Jodie's Page

Iʻm originally from Sydney, Australia, but lived in Tokyo for 14 years and moved to Hawaii 4 years ago. After 10 years teaching at the college level, I I'm currently teaching Japanese levels 1 and 5/IB and ELD academic writing at a private Pre-K to 12 high school. Although I’ve been teaching EFL/ESL for 20 years, I’ve only been teaching Japanese for 2. I still have so much to learn, but am loving the challenge.

When I'm not working, I'm usually hanging out with my husband, our nearly-4 year-old son and our 2 dogs. We love cycling, the beach, and the zoo, or just hanging out at home.

A key experience that has significantly influenced my philosophy of teaching and learning is an autonomous learning module I took in grad school. Rather than being lectured about what autonomous learning was, we actually got to experience it. This allowed us to better understand how complex autonomous learning is, while at the same time enabling us to really master the academic content. On an intellectual and emotional level, it was the most powerful learning experience I've had, and, 15 years later, it still influences how I approach teaching and learning.