Things I Love About Teaching

Do you want to know the thing I love most about teaching?* Well OK, the two things I love most? Well OK, maybe the three things?

I love it when students ask good, thoughtful questions and participate in discussion. When they ask a question not because they suspect it’s going to be on the test, but just because they’re interested and curious - that's a terribly gratifying thing!

Such as questions raised about the benefit of settling a lawsuit before doing a lot of discovery (saves expense, saves a company or individual from having to disclose info they don’t want to disclose) as opposed to settling after a lot of discovery (discovery enables all parties to more objectively evaluate the strength of their case). Or about the effectiveness of different kinds of trial evidence using the at-the-time ongoing Casey Anthony trial as a source of examples. Fascinating!

Another thing I love is seeing students improve over the course of the class. Their written assignments get better. Their comprehension of the discovery process increases. Their proofreading skills even improve. They’re learning!

But do you know what the best thing of all is? My absolute favorite thing about teaching?

Teaching makes me better! It helps me hone and sharpen my own thinking. The process of reviewing the material in preparation for teaching it forces me to reorganize and perhaps rethink what I know, in order to explain it to the students in the clearest and most organized manner possible. It’s almost as though I’m relearning things I had grown accustomed to taking for granted over the long years of my career. I’m looking at my profession through fresh eyes.

And that’s quite a rush!

* I currently teach a Discovery course in the Paralegal Associate Degree program at Empire College.