Thread by @jedshug

Here's an article on how I try to turn the scary cold-calling teaching method into something fun, ridiculous, helpful, and redemptive (or so I hear):
The "Poem Me" method.
(Thanks to Samuel Black '21 & journalist @pauladerrow, "A Rhyme and a Reason")
1/
digital.law.fordham.edu/issue/fall-win…

@pauladerrow 2/ The "Socratic" method is a traditional law school method of "cold calling" on students - in random order spontaneously to dig into the cases and kick off debate.
The benefits outweigh the costs, but I was very aware of the costs when I started teaching...

@pauladerrow 3) It helps make sure students understand the material. Fear and anxiety can be productive...but also counterproductive. Not everyone is ready for any question. Some students are more comfortable with spontaneous public speaking in front of 60-100 people. Some aren't...

@pauladerrow 4) The worst part of cold calling is that when a professor calls on a student who unprepared, half-prepared, distracted, or just nervous (and we really never know which it is), that student sometimes stalls or fumbles (or waits for a friend to whisper an answer. Yeah, we know.)

@pauladerrow 5) The cold-called student never likes to say "I pass," so they understandably stall (fearing judgment).
The problem is stalling takes the fun and energy out of the rapid cold-calling. And stalling annoys professors and fellow students.
I hated making "grumpy professor" face.

@pauladerrow 6) One weekend in 2008, I found a series of late-night emails. 4 or 5 students had been writing a series of limericks and haikus about the cases we had been reading.
And they were hysterical.
I asked them to read them aloud at the start of next class.

@pauladerrow 7) The class loved the poems. And I had an "aha" moment:
"How about if you don't feel prepared when I call on you, just say you'll write a poem about that case for the next class?"
It worked wonderfully in that fun class, and I've continued it ever since.

@pauladerrow 8) I also tell students to say "come back to me" if they feel unprepared or confused about that question, but are otherwise prepared that day.

Students love an immediate shot at redemption.
Both "come back" and "poem" give them that 2d chance.
They seem to appreciate it.

@pauladerrow 9) What I didn't realize is:
1) The poem/come back options ended most of the stalling...
2) So I could stop the "grumpy prof" face.
3) And it was great for pedagogy!
Poems bring out the main points and are great for remebering and review.
I hand out an end-of-semester anthology.

@pauladerrow 10/
Some wonderful examples of Torts poems are in this article.
As Samuel notes, I offer my own closing poem, first silly on our bad luck cases, then reflective about our own luck, my/our "failures" & how we can choose to define success for ourselves.
FIN
digital.law.fordham.edu/issue/fall-win…