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2010-05-02 22:40:15
Communication Professor keeps it fun
1. Communication Professor keeps it fun
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Written by Phil Consalvo Collegian Staff
It is 7:45 on a Monday morning and the weather outside is dreadful. It has been raining since the previous night.
Students are slowly starting to file in the classroom with their heads down while they yawn in an attempt to recover from yet another rough weekend. On top of being tired from finishing all of their homework late Sunday night and barely sleeping as a result, they are bundled up. They wear rain boots and hooded sweatshirts that are soaked in cold, April rain.
All of the students that walk into the classroom have a look of disappointment on their faces because yet another week of college—and schoolwork—is just getting underway. The students immediately sit down in their seats and put their heads down on their desks, almost simultaneously.
Finally, the clock strikes 8 a.m., and Meredith Frank energetically strolls into the room with her designer brand heels, tapping against the floor tiles and her colorful, fun and loud jewelry jingling with each step. She is wearing several large bracelets and her favorite monkey-shaped ring.
As usual, all of her clothing accessories match her very bright dress that no one in the class has seen before this day. She is sure never to repeat the same outfit during a semester.
As she strolls in, she gives the class a loud and happy “Good morning. How was your weekend?”
The class immediately looks up, and it seems as if a jolt of energy has swept though the room, delivering with it happy, smiling faces. The students respond with great liveliness and take out their books because they know that they are in for a fun unpredictable class.
Frank begins to teach in her unpredictable style. She pulls out her computer and starts to play a Weird Al song that she has prepared before the class met. The students are laughing and wondering where this lesson will lead, but they know that this is just another typical day in Presentation Skills.
This is nothing new for Frank, who has been teaching communication courses at La Salle for nine years and has been part of the La Salle family for even longer, completing her master’s studies here.
Along with being a respected professor of both Presentation Skills and Interpersonal Communication, she is the director of Presentation Skills classes, and the coordinator of part time faculty.
With all of this on Frank’s plate, she still finds a way to do what she is known for— running an effective, fun, and for those who don’t know her, bizarre classroom with a tremendous learning environment.
Frank’s class seems strange to outsiders because she constantly is making the classroom entertaining by incorporating hula-hooping, fake monkeys that talk and move, and interactive learning—such as when she asked her students make up songs—in her daily learning itinerary.
“There is reason for retention and keeping the students engaged. Many students don’t know their learning until they leave my class,” Frank said.
Along with making class fun and connecting students as if they are a family for 16 weeks a year, Frank is not afraid to take risks.
This past year, Frank made her First Year Odyssey class produce their own television show. Frank designated certain people for certain jobs, and left them in charge of meeting with each other and producing a television show that would air on LaSalle TV, helping to make La Salle one of only a few schools which actually lets its freshmen produce and appear on its television station.
Along with making her students produce television shows, she expects a lot of her students on paper, as well. When one begins a semester, with Frank, he or she is e-mailed an elaborate 27-page syllabus, which strictly lays out her assignments and expectations of her students.
“If you have high expectations of students they will meet them,” said Frank.
“Professor Frank is a tough grader, and she expects a lot from us, but without doubt she has made me a better student,” said Joe Bennie, a freshman, undecided major.
“She’s one of our most creative, engaging, and passionate instructors. She truly cares about her students and works hard in every class to make it a great learning experience and to build community between and among her students,” Lynne Texter, chair of the Communication Department, at La Salle said.
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