Born and raised in northeast-Wisconsin, as a kid I loved anime and languages in high school so I started studying Japanese my first year of college, then spent several years in Japan as a student and English teacher. I love learning languages and experiencing world cultures and have spent time in various countries over the years. I enjoy looking at Japanese poetry, fables, ghost stories, and learning about Japanese traditional mythology.
My teaching career includes working as a teaching assistant during my graduate studies, and then teaching Japanese at Menasha High School since then. Through the high school I have also been an adjunct instructor at UW-Oshkosh in a program that allows students to earn college credit. I have also worked as an adjunct instructor at Fox Valley Technical College.
My teaching philosophy is as follows: I continuously strive to study foreign languages, because I enjoy it immensely and it is also good to help remind me of the learner’s perspective, as well as having firsthand experience of what techniques are effective in the classroom and which are not. I enjoy working with stories in foreign language education and try to incorporate them in lessons when possible.