welcome to 8 skills for the effective legal studies student prepared by adjunct professor josette...
TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to 8 Skills for the Welcome to 8 Skills for the Effective Legal Studies Effective Legal Studies
StudentStudent
Prepared by Adjunct Professor Prepared by Adjunct Professor Josette ValtierraJosette Valtierra
Revised May 2011Revised May 2011
Agenda• Who am I? • Familiarization with seminar format• Review of Syllabus and other important stuff• Who answers my questions in this course?• And Now What?
Who am I?
Who am I?Who am I?• My greeting• Texas transplant to Southern California• Harvard undergrad and Boalt Hall for Law school• Mom with two rowdy kids• Movie lover, Book Lover• Teacher
Who are you? And Who wants to Know?Who are you? And Who wants to Know?
• I want to know • Your classmates want to know • Your Discussion Board Instructors want to know• Post full introductions to the DB• Get to know each other• You are on a journey together, it helps to know you the
other travelers are!
So what is the purpose of this course?
• The purpose of this course is to lay the groundwork for the skills that you will need to do well at your courses at Kaplan
• And get a good working overview of some skills that you’ll need as a paralegal.
What is my goal for this course?
To help you maximize your learning
That’s code for…….
Help you earn an “A” in this Help you earn an “A” in this course course
and and All your other courses at All your other courses at
KaplanKaplan
The Sky’s the limit!The Sky’s the limit!
A word from Darla A word from Darla
• ““If I could impart one piece of advice If I could impart one piece of advice it would be ‘Believe in yourself and it would be ‘Believe in yourself and believe in your goal.’ Never give up believe in your goal.’ Never give up and never let other people tell you and never let other people tell you what you cannot achieve”what you cannot achieve”– Darla Roesller, Cornerstone, page 44Darla Roesller, Cornerstone, page 44
Important H-R Tip• The purpose of this course is to teach
you some concrete tools to succeed at KU and any academic institution. Here is an important thing to remember as you go through your courses! Every professor, every instructor that you deal with is UNIQUE! We are not all the same.
•
• Some of us giggle and some of us do not
• Some of us are somber and some of us are light hearted
• Some of us care deeply about the placement of a comma and some of us do not
• We are from all over the country. We hold all sorts of different beliefs
• We are unique. • You need to know this to know how
to deal with us and you need to know it because it will come up on the MIDTERM EXAM.
• You see some of us give away the farm on a regular basis and some of us do not!
What’s this Lecture 1 Lecture 2 What’s this Lecture 1 Lecture 2 Thing? Thing?
What are Lectures 1 & 2What are Lectures 1 & 2
• You have a lecture/seminar You have a lecture/seminar Monday Monday and one on and one on WednesdayWednesday. .
• Lecture 1 is Lecture 1 is WednesdayWednesday ( 10 points) ( 10 points)
• Lecture 2 is Lecture 2 is MondayMonday ( 10 ( 10 points) points)
• You must attend You must attend BOTHBOTH LecturesLectures
What about the Times? What about the Times?
• Lectures are either at Lectures are either at 12 12 Noon ET Noon ET or or 1100 PM ET PM ET on on both days. both days.
• Both times are Both times are LIVE!LIVE!
• Choose the most Choose the most convenient lecture time for convenient lecture time for you and attend! you and attend!
• It is your choice! It is your choice!
What’s this Lecture 1 & 2 Thing? Lecture 1 ContentGeneral Agenda
• Supplemental material to the Unit topic
• Some Unit material relevant to midterms, test, quiz, and final exam
• Valuable information to help you succeed academically
Lecture 2 Content General Agenda
• Recap of high points of Lecture 1
• Issues arising over the week• Unit topic• Unit material relevant to
midterms, test, quiz, and final exam
Seminar Schedule!
What if I miss a Lecture?• Do the Alternative Assignment so that you don’t
lose your points. • How to do that?
– 1. Go to the Archives and Review the Seminar– 2. “In order to earn the lecture points, you must complete an alternative
assignment and submit it as a Word document attached to an email. Send the email to your professor within one week of the lecture. The professor has the right to reject late alternative assignments. The alternative assignment must provide at least a clear synopsis of the material covered at the lecture along with your analysis of that material. It should be no less than two pages and no longer than three pages and must be submitted within 7 days of the missed lecture.” – the Syllabus!
Okay let’s break it down! • 1. Review the missed seminar in the seminar archive.
– How to do that? The same way you came to class. The recorded seminar will be available the next day. See Seminar Guide in Docshare for specific details, or my little movie in the course announcements.
• 2. Draft a 2-3 page summary of the seminar• 3. Send it via email to your DB instructor as an ATTACHMENT
by TUESDAY Midnight ET. Your instructors DO NOT accept late Alternative Assignments.
• DO NOT SEND IT TO ME! I DO NOT GRADE THEM!
DUE DATE OF ALTERNATIVE ASSIGNMENTS!
Your alternative assignment for a missed seminar is due WITHIN one week of the Unit week. Essentially, that means that
they are due the last day of the academic week of the missed seminar.
Tuesday, Midnight Eastern Time
Review the SyllabusDude, do I
have to like read like
whole thing?
Yes, you do! Every little word, and be sure and click on the links, too!
And where’s my apple?
You are responsible for knowing everything in the syllabus and even
things that are referred to in the syllabus
NOBODY ELSE BUT YOU!!!!HINT!!!!
