Shelby Spurlock: From Classroom to Coaching — How Teaching Shapes a Life of Sparking Joy and Empowering Others

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Q: What about working in real estate brings you joy?

I'm definitely a people person. I like working with people to find a home that suits them the best; it’s really fun for me because we're trying to check [all] the boxes, to find everything [in a home], and when we do, it's exciting! 

Once, I was working with some first-time homebuyers, and the selling agent had taught at The Dunham School, the same school that I taught at in Baton Rouge. (I don't think our paths ever crossed.) She was telling me how former teachers make the best realtors because we have time management [skills], are very organized, know how to deal with different types of people, and know what people need. If I look back at how I would manage my classroom…it’s really the same thing. When working with other agents, it's funny how I can nail what type of personality people are and what they're looking for…so I feel like that has helped. Former teachers are definitely organized and efficient people.

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Q: What are some highlights that you have experienced in your career? 

• As a first-year teacher in Houston at a public school, I was really nervous about my students hitting all their marks on their state tests; I've got a bunch of different people with different ways of learning, and my classes were very large compared to where I was placed in Baton Rouge. Seeing all my students pass their tests was exciting! Later when I got to teach AP Biology, it was fun when everybody passed [their AP exam], especially seeing some students getting 4s and 5s. That was very exciting to see. 
• I feel like science in general is intimidating [to students], you know? People mostly go into it thinking, “I don't want to…this class is gonna be so hard.” So if I can get a spark of joy out of a student any time throughout the year [in their science class], I feel like that is a success. The same thing goes for coaching. When kids experience Tiger Stadium for the very first time as pregame starts, there’s a spark that is so indescribable.
• Today, whether working with a first-time homebuyer, someone upgrading to something new/exciting, or someone purchasing an investment property, [the process and purchase] still sparks joy [for them]. So I feel like I've definitely enjoyed being part of people's joy.

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Q: How did you balance your passion for coaching while teaching? 

I didn't have my kids yet when I was teaching and coaching at the same time. Every single day, I would wake up, do my workouts before school, go to school, teach until 3 o'clock, then go to LSU, and get home about 8 o'clock every night. 

From the outside, others probably thought I was very stressed and had a lot going on, but genuinely inside, I did not feel stressed. I really truly enjoyed everything I was doing, so I feel like that's what kept everything going. Just keep going. Don't stop. 

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Q: What were the most significant takeaways or benefits you gained during your undergraduate experience?

I would say teaching taught me efficiency; it runs throughout everything in my life. In GeauxTeach, you learn that very, very early.

I remember in my first classes, [the instructors] would give us prepared lesson plans. So, your first year [in the program] you're going to teach with what they hand to you. You think,  “I can do this because they're literally handing it to me.” Next time, they provided you with a partial lesson plan, but you had to come up with rest. So there's still a little bit of a hand-holding. You're learning how to get your brain to understand the organization of how things can flow most efficiently in the amount of time that you have. I feel like whatever you're doing in your life, time management is so important, and you definitely learn that skill in the GeauxTeach STEM Program. No matter your job, you will still have a list of things to get done.

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Q: What skills did you learn in GeauxTeach STEM that have benefited you in your career?

• We learned everything that I was going to need in the classroom. I had been exposed to it all in my GeauxTeach classes, whether it was using Google Classroom (or whatever it is now) in the teacher role or putting together complicated lesson plans. It was being comfortable with the little things...Also, being dropped into the classroom with support and being told, “Good luck” was so fantastic, so helpful. I feel like we started with maybe 4th grade and worked our way up. In my student teaching semester in my last year, I was teaching juniors and seniors. I remember thinking, “Oh my gosh, this is going to be so intimidating.” Then I remember saying, “Nope, it's not going to be.” When I got there, it felt like, “I got this.” You know what I mean?  Once you get in your groove, you just have to remember that you've been practicing [for this]. And now, it's game time; just keep doing it! 
• I'm not trying to toot my own horn, but I really think coming straight out of the GeauxTeach Program and being a first-year teacher for high school students was not intimidating at all;  I had been teaching for those years [at LSU], whether it was with someone holding my hand, or doing it all by myself with my mentor teacher during residency. I feel like I could be dropped into any classroom and be successful. I never felt intimidated even for my interviews. I was not intimidated at all because I knew that when they watched me teach…that I was gonna knock it out the park because I had been doing it for so long. I knew how teenagers worked, what made them excited, and what made them not want to do something. You know what I mean?
• My grandfather was big in education, and he basically told me, “No matter where you're teaching, whether you're homeschooling, teaching middle or high school, or teaching AP classes, photosynthesis is the same. The cells are the same. Nothing is changing, so just do what you know how to do.” That was comforting. I just needed to engage with my students, be efficient, and find what sparks joy. Because if I’m joyful about it,  that's going to transfer to my students. Find your niche and let everything else just flow. Because, again, “cells are not changing.”

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Q: Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

Cherish all the moments of your college experience; it's so fun! Don't try to be an adult yet, but start to put on your adult shoes, then your hat, then…Just keep going. If you stick with the [GeauxTeach STEM Program], and finish it out, you will be successful in the classroom. Obviously there are other things you can do with your science/math degrees, but if you go into teaching, you will find success for sure.