Hello. My name is Michio Okamura but my students call me "Sensei" which means "teacher" in Japanese. I was born and raised in Japan, came to the U.S. at the age of 18. I went to a college in Iowa and obtained an Elementary Education degree. While I was doing my student teaching in Chicago, I found this job in this school. I have been teaching since 2003.

I wanted to become a teacher since I was in 5th grade. I love my teaching job in this school because the people here (students, parents, and teachers) are awesome! I am a very lucky person because I can make my living by doing what I love to do. 

In 2015, I finished my master's degree in Bilingual and Bicultural Education. My favorite authors who wrote about education are Lev Vygotsky, Mikhail Bahktin, Tsunesaburo Makiguchi, and James Paul Gee. Reading, thinking, and writing about these thinkers' educational philosophies had a tremendous effect on my way of understanding what it means to learn a language. 

Please feel free to stop by and say hello to me. You are always welcome to my room.