Course Calendar
• This tells you what each unit will cover– Which items are graded and not and what you
need to read– Essentially the Do and Due is another version of
this– The To do list on the home page of each Unit
highlights what to do as well! – Use it all to plan your Kaplan academic week
Grading
• Just because there isn’t an A+ at Kaplan doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go for it.
• Understand your grades• Incompletes – a helping hand with conditions. Note
the last day to ask for an incomplete. See the important dates announcement
• Late work policy: “All written assignments must be submitted no later than the date they are due. A late assignment’s grade can be lowered up to 5%, as determined by the instructor, unless extenuating circumstances exist.” Syllabus
5th Week Policy( In a Nutshell)
• You’ve got to carry a grade average of 65% or better for units 1-5.
• If you are under 65% by the end of Unit 5, you will be become “reversed”.
• In short, you’re don’t get to continue. • The good news is that you are not on the hook for any $
$$ except for the nonrefundable dough you put up! • The bad news is that your academic journey will be
delayed for a year, unless you can get a waiver.
Discussion Board Grading
• Read the rubric, but the bottom line is this…
• Post a minimum of 5 postings 3 different days to inspire good discussion and create an opportunity for a perfect score on the Discussion board. – This is a MINIMUM PEOPLE – first hint towards success -- • KNOW WHAT THE MINIMUM IS ONLY TO
EXCEED IT!!!
Secret to DB Success
• Post 5+ postings on at least 3 different days during the academic week
• Post early and Post Often• Post substantively
• Ask questions, raise issues, play Devils Advocate ( politely), feel free to disagree and give a reason, always say WHY you are saying what you are saying or how you reached your conclusion.
Examples of good and bad DB postings
• Bad posting– I agree– What he said– Ditto– I <3 this post. Be my BFF or
RLOFL TTFN– I tink so to ( note the
misspellings)– i agre wth what mary seays
becuz stat mean si into the rufel o done ( note that this is completely unintelligible)
• Good posting– Mary has a great point,
because as we can see from the case, the defendant was missing all the evidence that would have shown him to be innocent. However, I don’t quite understand why the prosecution couldn’t use the gun evidence? How did that happen?
Seminar• Show up and
have fun! • If you miss class do the
alternative assignment • They are due within the
week of the missed seminar.
• The AA is due Tuesday night.
Tardiness and Non Attendance• I will nag you in lecture. Your Discussion
Board Instructors will nag you, but we can’t and won’t come to your house and drag you to your desk top.
• You have to want to do this. • Attitude is everything
• This is your journey – This is Your Life to make what you will of it – this is your choice!
Plagiarism and Academic Dishonesty
• Read this section carefully• Plagiarism is serious business• We use www.turnitin.com • Don’t ruin your opportunities• Its better to take a Zero for not doing the assignment or
blowing the assignment than for cheating. One type of zero can be eradicated, the other keeps on going like the energizer bunny
Most important Assignments!
• Unit 4 Timed Test – 25 pts • Unit 5 Midterm Exam – 100 pts• Unit 8 Writing Project – 175 pts• Unit 9 Final Exam – 170 pts
• Now what – put them in your calendar and make certain that you have planned time to prepare or prepare for each item – WHY? –47% of your
grade!
Review of Ground Rules
• Touched on many of them already in the syllabus – so try not to repeat myself tonight!
• Here are the others– Read you emails and announcements.– Quizzes are open book and open note, take them until you
make a perfect score… yes really! – Read, Read, Read– Keep your DB Instructor in the loop if you are having
problems.
Who Answers My Questions about this course?
• Your DB Instructors are your GO TO person for EVERYTHING! – Questions about the course, the lecture, the
syllabus, your specific assignment – EVERYTHING! – For technical issues you have Tech Support as well as the
Student Support Desk ( See the power point on that in the doc share)
– You have your advisors for curriculum and administrative stuff.
• Anything Everything Else – DB INSTRUCTORS
How Do I tell who my DB Instructor is? • Class divided into 6 Groups – entitled A – F ( 1-6)• There are THREE DB instructors for this course and
have been assigned specific groups. • To discover which group you are in and who your
instructor is. Check out this handy dandy chart. The chart is also posted on the Course Announcements.
• Additionally, look at the top of the DB page in the course . There is a letter at the top of your page that letter denotes your group.
OUR DISCUSSION BOARD INSTRUCTORS!
Discussion Board Instructors
Groups(letters & numbers)
Office Hours and Contact Information
Professor Jane McElligott, J.D.
A, B(1, 2)
AIM Office hrs - Thursday, 5 - 7 p.m. ETAIM screen name: ProfMcEllEmail: [email protected]
Professor Larissa Williamson, J.D.
C(3)
Office hrs - Monday & Wednesday, 5 -7 pm ET. Live Chat ( Click “Live” tab at top of course page) Email: [email protected]
Professor Nadia Brunetto, J.D.
D,E(4,5)
AIM Office hrs – Monday & Wednesday, 10-11 am ETAIM screen name: nwbrunetto1Email: [email protected]
Professor Paula Gentius, J.D.
F(6)
AIM Office hrs –Saturdays, 8PM to 10PM ETAIM screen name: PaulaGentiusEmail: [email protected]
DB Instructor Contact Information
Once again, WelcomeOnce again, Welcome
On Monday, we’ll talk about On Monday, we’ll talk about Persistence and Recap a bit of Persistence and Recap a bit of
this information. this information.
Have a Great Week! Have a Great Week!
Prof JosetteProf Josette
When does your Academic
Journey Begin?
RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!