Dr. John Shufeldt, MD, JD, MBA, FACEP introduces High School Teacher, Maribeth Sublette, in Outlier TV Segment Three about reflecting on the first year of teaching and what to expect.
During this Outlier TV education career segment, Dr. John Shufeldt questions Maribeth Sublette about what her first day of teaching was like. Maribeth talks about how she was overwhelmed and was overcome with terror and excitement.
While student teaching, Maribeth was able to learn a lot. However, being in charge of her own class was a challenge. She admits nothing is as helpful as going through that first year and growing by working through challenges, having a mentor and a passion for education.
The interview concludes with Maribeth explaining early naivety and common misconceptions of being a teacher. As with anything, being a teacher comes with both pros and cons. Implementing solid rules helps throughout your first year of teaching.
More career tips and classroom management guidance is available in Maribeth’s interview in Outliers in Education by Dr. John Shufeldt. The book serves as a how-to guide for education majors and current teachers, designed to equip readers with classroom management tips, career advice, and act as a six segment mentorship session with seasoned elementary through college educators in various subjects.
Full Transcript:
[intro music]>>JOHN SHUFELDT: Welcome back everybody to Outliers TV. We are here with Maribeth Sublette, a teacher that I was fortunate enough to witness in her classroom and watch her interact with her students. And then, was fortunately able to steal her and have her come and work with me on the Outlier Series. Okay Maribeth, we have been talking about you and your role as a teacher. Give us an idea of what it is like to start off as a teacher? So you are right out of college, you go into your first day of your classroom, must be terrifying, but what is that like?
>>MARIBETH SUBLETTE: It is, it is overwhelming. I can’t explain to you just the sense of sheer terror. I remember my very first class walking in through the door and I had my hands behind me, not because I thought it looked professional, but because my hands were shaking so incredibly badly, but I couldn’t contain myself. I was so excited, I was so ready to teach and ready to learn from my students. But nothing can really prepare a teacher for that first year of teaching.
>>JOHN SHUFELDT: Sixty eyes staring at you, wondering your next move.
>>MARIBETH SUBLETTE: Well, and I really didn’t necessarily know how to plan because in student teaching, I was there for a semester, and I did all of the plans and I did everything. But, in order to know how a school year goes, you really just have to experience it from August to May and figuring out how to do that was a challenge.
>>JOHN SHUFELDT: So okay, what did you believe, now I know with medicine this helps me, what did you believe at the beginning of the career that as time went on you went you’re like oh that was kind of a naive thing to believe.
>>MARIBETH SUBLETTE: Yeah, I had a few of those. One that really sticks out to me is I thought that if I treated my students like respectable, intellectual adults, that that’s how they would act.
>>JOHN SHUFEDLT: Now they were teenagers as you know.
>>MARIBETH SUBLETTE: Yes, 15 and 16 year olds and I thought you know if I just treat them the way I want them to act, that’s how things will be and that is not necessarily how things worked out.
>>JOHN SHUFELDT: Shut up, no way!
>>MARIBETH SUBLETTE: I know, I know, super naïve you did say.
>>JOHN SHUFELDT: Yeah, well naivety is great when you start.
>>MARIBETH SUBLETTE: It is and to be honest, at the end of my career, once when I put down some really solid procedures and rules down to where the things that I held very close to my heart were still able to work through in the classroom. My students did act like respectable, intellectual adults. But, I made sure I knew how to set that up, I didn’t just expect it without doing something in order for that process.
>>JOHN SHUFELDT: You set it up at the beginning.
>>MARIBETH SUBLETTE: Exactly.
>>JOHN SHUFEDLT: So, what are the common misconceptions? So, you grow up and you want to be a teacher and so just in general what are misconceptions people have about teachers or the teaching career?
>>MARIBETH SUBLETTE: I alluded to one before with you know so many people think “God, being a teacher would be great, you have the summers off, you work from 8 to 3 and you have all these holidays,” and I don’t think that people realize how hard teachers work. My very first day of school, I was coaching, which is something I would not do again I had I had the opportunity to do it over. But I got to school at 7 and I didn’t get home until 10:30 at night.
>>JOHN SHUFELDT: That was your first day?
>>MARIBETH SUBLETTE: 10:30 my first day and I walked through the door and I go “My God what did I do to myself?” And I don’t think people realize just the time and passion that goes into really setting up a classroom.
>>JOHN SHUFELDT: I bet, I suppose if you are really good at it, it takes a tremendous amount of time, a lot of hours before and after.
>>MARIBETH SUBLETTE: It does, that prep time is just so crucial. So that was just one misconception. There’s so many, there is just so many.
>>JOHN SHUFELDT: That was the largest one?
>>MARIBETH SUBLETTE: That was a large one, yeah.
>>JOHN SHUFEDLT: Perfect, thank you so much for watching everybody, we are here with Outliers TV with Maribeth Sublette. Thanks for watching.
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