For the last three years, six semesters to be precise, I have co-taught a 400-level required journalism course with John Dille, the wise man in the video above.
John and I have made a great team.
We teach a course about the Business & Future of Journalism. John is awesome talking about 'Big B' Business. And I share lots of information about what newsrooms are doing these days to attempt to guarantee that they'll be around in the Future.
John had taught the class on his own for two semesters before I signed on. It didn't take long for us to get in step with each other, using some of what John had taught before and adding new wrinkles to the class syllabus. The topic is a moving target and we are constantly updating our class content. But even so, after six semesters together, we've gotten into a pretty smooth routine.
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| John and me at graduation 2014. |
We were lucky to have each other.
I was very lucky to teach with such a caring, passionate educator and journalist. And I think the best students leave our class understanding that too.
In the final minutes of the final day of each semester, we offer some last words of advice to our students. I tell tell them not to be afraid to change directions along the way and to remember that they are snowballs - always accumulating knowledge, experience, skills that will serve them well no matter what they do.
John tells them the story caught on video above.
Because Spring 2014 at the Cronkite School of Journalism has been our final semester (we're going to take a little break), I was moved to record the tale that John always shares during these last minutes that we still have the students' attention. It's a winner. Even graduating seniors stop and take note. You should watch it.
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| Our class from the Spring 2013 semester. They look extra-serious because they are taking a quiz. |
Robin Phillips, Phoenix
1 comment:
When the Dean paired us neither knew how this partnership might fare. Sounded good, but who knew, really.
It was terrific! Our career experiences complimented themselves not just to our satisfaction, but I believe to the students’ benefit. In any case, I did.
The collaboration lightened the workload (still a lot of work) and I learned a ton, from the students, from Robin, from other faculty. Good deal all around.
As Robin says, we were lucky.
I just hope viewers of the video know my profanity was quoting my old boss and not language regularly used in class.
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