I know teachers – like parents – are not supposed to have favorites. And like parents, sometimes you can’t help but love one just a little more than the others.
The truth is, I try to love all my classes equally. Some demand more attention; some demand more time. But utimately, I want all of my students to succeed. I want them to leave Loyola prepared to face professional challenges.
Most students who’ve a class with me might say I like their class least. They’ll say I make a lot of demands on them, like reading and following directions or meeting deadlines, doing things over until they’re correct, telling them they have to get along…at least until the end of the semester. They’ll say I get excited and raise my voice (a lot) when I want them to pay attention to what I’m saying. They’ll say I rebuke them at times for not incorporating what they’ve learned in class into their assignments.
It’s at this time of year I get to see whether things have really clicked, if that lightbulb moment has occurred. Helen Keller’s “water” moment. Dr. Willis D. Weatherford’s “Eureka” moment.
While I’m not saying they’re my favorites, I have to brag a little about the CMMN A317 Writing for Public Relations class. A last-minute addition to the spring course offerings, this class has but 10 hardly souls. Instead of 20 people to share my red ink ravings, there’s only half that number. They were charged this semester with creating media/information kits for the New Orleans branch of the American Heart Association. And they’re risen to the challenge.
Working with this class has been an uplifting experience for me. We’ve had a great nonprofit liaison in Linzy Cotaya, who has introduced us to people working daily to help raise funds and awareness of the need for healthy lifestyles and better diets (even in NOLA). And the students have had a good time creating their own particular spins on the tried-and-true media project that each PR Writing class takes on. You’ve even seen some of their work here on MASS COMMents.They got it; they really got it.
It’s been fun. And productive. And challenging. But it was worth it. As we head into the summer, I want to say thanks to these students for being a great group this semester: Susana Aramburu, Aimee (Al) Brown, Charlene (Charlie) Bussat, Rob Hayden, Cameron Hill, Margi Kalbacher, James Lambert, Kamaria Monmouth, Lindsey Rousselle and Alden Woodhull.
And to my other classes: you’re all my favorites too!







