Jordan Webster is a music and Spanish teacher at Carlmont who enjoys sharing her passions with her students.
She has known she wanted to teach since high school and before she started teaching she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and a Bachelor of Music in Music Education.
“I was the drum major of my high school marching band for three years. By senior year, my high school band director let me teach the first-year students how to march, and I conducted the marching band, pep band, and concert band rehearsals whenever he was absent,” Webster said.
She has recently joined the Carlmont Instrumental Music Program after teaching at Ralston Middle School for several years. She claims that teaching middle school music is different than high school music, as high school musicians can engage with music at a deeper level since they have covered the basics of learning how to rehearse and play in an ensemble in middle school.
Webster is also passionate about Spanish and has recently started teaching in the Spanish department at Carlmont. She has studied and lived in different countries to educate herself in various languages and cultures, which she wanted to share with her students.
“Studying and living in other countries has profoundly shaped how I think about the world,” Webster said. “It’s pretty awesome that I get to share two of my favorite subjects with Carlmont students.”
Due to Spanish being vastly different from music, she found it challenging to adapt to the new teaching style and manage several classes throughout the day.
“Learning how to structure classes and curriculum for a whole new content area definitely challenged me to rethink how I approach all teaching and learning,” Webster said.
Although challenges come up for her, she looks on the bright side and values the opportunity to utilize a different part of her brain and talk about various topics with students and teachers. Webster’s life is busy, but she appreciates her chance to share her love of music and Spanish with others and experience the growth of her students.
Sophomore Emily Song has been playing the violin in the school orchestra with Ms. Webster since middle school, which has been a positive and educational experience for both her and the teacher.
“It’s been great because she’s seen how much I’ve grown as a musician, and it’s fulfilling being able to stay with a teacher during such formative years,” Song said.
Webster’s passion for teaching shines through when she sees students like Song progress and blossom into talented individuals.
“I love it when the lights turn on for a student, whether that’s in music, Spanish, photography, sports, Rubik’s Cubes, or whatever it is. That moment is powerful and it’s an honor to be part of that for a student,” Webster said.
