Task List Anticipated Barriers Plan Self-Evaluation
Week 1
  1. Begin research using secondary sources
  2. Identify at least five precedential cases relevant to research question
  • I’m not sure how to identify the best secondary sources
  • I have two extra shifts at work this week and a big presentation on Friday
  • I will talk to the law librarians about how to narrow down the universe of secondary sources
  • Every day this week I’ll wake up an hour early to research precedential cases before I head to school
  • I met with the law librarian for 10 minutes and that helped me find several good secondary sources
  • I found my five cases in the first two mornings of research so I didn’t have to wake up early the rest of the week
Week 2
  1. Finish research
  2. Synthesize research with respect to elements of applicable defense
  • This is a big task and I have been putting things off and wasting time when an assignment seems overwhelming
  • I’m not sure about “synthesizing”: how do I organize all this law in a way that makes sense?
  • Starting today, I will spend the two hours I have free between Torts and Contracts class in the library with my phone off, until my research seems finished
  • I will talk to my TA about how she synthesizes cases
  • I kept my phone on in the library and ended up using research time to check social media-now I need to spend additional time next week finishing the research
  • My TA showed me a really helpful method to organize the caselaw I’ve found
Week 3
  1. Finish research
  2. Outline memo’s discussion
  3. Write memo’s fact section
  • The phone!
  • My cousin’s wedding is Saturday and I don’t want to have to do class work this weekend
  • This time I’ll leave my phone in my locker while I’m in the library
  • I’ll add an hour of library time Mon-Thurs to finish these tasks so I can reward myself with a weekend off
  • The locker idea worked and I finished the research!
  • I’m not entirely done with the facts, but I finished my outline before the weekend and I’m confident I can draft the facts after class today