THE PROFESSIONAL ME

Known throughout cyberspace as "Frizzy," my full name is Karla Frizler Octavio.

I am currently a full-time ESL Teacher and EL Civics Technology Coordinator for Torrance Adult School, which is part of the Torrance Unified School District in Torrance, California. My students range from Beginning Low to Advanced in both their language and technology skills, so it's always an adventure. The focus of my classes is on using technology to find information about community resources, enhance job performance skills, and develop cross-cultural understanding within the local community. I also train and mentor other teachers, helping them develop lessons for the computer lab, and build their own technology skills. I develop all the EL Civics lessons for our school.

In addition to my work in Torrance, I also teach Adult ESL part-time for Santa Ana College's School for Continuing Education, in Santa Ana, California. In the Community Learning Center, I have multi-level students (Beginning 1 through Intermediate 3) practicing what they're learning in their ESL classes, plus developing additional English and technology skills.

From 1999-2002, I served as an Instructional Designer for a statewide grant project--"@ONE," housed at De Anza College--which provided technology-training resources for all California Community College faculty and staff. At City College of San Francisco (Title III grant project, 1995-1999), I set up a faculty-training program for instructors using technology to enhance student learning, and mentored individual faculty experimenting with instructional technology.

In addition, I have taught a graduate seminar on "Technology for TESOL" at San Francisco State University, my alma mater, a web design course at the Center for Electronic Art in San Francisco, and have a variety of ESL teaching experience ranging from adult literacy to college preparation at UC Berkeley and elsewhere.

In January 1996, I received my Master's degree in English (concentration: TESOL) from San Francisco State University. You can read my Master's Thesis on the Web: "The Internet as an Educational Tool in ESOL Writing Instruction."

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Ideal Job

My dream job contains the following elements:

• Full-time, tenure-track faculty position at a community college or university in Orange County or the Bay Area
• Divided into a variety of creative roles, such as ...
  • teach students ESL, English and/or Instructional Design
  • mentor faculty in the use of innovative teaching & learning methods, including constructivism, project-based learning, student-centered learning, and effective use of instructional technologies
  • lead or manage innovative projects that involve strategic planning, curriculum design and instructional technology

Professional Background:

• instructional design
• project management
• curriculum design (teaching and training materials)
• ESL and information-technology teaching
• instructional-technology training
• research and strategic planning
• report writing for grants

My teaching interests include:

• using the Internet for language learning, communication & collaboration
• effective use of technology to enhance student learning
• student-centered and project-based learning
• ensuring universal access to learning (accessibility/assistive technologies)
• bridging the "digital divide"
• empowering girls and women through use of technology
• educational publishing
  

Teaching Philosophy

My approach to teaching is to provide a comfortable environment in which students explore, experiment, take risks and, most importantly, create. All students bring something unique and valuable to the learning environment, and it is my responsibility to help connect new knowledge to that existing knowledge and experience. Serving as a resource and a coach helps students learn and apply that which has meaning to their lives. And learning should be fun!

THE PERSONAL ME

During the time I lived in SF (1990-2002), I achieved quite a bit:

• worked in the music industry (BAM--Bay Area Music--Magazine, Scintilla Publishing, Slim's Nightclub)
• traveled the world (England, Scotland, France, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Hawaii, and, of course, all over mainland United States)
• completed a Master's degree
• met and married my husband
• learned how to hula dance and play guitar (and a bit of ukelele)

Not bad for 12 years, eh? (For more about all of this, see my personal website.)

Personal Interests

My husband and I welcomed our first child, Mia, into the world in 2006. She is the joy of our lives, and we can't remember what we did for fun before we had her! She is very technically-savvy, with her own email address and blog. She also uses a webcam to "see" her Tutu (Grandma), Grandpa, and other relatives in the Bay Area.

Travel is my passion, and I live in a perpeptual state of wanderlust, dreaming of my next trip. My main goal in life is to always have a plane ticket booked for *somewhere.* These days, we travel to San Francisco a lot, to visit Tutu & Grandpa.

I also enjoy all kinds of music, from soul/r&b to rock to country to pop, but I tend to lean toward classic 70's rock (Led Zep, AC/DC, Queen, Aerosmith, Van Halen--with David Lee Roth ONLY). In other genres, I dig Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Uncle Tupelo, Poi Dog Pondering, Booker T & the MGs, Smashing Pumpkins, Dwight Yoakam and the Dixie Chicks. Some might say I play guitar, but others just run screaming from the room.

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Random Tidbits

• Favorite Movie: Harold & Maude
• Favorite Childhood Book: From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
• Famous Saying: "Classic!"
• Sports Team to Which I'm Most Loyal: Los Angeles Dodgers