Teaching in the Age of AI

Here is my article on this topic.

https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/career-advice/carpe-careers/2025/09/15/strategies-personalized-learning-ai-age-opinion

In short, good teachers bring the humanness to the classroom, assignments, assessments and building community so that the learnings go beyond school into life. Good luck to all students and teachers!

Stanford Sabbatical Winter 2023

I had the privilege in working with the Stanford Life Design Lab Team in the Winter of 2023. https://lifedesignlab.stanford.edu/team Kathy Davies, Urmila Venkatesh, Dustin Liu, Christian Simamora, Shanice Webb, Bill Burnett - what a team! I learned so much from them about designing your life principles for first year and senior undergraduate students, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. https://designingyour.life/ I strengthened my skills in design thinking concepts, brainstorming, prototyping, class engagement in topics such as success, discernment, wayfinding, and so much more, all outlined in Bill and Dave's book. THANK-YOU! 

 As for my living, I stayed at a one bedroom Stanford West Residence practicing minimalist living surrounded by other scholars and faculty. So refreshing! One Korean floor bed, one floor chair, one floor table, one bowl, one pot, and I used one closet. The living room and den stayed empty enough for me to dance and work out in, if I wanted. I walked and ran everywhere (closest grocery was 1 km away), only having to use uber twice for groceries coming back home. I took the train to travel to the city (SFO) for events and seeing friends. It was liberating not having things, a car and furniture to clean/dust. I took advantage of Stanford programs such zumba classes (love it!), ballroom dance, healthy living, personal trainer for my half marathon training, and ran the San Francisco Half Marathon by the Pacific Ocean! The run was breathtaking and inspiring to run my personal best at 2:42! I maintained my piano by playing at some beautiful music rooms on campus.

West coast living is definitely different from east coast Boston because the weather is warm all the time, people are outside exercising more. It was common to see people show up to class in yoga wear because they had a fitness session in between. Loved it! 

Big thank-you to my co-parent partner who made this possible as he hosted the kids for a bit over two months (I did visit once in the middle). Kids could have come with me, but then they would have been in three different schools in one year, so they stayed home in Toronto. Grateful and lucky for this opportunity! Thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Stanford and bringing it all to my home U of Toronto!

Harvard Sabbatical Weeks Two - Twelve Fall 2022

I experenced so many scholarly and personal adventures during my sabbatical, but I will summarize here in one posting because I so many current events I would like to cover. More details will be in my next book!

Scholarship

I attended some of the programming for the Master's of Medical Sciences in Immunology as I had been involved with the Applied Immunology Program at my home university - as an observor and a guest lecturer for the individual development plan and career planning session. I also attended their PhD Pathfinder program and other sessions hosted by the Office of Graduate Education. I learned so much from the professors and students there. Everyone was so friendly and welcoming. Thank-you!! Enjoyed a beautiful office space at 77 Pasteur and visited many times to the Cambridge campus to hear lectures outside of my discipline and visit museums. I gave four talks at Tufts University and worked on a national project developing GPD programs.

Personal Growth

I student jazz piano and composition at Musician's Playground, Boston Commons and gave a private concert with about 15 of my Boston friends at the end of my time there. I will post the video on my music youtube channel one day. Skated on Boston Common. Enjoyed the oldest subway system in USA. Stayed at 67 Joy St during my second half of my sabbatical which was the place the first African-American woman doctor lived. I was part of history as I am pretty certain I am the first Korean-Canadian GPD professor in Canada. I thought that was cool, but I do not think my name will get a plaque on the outside wall of the building.

I met a friend who took me to the famous Harvard carillons, visited the coastline with some previous students from U of Toronto, had many dinners with old and new friends and mentees, attended cultural events and just met so many cool, intelligent people who I still keep in touch with today. I ran the Cambridgeside Half Marathon  - even though I had sore throat and a few days later, tested positive for covid for the first time. I stayed home for a week and wore a mask for a few days after. I ran a half marathon and beat my previous time!

I missed my childern terribly, but I visited Toronto every three weekends and the semester flew by. I almost gave up and packed it up in the first week, but my women professor friends told me to embrace Nana time and reminded me how it took me years to plan this valuable experience. Thank-you to their Papa who hosted them in Toronto while I was away. I had thought of bringing them to the USA while I was on sabbatical but then they would have to be in three different schools in one year - so we decided to keep them home.

Harvard exceeded my expectations as a place of scholarly and personal growth. I miss it from time to time and hope to visit again very soon!

PLOS One GPD Publication!

The program I started in 2012 with Dr. Reithmeier - the graduate professional development (GPD) course, the one that was featured in Science Careers - has come a long way!

Our impact of the curricularly embedded GPD was recently published in PLOS One and in 2 weeks, it has 503 views!

So happy to have our work out there for all to read about and share discussions with. So thankful for all the students and mentees who have made this course possible - you are the superstars that made it happen!!

Instagram Handle

Hello Everyone,

You will be able to find my reels at nanaleepianokeys. See you there, if you have IG!

