Procrastination!

Ahh, procrastination. A part of every student's life. Today has been partially productive although I spent more time than necessary driving around singing along to my favourite songs. I also spent an hour on the treadmill at the gym. I haven't been to the gym for months, but today seemed like the perfect time to start going to the gym again.

So that got me thinking about my procrastination habits. Yes, I have the usual bad habits, procrastinating by watching movies and facebooking, but I also procrastinate by doing actual productive things. Just recently, for example, I have renewed my passport,rearranged my desk and done countless loads of washing.

These things have always seemed the lesser of two evils. I suspect that I shall be spending many hours at the gym over the next few weeks.

Does anyone else productively procrastinate?

SWOTVAC or Death Week?

Today marks the beginning of SWOTVAC. Well, technically tomorrow morning, Saturday, is when SWOTVAC officially begins. In true law school fashion I have no classes on Friday (I've only ever had one class scheduled on a Friday in my 6 semesters), not that there have been many classes taking place this week!

For some reason I decided to look up SWOTVAC, finding that it is often known as Dead Week in the US! I think this aptly describes the week of torture!

After having inadvertently fallen asleep after I set my alarm for 5:30am, I slept in. I did a few jobs ini the city and began to print out the reams of paper that I plan to place under my pillow each night! After queuing up all lecture slides, legislation proofs and learning guide pages for two of my three law subjects. This proved rather difficult, just because of the great amount of documents I needed to print.

Of course, my amazing laser printer ran out of toner after a few pages. I quickly placed an order at a computer store and waited for my confirmation so I could go pick it up. After an hour, the time it usually takes to have an order confirmed, I got an email saying that the toner was out of stock. Disappointed, mainly because the price for my usually expensive toner is quite reasonable at that store. I grabbed my car keys and headed out to Officeworks where, despite the price being at least $40 more, I knew I could always find what I needed.

After two and a half hours of driving around, traffic, and odd jobs, I finally returned. My printer does this funky thing where it chucks a hissy fit and prints gibberish on the pages, usually when it stops printing, like when I run out of ink or paper. In the process all of the documents I had queued up were cancelled and I had to start afresh. Right now I'm at the point where I believe I got most of it but can't be sure. In fact, just as I was standing up to grab the latest pile of print outs I noticed a pile of printed slides that hadn't fitted on my desk. As I leaned down to pick them up I couldn't help but notice that both piles were exactly the same. Of course. Story of my life!

With two open book exams my life, hopefully, won't be too bad over the next few weeks, although I'm still rather scared. The last open book exam I had was this time last year and I found myself bringing in much more than every other student. I made a point of taking textbooks (why I don't know because they never get used), all lecture slides, my own note summaries and my question and answer books.

As an English Literature student, my focus over the next few weeks can't be devoted solely to the ins and outs of the law. Instead of an exam for English, which I would usually be wanting, I have yet another essay. Of course, this essay is due right in the middle of all my exams. Yay! My plan, or should I say my idea, is to get my head down and work through the essay over the weekend, hopefully finishing it off by Monday. The likelihood is slim, but it is definitely worth a try. Through the course of the semester, thanks to my nasty sinus infection and recurring nosebleeds, I missed a few of my english tutorials which, unfortunately count for part of my mark. Thankfully my tutor has been kind enough to allow me to hand in some notes on the literary theorists that we studied in the classes I missed so I've got that to do too. Thankfully I have notes from some of the readings I did so I just have to put them in a more legible form.

So that brings me to now, 9pm and I am still printing out the things I started printing 8 hours ago. Even after my sleep in this morning, I just want to go to sleep and wake up bright and early before heading up to the libraries at uni. I will most definitely have to be up there rather early if I want to sit somewhere other than the floor, just like I have before. Somehow I doubt that, even if I am there at the ridiculous weekend hour of 8am I will struggle to get a good desk with close proximity to an electrical outlet.

The weather has been rather good lately, perhaps I will spend time with Butler, Kolodny and Gilbert & Gubar in the beautiful sun!

To other law students facing the wrath of exams in the next few weeks, good luck!

Dear English Literature...

I was joking about breaking up with English literature last night on Facebook last night and, after seeing a post on survive law (link to come when I get to a computer) I decided I would break up properly.

Dear English Literature,
My oh my, you really are needy. I've enjoyed spending time with you and you obviously have enjoyed your time with me, but it just isn't working. I've always loved the time we spend, although it just hasn't been the same lately.

You know I've been seeing other subjects? At least I have been trying to. The thing is that you are just so needy that it is near impossible for me to spend time with them.

That is the thing, I truly believe you are more serious than I am and I'm not so sure that it is working out.

I don't think we should end it permanently, just temporarily. Even so, I'm struggling to consider ceasing our relationship. I'll tell you what! How about I put my anthology under my pillow tonight and you can drift into my head via osmosis.

Lovingly yours,

Obiter Girl

COFFEE COFFEE COFFEE

So it turns out I love coffee. This isn't new. I've enjoyed coffee for at least the past 5 or so years and I am sure I would have liked it earlier, had I tried it. I've gone through stages of drinking as much as I could but have always stopped for various reasons, usually cost. I am now, however, officially addicted.

No matter what my coffee drinking habits are, I've always tried to cut down/cease entirely around exams. I read something somewhere that made me think that it was the right thing to do. I figured if I can make it through exams without coffee then I'm doing something right. Enter Red Bull.

It's taken me long enough but I have finally realised that coffee is both cheaper and tastier than Red Bull. So now I'm hyped up on caffeine and loving it! HELLO EXAMS!

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. 

The Best of Plans

I'm a planner. I make endless lists and write ridiculously precise time tables. And when I say ridiculously precise, they're absolutely precise. I have seriously written them down to the minute before!

Even the best attempts to stick to a plan can go awry. That happened to me this morning. The plan was to be asleep by 10pm and wake up with 5:30am. Yeah, that's going to happen! The sleeping worked until it came to waking up at 5:30am! WHY WOULD I WANT TO GET UP AT A RIDICULOUS TIME? To go to the gym? That is hardly incentive!

Needless to say, I slept in to as late as possible. Fortunately, it wasn't hardly a sleep in by my best standards. Thankfully!

It worries me more than a little as tomorrow I'm supposed to be going to a professional breakfast. THAT WAS SMART!

Studying Law Song

While it's not a Friday night right now, I'm sure every law student, or past law student can relate to this.