tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797548749870864034.post75756107899444252..comments2024-03-17T02:41:07.351-05:00Comments on Advocacy Teaching Blog: Class Notes in “Skills” CoursesChris Behanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09758408764783435612noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797548749870864034.post-72586165048856425822022-01-18T07:34:33.833-06:002022-01-18T07:34:33.833-06:00Helen was the scribe for the Course, writing down ...Helen was the scribe for the Course, writing down in shorthand the internal messages she received. Bill typed what Helen wrote. It took a total of seven years to complete A Course in Miracles, which was first published in 1976 in the United States. <a href="https://miracleshome.org/" rel="nofollow">a course in miracles</a><br /><br />Jason Royhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01542972466616286734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797548749870864034.post-66079175032745841572011-05-06T10:18:16.096-05:002011-05-06T10:18:16.096-05:00I agree with Wes about the value of student notes ...I agree with Wes about the value of student notes during a skills class. I don't permit my students to use laptops during my trial ad plenary or lab sessions. In my experience, laptops are a tremendous distraction in a skills class. Much of the learning value in these courses occurs vicariously as students watch other students perform and receive critiques. In addition, many students worry about botched or embarrassing performances being surreptitiously recorded by their unscrupulous peers and going viral on the internet. <br /><br />To alleviate student concerns about missing something substantive, I provide hard copies of the (very few) slides I use during these classes. My slides typically contain the basic principles of the skill we're learning, as well as important foundational language.<br /><br />I require my students to do quite a bit of self-reflective work during the semester. They review their performances on video and write a weekly video review memorandum for me. They also do a self-analysis at the end of the semester. <br /><br />I enjoy reading their self-reflective pieces. They are always enlightening and often very insightful. So far, my consumption of this material has been primarily a selfish pleasure; I hadn't even thought of sharing these materials with others so the rest of the class could benefit from the insights of their colleagues. The closest I've come is spending the first few minutes of the plenary class session asking students what they learned or found especially challenging about the previous week's skill. These sessions have been useful, but most students don't participate as they might in an on-line forum.<br /><br />I like Wes's approach of using the TWEN forum for observations and comments. I don't have enough experience with it to compare it to using a blog, as Jeffrey recommends. I may give this a try in my summer advocacy class, using either TWEN itself or a blog site.Chris Behanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09758408764783435612noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8797548749870864034.post-33393312258636966132011-05-06T09:39:48.017-05:002011-05-06T09:39:48.017-05:00A very interesting (and thought-provoking) post! ...A very interesting (and thought-provoking) post! (Also timely, as I'm developing a new syllabus for a fall advocacy course.)<br /><br />I use LexisNexis's WebCourse feature in my courses currently, and post a weekly discussion forum question that my students are required to respond to (briefly). However, I plan to switch this reflective discussion component of both my externship and advocacy courses from a bulletin board to secure WordPress blogs. I find that students do not engage in sufficient give-and-take responses in a bulletin board-style forum. Instead, they post their own thoughts without reading those of others. Also, the feedback I have received from students is that they find the interfaces of the discussion board features of the WebCourse and TWEN overly cumbersome and prefer the simpler RSS aggregation and commenting features of WordPress and other blog sites. <br /><br />I have compiled a quick at-a-glance summary of trial techniques (objections, methods of impeachment, foundations, etc.) that my students use in trial notebooks, and while it's too early in my career to know whether they keep anything from my classes, I am told that many of them do plan to take it with them.<br /><br />Also, I love the idea of note aggregation, and may need to adopt the practice!Jeffhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10516273754646517094noreply@blogger.com