Introductory Letter

My name is Jordan Lehman. I graduated from University High School in 2010 and received my AA from Spokane Falls Community  in June 2012. My plan wasn't always to attend Eastern though.

Ever since I can remember, I knew I wanted to be in law enforcement like my father. I wasn't too sure about going to school for anything else. Until my junior year of high school, I was dead set on that plan, then one day I changed my mind after a student teacher encouraged me to be a teacher. Then it really hit me. I could make a difference just as I would of done as a cop, but it all started in a classroom. I made the decision of wanting to teach in an inner city school. It was really just second nature. When I graduated with my AA, I was determined to leave Spokane. I had been accepted to University of Las Vegas Nevada and all the plans were set about me moving there. I had a made great connections through an instructor at SFCC and I was ready to pursue this new adventure in my life.

My plans had fell through with UNLV because of finances and I was absolutely heartbroken. I think God helped in me realizing that that wasn't my fate. My boyfriend and I of 5 years, who I was traveling to UNLV with, had broken up and I needed to follow my own path, alone.

Everything in my life started falling into place this summer. The upcoming fall quarter meant a placement, and getting that much closer to becoming a teacher. I was placed at Horizon Middle School with the best master teacher I think I could ever ask for. The great thing about her is that she hasn't been teaching for decades, so every year is a learning experience for her. I was hired at Garry Middle School as an AVID tutor in August for the following year and I was finally getting my name out and my foot in the door.

Now in my second quarter of being placed, I find myself still falling in love with teaching every single day, though I still have a long way to go. I find my weaknesses are commanding attention and being fully confident in what I am doing and saying. My strengths are observing the classroom and everything that is going on around me and making connections with the students.

In this course, I want to become more comfortable with my content areas and become more confident in teaching it to my students. I always get overwhelmed thinking that I will never know what I need to know in order to teach my content areas effectively, which seems so silly. Overall, I just want my passion and love of literature to translate into a love of teaching it as well.