About Dr. Balatayo

Greetings, families! I am very eager to begin yet another amazing school year. In addition to teaching English Language Development (ELD) and AP Language and Composition, I am also the ELD Instructional Coordinator for CCHS. For all questions regarding HW, class materials/handouts, and or upcoming assessments, please check Canvas. The student and parent instructions for accessing the program are outlined below.

A LITTLE ABOUT ME

I was born in Manila, Philippines and immigrated to the United States at 12 years old. I have lived in California ever since and love its immensely diverse culture. My immigrant roots and passion for multiculturalism catalyzed my zeal for lifelong learning. As such, I earned a Ph.D. in Education from UC Santa Barbara, where I specialized in Language, Literacy, and Composition Studies with an interdisciplinary focus in Applied Linguistics. I earned my M.S. in Education (Literacy & Reading Certification) and B.A. (English Literature and Language, graduated Cum Laude) from the University of Southern California.

My diverse teaching experience reflects my lifelong commitment to and passion for education. While pursuing my Ph.D., I taught graduate courses in language acquisition and development at Antioch University, Santa Barbara's M.Ed program and Pepperdine University's M.A. in TESOL program. I also worked as a teaching assistant at UCSB, where I taught small undergraduate sections of Intro. to Asian American Literature and Freshman Summer Start. As a graduate student at USC, I taught and designed the curriculum of a grant-funded middle/high school writing program called The Pen Pals under the auspices of the USC Joint Education Project and The African Millennium Foundation. My research is published in the Teacher Education and Practice journal, and I served as a member of the Committee on Accreditation (COA) for the CA Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) for eight years. The COA is charged with overseeing the accreditation processes for all 252 credential bearing institutions in the state of California.

CCHS and its students mean a lot to me. It is where I first took my CSET; got my first full-time teaching position; and met my dearest friends, including my husband, Mr. Plotnik (who teaches in the History Dept.). Moreover, I conducted my dissertation research here for three years, catapulting my career in serving English Learners. It’s where I learn and continue to grow as a professional every day, and I’m happy and proud to call it my home. Truly, it is my pleasure and honor to teach at Culver City High!

ACCESSING CANVAS

DIRECTIONS FOR STUDENTS:

Go to culver.instructure.com
Click "Log in with Google"
Use your [email protected].org email address
Password: use your Student ID number for initial login with an option to change in "Settings"(If your password is not working, click "Forgot Password?" and a password reset will be sent to your [email protected].org email address.)
Sign in with your Gmail
Then click "Allow"