“Not Being Afraid” with  Ayoko Vias

Please note, this transcript is generated by AI and may include some errors. 

Spencer Payne: Okay, here we are with another episode of Front of the Class, Real Stories from Real Educators. And our real educator today is Ayoko Vias. And Ayoko, can you please introduce yourself? How do you describe yourself to other educators? What do you teach? Where do you teach? How long you've been doing it? What lights you up about the profession? However you like to speak about it to other educators when they say, you're a teacher too.

Introduce yourself. Feel free to take us away and introduce yourself to others who are aware of this profession.

Ayoko Vias: Hi, Spencer. Thank you so much for this opportunity. Yes, I am Ayoko Vias. And I like to say I am passionate and purposeful about my teaching. This is my, I finished my fourth year teaching kindergarten. And what I like most about the kindergarten students is that they are old enough that they can articulate their thoughts and express themselves. They are  many individuals, you know, they're still developing, but they have a sense of self. At the same time, they are sponges and they are so eager to learn and so eager to please their teachers, their parents, that I find this particular stage where they are the most, I would say, impactful.

I feel I can have the most impact on them. You're still able to mold them and shape them, yet they are they have their own budding personalities, which makes them so interesting and such a joy to teach. So I love I love what I do. It comes with its ups and downs, as all teachers know, but I'm really passionate about about teaching and making an impact on kids lives.

Spencer Payne: Yeah. On that note, my little guy is about to turn three and I just had a 15 minute session where he asked me why 25 times in a row about why, why I have to go to work and why, why does that matter? it's, and it's really, it's really fun to see this little brain play out. but one thing I'd love to add to that question is, is where do you teach? And also when you're, when you're in the front of the room and you're looking out at your classroom, what do you see? Paint us a picture of what it is that you see based on your classroom and where it is that you teach.

Ayoko Vias: Yes.

Okay, I currently teach at a school called Alconciel International School in Lomé Togo, which is in West Africa. Alconciel is a bilingual school. We teach in both English and in French. So we have like two parallel curriculums. So we have a French kindergarten and we have an English kindergarten. And that is from, we start at like two year olds from...what do call, from nursery all the way through grade 12. And my classroom, our classroom sizes are pretty small. That's one of the advantages of an international school. I usually have anywhere between eight and 12 students in my classroom. And I have also a classroom assistant that helps me out.

Our classroom is very colorful, very bright, lot of light. Of course, you have all of the wall displays, the alphabet, pictures, you have your number, number images. You have, we're also an IB school, International Baccalaureate. So we have all of our IB learner profiles displayed. We have different play areas or different workstation areas. So you'll have the little a mini library in our classroom. We have the kitchen play area, we have an area with manipulatives where they have loose parts that they can build stuff with, whether it's Legos, bottle caps, wooden blocks. And we usually also have a center based on the IB theme that we are working on during that period. So let's say if our unit is on Express Yourself, which is our art unit, I would have a section of the classroom dedicated  displays of different types of artwork, whether it's painting, sculptures, anything representing art and the theme that we're working on. So that's a general idea of what our classroom could look like.

Spencer Payne: And you mentioned you've been teaching for about four years. Can you share a little bit more about your teacher origination story and how that came about and what you were doing in your career before teaching?

Ayoko Vias: All right, before teaching, I was more in administration. So I had my degree in project management. I had been working in different administrative roles in organizations, whether it's running an office, as an office manager, event planning, meeting planning, that kind of stuff. That was my background for over 22 years.

And in 2020, I was working in Benin at an international organization as a project manager. the project, what do call it? The roles, the terms of the project changed and they had to eliminate some roles, including mine. So my position was eliminated at the same time was COVID was kind of peaking.

So I couldn't return to the US because things were far worse there in terms of COVID than here. So I decided to come to Togo, which is a neighboring country to Benin. And my parents were there. And I thought this would be just a transition six month thing while I find a new job, again, as a project manager in an international organization. Well, fast forward a year later, still hadn't found anything in my field  time been distributing my CV at organizations, institutions, schools in Togo, especially where they needed someone who was English speaking because Togo is a French speaking country. My French is pretty fluent, my spoken French, but my written French is not at the level where I'd be comfortable working primarily in French. So that's why I targeted organizations and institutions who needed someone in English.

So about 10 months after I get a call from Acanciel. They wanted to meet with me and they had a need for a grade one co-teacher as well as someone who would also teach English to the French students in grade four and five. And when you've been unemployed for about a year, you're willing to take greater risks and you have nothing to lose. So I went for it. And it was a huge, huge transition because before I was working with primarily adults, not even primarily. I was working just with adults. Now I'm working primarily with children.

