I have a graduate degree from the University of Wisconsin???Milwaukee in English and am currently working as a composition instructor at Milwaukee Area Technical College and at Bryant and Stratton College. I have also lived and worked as a second language teacher in Japan, Thailand and Saudi Arabia. Aside from teaching, I also am a writer and a translator (Japanese to English).

I have worked as a tutor at the Writing Center at UW-M and have also studied tutoring pedagogy. My method of tutoring is to first discuss the assignment with the student, read the assignment prompt and then read the student's essay. I work top-down; that is, I look for higher level problems, and a fully developed thesis statement and/or clear supporting evidence, before looking at mechanical issues such as grammar and spelling. This method is student-centered, and I work to get the student writers to understand how to become better writers for themselves.