Satsuma Scholars

I have been an ESL and JSL teacher for 10 years. I have taught all ages; however, the last 8years has been more focused on early childhood teaching in a range of 0 – 6years of age.

My goal is to create a classroom where children know that learning language is fun! That language is a tool to learn about different cultures, which leads to new fun experiences. I have found it very important to first help your students build confidence, then they will trust you to take on learning challenges. When they overcome the challenges, they feel the sense of accomplishment which will foster that spark of “I want to learn more!” Admittedly my teaching experience truly started at an English conversation school in Nagoya, Japan. This experience focused on "speaking above all else". Largely due to the parents of students learning a second language being “most impressed when their children speak”. Since then I have studied under teaching professionals that have larger backgrounds in phonics-based learning, Montessori teaching styles, and early writing. While speaking isn’t focused enough in the public education sector in Japanese schools, I’ve learned to focus on teaching language holistically. I hope that my experience in the field can help others learn language through the products available in my store.

Member of Phi Sigma Theta, a national honor society dedicated to recognizing and rewarding academic achievement in undergraduates at institutions of higher learning

University of California San Diego where I focused on Japanese language and second language learning Education. I studied abroad at Waseda University in Tokyo, Japan. Here I was able to learn how valuable it is to put yourself in an environment where you can immerse yourself in the language you want to acquire.

Raised with an early childhood educator as my mother, she raised me as a bilingual (English and American Sign Language). Later in life, thanks to a close friend made in elementary school, I grew to have an interest in Japan. Now I am working as an English and Japanese as a second language (ESL/JSL) educator in Kagoshima, Japan. The love of my life is a Japanese native, thus you can rest reassured that the products have been checked proper before use in the classroom.