Spencer Payne: Yeah, I was just saying, can you share a little bit more about that first three or four months or so, right? Because now you're talking about you're working as a project manager, event planner, et cetera, in the US to then COVID kind of changes the whole world. Now you're in West Africa and you're teaching first graders as a co-teacher, which is not something that you had planned on in any way. And you're working with adults and now working with five and six year olds. Can you share a little bit of like...

Ayoko Vias: Mm-hmm. Kids.

Spencer Payne: What was that first day like? What was that first week like? And when, if at all, did it finally become comfortable of like, I actually kind of like this and maybe I'm kind of good at it. And maybe I want to make this a career. So can you share a little bit about that first day, first week? What are you feeling for this career change? And when did it start to get fun or start to click?

Ayoko Vias: It was, in one word, could say it was overwhelming. The first day, the first week, the first month, because even while I was in there, there were still a lot of changes. I'd never been in education, so I didn't know what to expect. I mean, I'd been in education from a student perspective, but not from the teacher perspective. So it was a huge adjustment. And I cannot identify when...

I could say I felt comfortable specifically. But I think the one thing that I had going for me is I always loved children. Even as a preteen, I started babysitting younger kids when I was about 12. I've always, always had a love for children. At my church, I served in the children's ministry. In the nursery, I taught dance to the young girls.

So children have always been present and active in my life. And then I became a mom, so I have my own children as well. So in that aspect, it wasn't strange. Interacting with children was very comfortable for me. But it's still a whole different environment as a teacher and as your full-time job and now having to also deal with parents and their expectations. So there was still that shift that had to happen. But what made it a little bit easier in spite of the huge transition and the overwhelmingly of getting adjusted to being a teacher and how to teach, cetera,  just connecting with the children and the little things that they will say and the hugs that they will give you and the things that they'll say to make you laugh, to make you smile, and they're just adorable. So that, I would say, offset any of the negativity and any of the feeling of overwhelm that came with it.

Spencer Payne: Yeah, perfect. And I love to dig on this a little more just because that is such a massive life transition, right? To recap, talking working project management in the US to now teaching first graders as a co-teacher in West Africa at an international school, right? Something that was not on your bingo card in any way whatsoever. Can you share just a little bit more? And then I would love to get more in the classroom and engaging with parents and some of the other more classroom related things, but I'd love to just, you the life update here. Can you share a little bit more about like,

Ayoko Vias: Sure. Right, West Africa.

Spencer Payne: What did that mean in terms of, what was your living situation like in the U S what was it like back home? what was, how was this comparable in terms of pay? And then ultimately, like we can share all those, you know, the things that are on a piece of paper house pay, et cetera, health insurance, whatever it is. I'd to just hear a quick compare contrast. And then ultimately you've been doing this now for four years. So can I presume that whatever changes there have been have been positive and can you share a little bit more about that? So can you do a little compare and contrast because this is such a different life than the life that you were living and then share a little bit of the positives and the negatives, the positives and the negatives comparing those two different lives.

Ayoko Vias: Sure. I will reflect on the job that I had just before transitioning to this, where I was in Benin working at an international organization, which they, as with a lot of international organizations, when you are an international hire, it comes with a full package. They provided housing, they paid for my kids' school fees, they pay for vacation, you know, once every two years to travel to your home base utilities, some of them. And I was getting, I was living in West Africa but being paid in US dollars and the cost of living in Africa is significantly less.

So even though had I been getting that salary in the US, it would have been considered small here in West Africa plus with the additional benefits, health benefits, housing, et cetera, it was a sweet deal. I will not sugarcoat it. It was a very nice deal. We were living a very comfortable life and had our own house, well settled. And then when we had to move here, move in with my parents,

Well, that was a whole different dynamic. Again, I thought it would be temporary while I found another job or while my husband found something, whoever got something first. So we're moving with my parents who were in their late 70s. And I'm here with my husband and my two kids.

So that was another shift in itself. And then when I started working at Alcantier, you cannot compare the salary. It was significantly less than what I was used to making. But what offset it is, again, even though I didn't have the benefits through my job, like for example, the housing benefits. I'm living with my parents, they weren't charging rent. Of course we were contributing with other household expenses.
the major expense anywhere is always housing. So that was a blessing, in spite of all the other adjustments, not having to worry about paying rent with the salary decrease that helped to offset things tremendously. And then there was also the advantage of having my own kids grow up with their grandparents, an experience which I never had the advantage of. So of course there are complications in the dynamics, but I like to see the positive side. And it was a huge blessing, especially because I lost my dad a year ago. So my children got to spend the last four years of his life you know, seeing their grandfather interacting with their grandfather every single day. And to me, you can't put a price on that.