Hope you are all enjoying the Spring sun!!

Nana

Why We Chose Virtual and Home Schooling in 2020

 

Sept 13, 2020.

I asked each of my three children (high school, junior high, elementary) how they were doing with our current times. How do you feel about all this and how do you feel about school? They all enjoy school, the learning, teachers, meeting friends. They have missed this environment since March now. They all said they would love to go back to school, but they also understood what that meant during covid times, wearing masks, physical distancing, not being in close project or lunch groups, not sharing papers or art projects supplies, They also know the statistics, as being the science Mom, I have shared that with them. And that Mom had a minor heart condition and studies have showed that patients with the same heart condition did not do well with covid.

So I homeschooled my third grader and the teens stayed on zoom. I did not want my 8 year old on a laptop 6 hrs a day. 

Homeschooling a third grader was an hour of her lesson in the morning, followed by imaginative play with games, cardboard boxes, paints, books, and trips to the park. I also squeezed in my work, teaching classes over zoom. We finished grade three by January 2021 so we then started grade 4 curriculum. When she got to grade four, she didn't learn anything new until half the year in.

Pivoting.

Such is the secret to life.

Harvard Week One

September 12, 2022

I have been here for almost 6 days now and I feel peaceful, excited to be part of this community and happy to be living a minimalistic lifestyle in a one bedroom place in Jamaica Plain. It is close to the subway and the commute to 77 Louis Pasteur is short and sweet. 

I am missing the children so much...

But looking forward to this experience. The people here are amazing and I have a beautiful office all to myself! Excited to meet students and other colleagues.

I have a total of 63 items listed here. This should last all Fall. 

The minimalism is bringing the peace, as I have less "things" to take care of.

1. A book
2. A journal
3. An agenda
4. Journal called story of my life
5. Pencil case with pens, pencils and eraser
6. Work notebook
7. Piano book one
8. Piano book two
9. Watch
10. Necklace
11. Bracelet 1
12. Bracelet 2
13. Bracelet 3
14. Lap top and charger
15. Cell phone and charger
16. Shoes
17. Running shoes
18. Suitcase
19. Jacket
20. Umbrella
21. Yoga mat
22. Grocery bag one
23. Grocery bag two
24. Grocery bag three
25. Socks
26. Undergarments
27. Feminine napkins
28. Passport
29. Harvard ID
30. Wallet
31. Eye glasses and case
32. Jeans 1
33. Jeans 2
34. Black pants
35. Black tote
36. Heating pad
37. Jacket2
38. Toiletries
39. Makeup and case
40. Curling Iron
41. Blazer
42. Sweater
43. - 51: 9 dresses and 52-64: 11 tops

More later!

Sabbatical to Harvard University Overview

September-Dec 2022

I arrived into Logan International Airport with two suitcases, a backpack and about 80 items (including my passport) to embrace my sabbatical at Harvard University. I was going to sit in and observe a course and teach a session for their Master's of Medical Sciences in Immunology and learn how professional development is delivered to Harvard's bioscience PhDs and MSc's. I had also set up a professional development monthly workshop series with Tufts University and some work with UMass Medical.

All of these activities were made possible by me building professional relationships with colleagues at Harvard, Tufts and UMassMedical over years of conference attending and speaking.

The first few weeks I stayed at Jamaica Plain, a neighbourhood in Boston, which was right adjacent the Harvard Arboretum, a beautiful place where I thoroughly enjoyed the forest trails for my daily runs or walks. 

The second half of my semester, I moved to Boston Commons, right in the heart of the city, cobblestones and all. 

I worked with creative, intelligent, enthusiastic faculty, staff and students. I attended thought-provoking seminars all over campus. I made new friends and reconnected with old ones. I learned lots about life at Harvard and about myself through the process.  

Harvard definitely has the scholarship vibe. 

I kept notes. I will detail them in the entries to follow!

Fostering Creative, Independent Children

Hello current or future parents,

One of the most common question which I am asked as a mother of three is "aren't your kids bored during this quarantine?"

Here is my answer. The word "bored" was always "banned" from our house. From day one, as soon as they able to speak, if they told me "I do not know what to do," I would say "that means you have to tap into your imagination and creativity a bit more."

"Should I remove all the books, craft supplies and games in the house?"

Their immediate response would be "No, Mama. I can find something."

And then they would find, on their own, something to be involved with.

Because of this foundation, our children have been independently coming up with their own projects along with their homework during the no-school, stay-at-home period during social distancing. My 15 year-old is reading, writing a few novels and practicing her piano and clarinet. My 13 year-old is reading, creating her own short movies, painting, animating. My 7 year-old is reading, playing piano, painting, and just recently wrote down all the countries with their capital cities in a book she made on her own. We provide the tools, paints, canvases, brushes, resources - they provide the creativity. We go on walks outside together, they girls are cooking more often and helping with the chores.

