Supervised Instruction: Marshall Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project

2-3 units

Each spring, several law students selected as Marshall Brennan fellows teach, under faculty supervision, a high school course in constitutional law, with a particular emphasis on the First and Fourth Amendments. Fellows are paired with other law students and teach at public high schools in the St. Louis Public School System and the University City school district. Fellows' responsibilities include planning coverage for the semester, developing lesson plans and curricula, preparing for and teaching approximately three hours of class each week, constructing and grading exams, being accessible to the high school students, preparing for and attending weekly hour-long meetings with the faculty supervisor, logging hours spent on teaching and preparation, and writing regular reflections about the experience. Interested students apply during spring of the preceding academic year, and fellows are selected from the many applicants. Taking this course does not preclude taking a clinic or externship during the same semester, but students should be sensitive to the time commitments that teaching entails. Marshall Brennan fellows each receive 2-3 credits toward the J.D., but these credits do not count toward the 67 required Law Classroom Units. Students who are not in good standing (for either academic or disciplinary reasons) are not eligible to participate in this course. The course will be graded on a modified pass/fail basis (HP-3.9, P, LP-3.0, F-2.5).