Catalina Goldstein
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About the Author
Me (left) and my mom (right) hooding me at graduation.
I am Catalina Goldstein. I come from a speech-language pathology background. I received my BA in Communicative Disorders and Sciences with a minor in Theatre Arts from San Jose State in 2014. I earned my teaching credential from Touro in 2017. I just finished my fourth year teaching in Vallejo City Unified School District during 2018-19.
I grew up in Benicia, Ca. I love the diversity in the Bay Area. My mom is Filipino and my dad Russian. I often had a hard time connecting with some of my teachers and professors who did not take into account various cultures and ethnicities. It is of the utmost importance for students in Vallejo to see teachers of varying ethnic groups.
I was drawn to Touro offering a connection to Jewish learning, which is great for my own Jewish growth and identity. My first teaching job was at B’nai Shalom Preschool in Walnut Creek. Where I was able to incorporate academic subjects as well as yiddishkeit, or jewish learning.
I grew up in Benicia, Ca. I love the diversity in the Bay Area. My mom is Filipino and my dad Russian. I often had a hard time connecting with some of my teachers and professors who did not take into account various cultures and ethnicities. It is of the utmost importance for students in Vallejo to see teachers of varying ethnic groups.
I was drawn to Touro offering a connection to Jewish learning, which is great for my own Jewish growth and identity. My first teaching job was at B’nai Shalom Preschool in Walnut Creek. Where I was able to incorporate academic subjects as well as yiddishkeit, or jewish learning.
Reflections on your Journey
For me, the Teaching Credential process seemed easy at first. I was getting A's in all my classes, until I got to the final assessment the EdTPA.
I had to do the EdTPA twice. The first time I failed so miserably that I received a personal phone call from our campus EdTPA coordinator. The second time around I decided to do it on my terms. Instead of taking one semester to collect and analyze data, I took two. Thankfully I passed by a few points and I was at long last able to call myself a "real" teacher.
This long process made me think back to my undergraduate career, when I first started doing poorly on assessments. I started to freeze under the pressure of big tests. A problem I had never faced before. Throughout my k-12 years I had done just fine on tests without any feelings of doubt.
When I started teaching 3rd grade in the 2017-18 school year I watched my students start to freeze on the CAASPP. It sadly reminded me of the stress I had felt in college unable to rise to perform and show my knowledge on big exams. I knew there had to be a way to help my students reduce their test anxiety to have clear minds to answer questions. I reached back to what help me during college. I took deep breaths, cleared my mind, and took short walks when I was able. I decided to explore some of these strategies with my students to see what kinds of effects it would have on their test scores.
I had to do the EdTPA twice. The first time I failed so miserably that I received a personal phone call from our campus EdTPA coordinator. The second time around I decided to do it on my terms. Instead of taking one semester to collect and analyze data, I took two. Thankfully I passed by a few points and I was at long last able to call myself a "real" teacher.
This long process made me think back to my undergraduate career, when I first started doing poorly on assessments. I started to freeze under the pressure of big tests. A problem I had never faced before. Throughout my k-12 years I had done just fine on tests without any feelings of doubt.
When I started teaching 3rd grade in the 2017-18 school year I watched my students start to freeze on the CAASPP. It sadly reminded me of the stress I had felt in college unable to rise to perform and show my knowledge on big exams. I knew there had to be a way to help my students reduce their test anxiety to have clear minds to answer questions. I reached back to what help me during college. I took deep breaths, cleared my mind, and took short walks when I was able. I decided to explore some of these strategies with my students to see what kinds of effects it would have on their test scores.
Lasting Learning from the Innovative Learning program
Read more about my Innovative Learning journey here on my weebly blog.