Have they watched more movies during this time? Not more than they usually do during the school year. My 7 year-old has not watched any movies. My teens have watched perhaps two or three Harry Potter or anime the past 2.5 weeks.

Our typical day looks like such

7 am Wake and breakfast
8:30/9 am Home school
10:30 Mama works while they independently read or write/math practice
12 Lunch, sometimes walk
After lunch: free time
4 pm Help with dinner
5 pm Dinner
Sometimes evening walk
7:30 Seven year-old gets ready for bed
10 pm Teens go to bed
Mom and Dad sometimes work until midnight

The day is not that long - so they take advantage of all their minutes!

In short, parents, do not have to provide all the creative solutions when they are "bored" - they can figure out their own activities. And later in life, you and they will be thankful that you let them.

Things to do with Kids during Social Distancing

Hi Everyone,
Unprecendented times - in our lifetime here.
For parents with kids at home, let's take this opportunity to strengthen their core competency skills in other ways, on top of the online traditional schooling. Here are some examples from my kids' lives right now:

1) Take turns cooking a meal.
Have the children plan the meal from finding the recipe and ingredients. Yes, even my seven year old can wash vegetables, mix & knead dough, Throughout this process, have a discussion at dinner on how the ingredients were grown, from which country and how they ended up at the table.

2) If not already, post a map of the world by the dinner table, so during mealtimes, kids and parents can have discussions about the world, cities, geograph, where difference animal live. Below is a picture of our map by our dining table.

3) Assign each child some household chores or what I reframe as "family contributions" on top of cleaning their room. Examples for our kids are listed here. Seven year-old: swiffer the floors, set the table, empty the dishwasher, dust, fold laundry, rake leaves. Our 12 and 15 year-olds: vacuum, wash dishes, laundry, clean the bathrooms, shovel snow, walk the dog.

4) Encourage independent schedule-making after their online schooling, such as when to practice their instruments, practice another language (duolingo), learn something meaningful new on their own (through youtube), create art projects, reading, walking or running outside with social distancing.

5) Discuss how a virus spreads and why we are all social distancing.

6) With social distancing, take a walk or bike ride together, everyday.

7) Do not leave the news on.

More details of these ideas soon to follow!

GPD4: Step One of Reflection

Video #4: Step One of GPD is Reflection and How to Use the Individual Development Plan
https://myidp.sciencecareers.org/

GPD3 The What and How

What is the curriculum-embedded graduate professional development course? Here I go over the course and some of the careers my students have landed.

Launching on Youtube_ GPD Video One: the Why

Will be releasing my course content on youtube - stay tuned!

Video One - GPD1 The Why can be viewed here.

Embracing Modern Hanboks (Korean Dress) at Work

 Daily Han Blouse and Skirt (Insadong) at Hart House, U of Toronto

 

Teterot Hanbok Blouse with BR Skirt at Faculty of Medicine

Hanbok Blouse and Skirt Teaching in Class, Medical Sciences Building

The traditional Korean hanbok is 5000 years old, but the modern, daily hanbok is a recent invention by new designers who have joined the traditional with current, daily life. With my recent trip to Korea, I discovered these lovely creations (Teterot Salon, Daily Han and Leesle) which all could be ordered online. I have embraced these works of art to wear to at home, work and parties, to celebrate my cultural identity! Why wear just "anything" when you can wear such "something!"

Greener Science

Dear Everyone,
11,000 Scientists warning of a climate emergency. Ninety-eight percent of scientists believe climate change is due to human activities.
https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/biz088/5610806

The act of research requires energy and plastic. Let's make greener labs and video stream our conferences. Our kids are depending on us.
https://www.mygreenlab.org/freezer-challenge.html
https://mosaicscience.com/story/science-research-plastic-single-use-sustainability-lab-waste-environment-gloves/

Hot off the press - Tips on finding the supervisor-student match

https://www.universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/graduate-matters/finding-the-right-supervisor-student-match/

Ideation - The power of the team

Attending Stanford's Design Studio transformed my approaches with meetings and brainstorming at work. I have incorporated their design thinking into student meetings, faculty meetings, curriculum design, classrooms, workshops. My favorite aspect about it is that every voice gets heard, every idea gets equal representation and is voted on by the team. Good ideas can be created by anyone, from the first year student or the retired President/Dean/Chair of a University. And it is always good to include ideas which challenge the status quo, invite people who have different opinions. The voting process allows the best idea made by the team to be prototyped and tested on. Love it. I will post some examples in my next posts.

GPD Featured as a "Best Practice" by the Conference Board of Canada

http://www.conferenceboard.ca/e-library/abstract.aspx?did=7564

My comments on Dr. Leshner's Science Article on "Rethinking graduate education"

Joined the discussion on this timely topic.
http://comments.sciencemag.org/content/10.1126/science.aac9592#comments

Published in University Affairs Article on "Training the Trainers"

Enjoy!

http://www.universityaffairs.ca/career-advice/career-advice-article/training-the-trainers/