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The program coordinator—law school faculty or student group leader—organizes all program activities. This includes the following tasks:
The law student’s role is to prepare to teach and help all student learn in a respectful and safe environment.
Law students should:
This is the primary point of contact at the site. This person works directly with the program coordinator and the site’s assigned law students. This person's responsibilities will vary depending on the established relationship.
Prior to teaching, law students must make a commitment to use teaching methods and content that are engaging and student-centered. Law students also shouldn’t underestimate the time it takes to master the teaching methods and materials that are essential to a successful Street Law program.
The most important part of teaching is how the content is taught—even more than the content itself! When law students learn how to use teaching methods, it ensures that the material is conveyed to their students effectively. Law students should be encouraged to practice, practice, practice! Like all skills, teaching skills are developed over time and through experience.
Interactive teaching methods are a standard ingredient in all Street Law programs. Here are detailed instructions for commonly used methods:
We recommend that program coordinators demonstrate these methods to the law students prior to using them at the teaching sites.
Law school programs approach the selection of materials in a variety of ways. Some require participating law students to develop their own teaching materials; others require law students to teach from the Street Law text; and some provide a prescribed set of lesson plans to be used.
Most credit-bearing programs require law students to develop their own lessons. It is crucial that these lessons be reviewed, preferably by the program coordinator, to ensure they are content-appropriate and use interactive, student-centered methods. Some programs require law students to prepare model lesson plans, which are then made available to future law students participating in the program.
When selecting lessons, ask the following questions:
It is strongly recommended that law students work with the on-site teacher to map out the semester and develop a plan that works well with and supports the teaching site’s goals and needs.
Explore the Lessons tab to access information about developing high-quality lesson plans and Street Law-developed and recommend lesson plans, teaching activities, and resources.
< RUNNING A PROGRAM
Law students need to learn how to organize their high school students into small groups, get their attention, set expectations, and handle disruptive behavior.
The best classroom management strategy is a well-organized lesson plan. If the lesson topic is compelling, student-centered, and interactive, classroom management challenges will be minimal.
The on-site teacher—who should always be in the classroom when law students are teaching—will be available to assist with classroom management, if necessary.
The on-site teacher, faculty member from the university’s school of education, or the school district's social studies instructional leader may be willing to help provide law students with an orientation on classroom management.
Peer teaching—a law student teaching a lesson to other law students—is commonly used by Street Law programs. It allows law students to practice teaching in a friendly environment and receive feedback before teaching a lesson at their sites.
Each site will be composed of a variety of personalities—and law students need a basic understanding of how to best respond to their demands. Margaret Fisher of Seattle University School of Law has developed an activity that assigns roles for law students to play during a peer teaching session. In addition to critiquing the practice teaching, each law student reads aloud their role and advice is given on how to respond to that type of personality or issue at the site.
For pro bono and student group model programs, which may not have a weekly meeting or seminar, consider a brown bag seminar. These lunchtime meetings will fit into law students’ schedules and provide a valuable opportunity for discussing the program, practicing teaching skills, and brainstorming program enhancements and solutions
Most Street Law programs divide law students into teams to maximize the strengths of each law student, to bring different perspectives to the table, and to spread the workload among the group.
Team teaching also allows law students to gain important professional development skills, including working together for a common goal, negotiating problems, and incorporating different viewpoints.
Although law students might want to work with friends, students will benefit from learning to work with someone who has different interests and perspectives.
This simple introductory activity requires law students to speak in front of the group. It gives the program coordinator a sense of who is comfortable with public speaking and who is shy or less confident. The exercise can provide program coordinators with helpful information when assigning law student teaching teams.
The best Street Law programs have strong ties between their law students and the teachers/site contacts.
Together, the law students and the on-site teacher should create a teaching plan for the semester/year, paying special attention to how the law students’ materials will be integrated into the teacher’s course syllabus.
The on-site teacher/site coordinator should aid the law students by
It is recommended that the program coordinator invite on-site teachers/site coordinators to attend an orientation prior to the start of the program.
Margaret Fisher of Seattle University School of Law uses the following documents to help law students and on-site teacher communicate expectations:
Street Law, Inc. 1010 Wayne Avenue, Suite 870Silver Spring, Maryland 20910
(301) 589-1130(301) 589-1131 firstname.lastname@example.org