Annual Review
My year in review.
Affirmative
Life is so random. In early 1992, I called the Philadelphia Inquirer to ask about their summer internship program. I had missed the deadline for applications by a few days, the person on the phone told me. But she added that the deadline for applications at the Philadelphia Daily News was in a few days.…
Active Learning
I told a colleague about the topic of the class I was about to teach and she said, “That sounds really great. Can I sit in?” So she did, arriving for the second half of class on the first day of the term. By the time she arrived, we had already gone through a range…
Future Colleagues
I used to take the train from Philly to Baltimore once per week to teach a 3-hour Special Topics in Journalism class. I was filling in for a pretty well-known person, the university’s Journalist-in-Residence, and it paid $5000 per semester. I bought 10-packs of tickets for $400 per set, three times per semester, so $1200…
Leadership (also: I’m Moving to New York)
My friend Mai is a graduate student, studying education. She recently asked me how I define “administration,” and what does “leadership” mean to me? She hit me at a good time. I’ve been thinking about this stuff a lot lately. An administrator creates pathways for people to do the work needed, I responded. They ensure…
Sabbatical
On July 27, a few hours after defending my doctoral dissertation, I went to the pool to chill. I nearly fell asleep in the water. I had no idea how exhausted I was. It’s a good thing I was on sabbatical this year because I never would have been able to get the dissertation done…
The Public Advocate
Just about one year ago, I came back to Philadelphia after living in Tokyo for three years. The morning after arriving in Philly, I ran into a friend as I walked to the CVS to receive my first COVID-19 vaccination. I ran into a few other friends on the way back to the hotel. A…
Teaching Journalism to Society
Back in 2007, during my first semester teaching the 300-student Journalism & Society class, I invited two journo friends to talk to the students. Josh Cornfield, then a hotshot young reporter covering city politics for The Metro, arrived on time and kindly responded to countless questions from me and the students. It was great. He…
Make Philly the Education Hub
Philadelphia should invite Cheyney University of Pennsylvania to return here, the county where that school was founded, and maybe even give them free or cheap land. Shoot, I’d even suggest throwing in a few buildings. And while we’re at it, the city should create an intercollegiate innovation campus where other Pennsylvania schools and colleges could…
August 12: Mookie & Kenzo
My son, Kenzo William Miller, was born 9 days early, arriving on August 12, exactly two years to the day after Mookie, my beloved little pup, passed away. I can’t decide if that’s just a crazy coincidence or something deeper. But I feel like there is a connection, and that has my brain spinning. In…
Three Years in Japan
I recently found the letter I sent when applying for the job I just left, the associate dean for academic affairs at Temple University, Japan Campus. It’s amusing. It is 1,700 words of folksy language, joking around, and rambling, sentimental prose. It avoids outright boasting for the most part and sounds a little too modest…
The Single-speed Life
I’m not sure how many miles I have biked around Japan over the past three years but I’d venture to say it’s several thousand. I mean, I use my single-speed Tokyo Bike every day – going the short distance to and from school, picking up super-cheap sushi in Shibuya, biking to baseball games in all…
Everything Sucks Today
I know, I know: You are not happy. You are sad and annoyed, and maybe even a little angry. The last thing you want is an old dude telling you to chill out. But hey, chill out, young buck. Classes are going online and you didn’t get that tuition discount you wanted. You didn’t sign…
TL/DR: I Love Books & You Should Too
I once took a class in post-modern British literature and I became enamored with the idea of a lineage of writers. You know, a young Zadie Smith studied at Cambridge and likely read Kazuo Ishiguro, who was likely influenced by Julian Barnes, who was probably influenced by Kingsley Amis and Iris Murdoch, and so on…
Things That Work While Teaching Online
Consider what you, the instructor, bring to the course. What are your strengths? Where is your comfort zone? Do those things align with the way students learn in the online world, and how they engage with the material? They should. Think about it: When a student complains that they “hate online teaching,” what does that…
Things To Avoid While Teaching Online
There is no one proper way to teach online. Every person will experiment and develop a toolkit that best suits them, the course material and their students. It’s a world of experimentation, really, as new tools and apps come out seemingly every day. But rather than each of us stumbling around, we can learn about…
How to Activate Students Online
Students learn more when they are engaged with the course content. When we are in-person, we can directly address the students who are daydreaming or who may be too shy to speak in front of others. Whether in-person or online, students need to be properly prepared for discussions and activities. That means that professors need…
How Do You Measure Learning Online?
How do we assess student learning in the online setting? Traditional tests and papers can work, when appropriate. But here’s the thing: Students need to feel invested quickly in the semester, they need frequent grading opportunities, and they need regular feedback. We need to do more, and more often. So, moderation is the key. Otherwise…
Creating Online Engagement
How should you present information during classes? Will traditional lectures work? Are there other ways to help students learn? Here are a few things to think about: Lay the groundwork. The first few classes of the semester are incredibly important in regard to developing class retention, activation and agency. Create a sense of community by…
How to Prep for Online Teaching
As long as the course learning goals remain the same, planning for online teaching may not be so different from planning for an in-person course. The primary difference, however, is in the need to be more intentional and explicit in course delivery and in communicating expectations. Where do I start? Begin at the end. Use…
The Pandemic Will Be Good for Colleges (Eventually)
My college roommates and I used to joke that our college campus was like a country club. There were multiple restaurants with impressive buffets, several workout facilities – including a world-class pool and pristine basketball court, green grass everywhere and people who tended to all our needs. It all seemed so excessive at the time.…
Nobody Cares About Your Grades
It’s grading season and the desperation is real, again, as usual. Students I haven’t heard from in months are asking if there is any way they can pass, and others are jockeying for a few extra points that would bump them to the next higher grade. The students who have disappeared are out of luck.…
Now How Do You Build the University Community?
When I arrived at the Temple University campus in Japan, the school operated out of three buildings, all of which were actually office buildings that had been converted for use as classrooms, faculty offices and administrative offices. The main building, Azabu Hall, had thin walls where laughter, applause, yelling and everything else could be heard…
I Miss my Friends and Hate Online Classes
The sudden switch to online-only learning has thrown everyone for a loop. All of the sudden, we are spending copious amounts of time on Zoom and everything is super annoying. Teachers are either sending way too many emails/messages or none at all. Students are being expected to do all their learning on their own, or…
Lessons Learned During the Emergency
On February 28, we learned that the Temple Japan campus would have to move to an online-only format within 72 hours due to the threat of the coronavirus outbreak. Things have gone OK but for the most part, we took our in-class teaching methods and moved them online. We have not really adapted to the…
The JUMP Mixtapes
JUMP magazine used to feature Philly DJs in a series curated by DJ GUN$ Garcia. These are my favorite mixtapes from that series. Lil’ Dave Uglybass Magglez Spank Rock & DY Sylo Baby Eagle & Jansen JavaScript Photo of Plastic Little by Rick Kauffman from April 2014.
Tokyo in Pictures
Michelle and I bike around Tokyo whenever we can. It’s an energetic city, full of interesting people doing interesting stuff all the time. And dogs in fancy costumes, often riding in prams.
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G.W. Miller III 