Today, I am including a few new phrases that I have learned in Mandarin. But before I share those, I am going to share something I learned about verb conjugation in Mandarin. Mandarin has no verb changes for conjugation or tense changes. Let me provide some examples of what I mean. In English, the verb…
I am very slowly learning new words, and as I learn, I am trying to develop good pronunciations. Hear is me saying “Hello” in Mandarin (Nǐ hǎo / 你好). Here’s me saying “Goodbye” in Mandarin (Zàijiàn / 再见). There are four main tones in Mandarin Chinese: Here is a short video explaining how to pronounce…
This week I am thinking a lot about my pod project and how excited I am for it. My group is exploring how podcasts can be used in the classroom to assist with education. Besides helping with the planning and the idea generation, my role is to do research on the tech side of creating…
Last week I had the opportunity to attend and present at WestCAST 2026 in Winnipeg, MB. The conference brought together student teachers from all across Canada to network and attend workshops and presentations. I delivered a presentation on the importance of relationship building in the classroom and the benefits of communal approach. During my presentation,…
My goal is to spend 5 minutes everyday practicing Mandarin using the HelloChinese app. What I am learning is that it is difficult to develop new habits, especially when my life is already so insanely busy. Even though I am only aiming for 5 minutes a day, it is difficult to find the capacity after…
One thing that is very interesting and concerning about GenAI’s like ChatGPT is that they can sound confident and correct while sharing false or made-up information. I have an example of a time that I experienced this: Last year, I was in an English Literature class, and had to write an essay about a novel…
Today we attended a couple of workshops as a way of learning about different resources and research from different experts. Student AI Literacy Lesson K-12The first workshop I attended focused how and why to teach AI literacy. The presenter made the point that whether we support using AI or not, we need to be able…
For my free inquiry, I will be attempting to build a small foundation of Chinese Mandarin in preparation for my 6 week practicum in Taipei, Taiwan. While Mandarin is not the indigenous language of Taiwan, it is the most commonly spoken in Taipei, where I will be living and teaching. Other languages spoken in Taipei…
This week in class, we spoke about Generative AI, and its potential benefits and pitfalls in the classroom. It no doubt can increase efficiency and productivity for teachers and students, but there are serious pitfalls and dangers that should be considered before educators fully embrace using it professionally. First off… What is Generative AI?According to…