Academic support educators are helpers. It’s one of the reasons we came to this work in the first place. We like solving problems, and we like working with students. It’s thrilling to be a person that...

Merriam-Webster defines “expect” in several ways, two of which are especially fitting here: “to anticipate or look forward to coming or occurrence of” and “to consider probable or certain.” Both defin...

For the past 5 weeks, I have been taking intensive Spanish classes every weekday morning. I figured that after 2 years here, while I’d picked up a lot of Spanish from everyday interactions and importa...

If you are interviewing for an Academic Success position at a law school, congratulations: you are considering the wonderful world albeit where a job description can sometimes resemble The NeverEnding...

As you outline for your doctrinal courses, make sure your outline includes the relevant defenses. Defenses are among the most commonly overlooked parts of legal analysis. Students tend to focus on ele...

During a recent roundtable, someone recommended the book “Thanks for the Feedback” by Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen to think through ways that we provide feedback, but also ways that people receive fe...

Over the years, I have heard several colleagues describe Friday as their administrative day. I found this fascinating because I never seemed to have time for one. I was the sole member of an office th...

Being able to answer the call of the question, spot the issues, recall the relevant legal principles, and remember key phrases is a genuine victory. However, your analysis or application is incomplete...

There is a particular moment in law school when a student realizes that someone else seems to know everything. The professor asks a question, and another student immediately answers. Or a classmate ca...

As a first-year law student, you are excited about the new opportunities to learn the law so you can achieve your aspirations of becoming a lawyer. However, the journey may be a little bumpy. We expec...

Welcome to the law school experience. Although you are still adjusting to the law school environment and its expectations, we need to discuss the bar exam. Bar preparation may seem premature for a new...

Anyone that has been to a college or professional sport game should be able to tell you at least one song that perked up their ears. Some teams even have their own music traditions …cue “Sweet Carolin...

If you are a first-year or a transfer law student and are one month in or even a week into your law school journey, you have experienced a great deal in a short amount of time. You may have moved to a...

By this state in your legal education, you have encountered the terms “legal application” and/or “legal analysis” which are often used interchangeably. In essence, this refers to the process of examin...

Hello, my name is Kiana Wilson, and this is my first blog post as a contributing editor. Let me start by saying that I have been in the academic success world for almost two years, and I've been out o...

A confluence of technological updates provided the fodder for this week’s post on meeting schedulers, or, to use the more formal term for them, appointment scheduling software. My annual Calendly rene...

Susannah Pollvogt expresses that law schools rarely teach students how to actually participate in Socratic dialogue, even though professors expect this skill thus leaving many 1Ls anxious and inadequa...

Academic support often arrives at the moment when something has gone wrong. Maybe it’s a student receiving a disappointing midterm grade. Perhaps a student realizes they are spending hours studying bu...

Please welcome our new Contributing Editor, Kiana Wilson. She will post her thoughts every other Tuesday. Kiana Wilson is the Assistant Director of Law School Academic Support at the University of Ala...

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Labor Day is “an annual celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers.” It also notes that the holiday is “rooted in the push to re...

As financial aid restrictions take hold and economic downturns result in job loss, the likelihood that your class roster includes more than a few adult learners increases. In today’s post, I define an...

Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “attribution” in multiple ways but the key ones I would like to focus on here are: “the act of attributing something” or “an ascribed quality, character, or right.” ...

Did you know that the Association of American Law Schools (AALS) Section on Academic Support has a publication, The Learning Curve? If you did not, this is your opportunity to read and explore. Click ...

Many thanks to Erica Lux for her dedication as a Contributing Editor for the Law School Academic Support Blog! Erica's posts have been thoughtful, insightful, and vulnerable. Thank you, Erica, for exp...

This week, I welcomed my 3L students into my online section of our MEE/MPT class. It doesn’t matter how long I’ve done this. (But if you’re counting, this fall begins year 17 of full-time ASP teaching...

Academic Support professionals are constantly learning. We learn from our students. We learn from data. We learn from failed workshops and successful interventions. We learn from conversations with co...

Keeping in line with this year’s Disability Pride month theme, “The World Works Better with Us,” let’s talk about how we can grow inclusion, belonging, and support for our disabled law students—as wel...

Every Academic Support professional has experienced it. A student arrives just days before finals with weeks of reading unfinished. Another wants someone to tell them exactly what to study. A third as...

One of the most frustrating things about being in academic support is that the students who could benefit the most from our services aren’t usually the ones who walk through the door. As a result, man...

Academic support often occupies an unusual position within law schools. We work directly with students, but we also work with faculty and administration. We think about individual learning challenges,...

Did you experience something similar, and what prompted you to write your first article?

Wednesday, May 13, 2026 at 11:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time.