The Institute for Law Teaching and Learning will present its summer conference on June 25-26, 2012, at Gonzaga University School of Law in Spokane, Washington. The theme for June 25 is the Value of Variety. June 26 is a day for Reflecting on Our Teaching. Participants can register for either or both days.
Structure of the Conference
June 25 - Value of Variety
The first day of the conference will include a plenary session and four workshop sessions. During each workshop session, four workshops will run simultaneously. Participants will be able to tailor the conference to fit their individual interests by choosing which workshop to attend during each session. The workshops will address innovative materials, alternative teaching methods, new technology, and ways to enhance student learning in all types of courses. Each workshop will include materials that participants can use during the workshop and when they return to their campuses. The workshops will model effective teaching methods by actively engaging the participants.
June 26 - Reflecting on Our Teaching
This one day teaching retreat will offer participants an opportunity to step back and reflect on their lives as teachers. How does who we are affect how we teach, and how does teaching affect who we are? What does it mean to lead a professional life as a teacher of law? What aspects of ourselves are the most supported and engaged by the work we do? This conference will be held at Gonzaga's Bozarth Retreat Center, a historic building located in the pines above the Little Spokane River.
Benefits to Participants
During the first day of the conference, participants can expect to encounter many new ideas about teaching and learning. In addition, the conference, which includes long scheduled breaks, is intended to facilitate informal interaction among creative teachers who love their work with students. Participants should leave the conference inspired and informed about increasing the variety of their teaching techniques, materials, and assessments.
The retreat during the second day of the conference will offer space, exercises, innovative teaching methods, nontraditional learning experiences, and good company in the rewarding, humor-filled and enjoyable practice of reflection. Each participant will receive a journal and A Teacher's Reflection Book(Carolina Academic Press 2011), which provides extensive resources for reflecting. And each participant will leave with reflection processes that work, ideas for future reflection, and a concrete plan for reflecting back home.
Spokane
Summer is a wonderful time of year in the Inland Northwest and we encourage you to combine some vacationing with your work at the conference. The website www.experiencespokane.com can help you plan. Spokane offers shopping, fine dining, art and sporting events, public golf courses and nearby rivers, lakes, and national parks.
Session Handouts
Session 1
"It Just Makes Sense"
Expanding the Professor's Props
Collaborating with Students as Co-Authors
How to Develop and then to Teach an Online Law Course
Session 2
Transitioning from Mission Impossible to Mission Accomplished
"So you think you've got it bad..."
The Role of the Curriculum Committee in Promoting the Value of Variety
Teaching the "Hardest Questions"
Ideas for Teaching Transactional Skills
Session 3
Achieving Variety Through a Spiral Curriculum
Law Students Are Just Big Babies: What First-time Parenting Has Taught Me About Teaching
The Idea SwapMeet
The Classroom as Shop Floor
Session 4
The Pedagogy of Iterative Experience in the Law School Curriculum
There's More Than One Way to Bake a Cake: Teaching Rule Synthesis and Proof with Multiple Approaches and Sources
Show Your Answers: Using Flash Cards and eClicker to Engage Students Through Friendly Competition