki and Quizlet. Anki is great because it spaces your cards out based on how well you know them. Spaced Repetition is a well-known method of learning and, in a way, is what my method of revision with my flashcards does. My main issue with Quizlet is that there is such a large bank of legal flash cards so there is a temptation to use these instead of creating your own cards. There are many problems in this, not only because creating your own cards helps to solidify the knowledge but also because jurisdictional differences could result in you learning the wrong information. Anki has the benefits of an iphone application and accessibility from anywhere in the world, although I do believe that paper-based cards have their own benefits. 

Making the cards may be more time-consuming on paper, but actually writing the cards out helps to learn the information as well. Paper cards are portable regardless of whether you have a smart phone. There is also the benefit of being away from a computer or device capable of promoting procrastination!

I must say that I do use Anki, but I wouldn't use it for studying my class notes for exams. I have used it for French vocabulary and I prefer it to my paper based cards for that.

The Verdict?

Ultimately, flash cards are a great study tool. They are, however, a study tool and are not a replacement for any other methods of studying. I don't use flash cards alone, I still summarise my notes, make mindmaps (depending on the subject) and do past exams and practice questions.