Spencer Payne: Yeah. Especially based on what you said earlier, maybe before then, like this, free trip home once every two years, maybe they would have under normal times, maybe they would have seen him twice for a total of 12 days, before he passed. And instead they got to spend every day with him for three years. so pretty special circumstance out of something that doesn't feel special. I'm sure at the start, right. But that ends up, ends up kind of having a bunch of positive realms of the story. well, thank you for, for sharing that. Cause I mean, there's, plenty of reasons why people get in the teaching profession. And sometimes it's out of not something anyone thought was going to happen. And they end up in a place where there's a lot of positives that end up afterwards. One thing you said earlier is we're about to go into a new school year. You love the kindergarten age because there's an opportunity, right? They're kind of becoming little people. They start to have a personality. They start to learn things. And you mentioned there's a great opportunity to kind of mold.

Ayoko Vias: Mm-hmm. Yes. yeah.

Spencer Payne: what five and six year olds kinda can think and do and what they're capable of. Can you share a little bit about maybe your upcoming class and what are some of the things that you hope to instill in that class? How do you hope to mold? What are some of the skills or values that you hope to instill in your kindergartners?

Ayoko Vias: I think for my kindergarteners, one of the biggest values that I like to instill in them is just not being afraid. Because one of the things at this age, yes, they want to please, so at the same time, they don't want to mess up. Right? And so I want, I always try and teach my students that making mistakes is part of the learning. And you can learn from your mistakes. So don't ever be afraid to try. You may not know the right answer, but give it a shot. You may not know how to or do something, but I tell them, don't say, I cannot. I try and forbid that phrase in my class. cannot, teacher, cannot do it, no.

Say, teacher, it's hard, can you help me? But be willing to try. So that is the biggest lesson that I try to instill in all my students, matter what age. Don't be afraid to try, don't be afraid to fail. It is part of the learning process. And I think if they can learn that at a young age and carry that with them,

Spencer Payne: Yeah.

Ayoko Vias: to adulthood, sky's the limit. Sky's the limit. Because I think it's fear that hinders us from taking that leap. And from my own story, from my own journey, how I came from project manager, office manager, into teaching, it was a huge leap. And had I said, I cannot, I've never done it before, I wouldn't be where I am today. And it's thanks to that leap that I said, I, what do call it?

I found my passion, I found my purpose, and it's because I took a risk. And I'm so thankful that I did, because now I honestly can't imagine doing anything else, at least not in this season of my life.

Spencer Payne: Yeah. I love that so much, especially again, I've got, I've got, I've got little guys, right. And my almost three year old, you know, we try to hit the ball or catch the ball or kick the ball or all kinds of things. Right. And sometimes he misses one or it goes backwards or something happens. And sometimes there's this like cry when I can't do it. And I try to do the exact same thing, right. Of like, hold on. We'll take, let's take a deep breath.

We don't say we can't. I've seen you do things that you say you can't do, and then you can do them like two minutes later. So with like, we're practicing, we're just practicing. And then sometimes I'll miss one on purpose, right? Like, see, look, I miss one too, but you see me, I'm just going to take a deep breath and I'm going to keep practicing and I'm going to try, going to try, I'm going keep trying and hopefully I can get the next one and try to model that behavior and show that I make mistakes too. And I just embrace it and try to keep learning and keep practicing. Um, so thank you for sharing that. love that.

Ayoko Vias: rights to show them. Yes.

I just want to jump onto that. So again, demonstrating to your students that you make mistakes and it's okay. Oftentimes, I have written the wrong date on the board. And not on purpose. Not on purpose, but anyways. And one of the students will be like, teacher, today is not Monday or today is not this. I'll be like, my gosh, I made a mistake. And I'll ask them, is it okay for teacher to make a mistake? Is teacher perfect?  make mistakes and one student one time is like no teachers don't make mistakes. And I'm like we all make mistakes and it's okay and thank you for showing me that I made a mistake and now I'll correct it and we move on. So yeah it's very important to model for them making mistakes, correcting your mistakes without falling apart.

Spencer Payne: Ha!

Yep, 100%, I love that so much. Another thing you mentioned earlier was around this transition into teaching is kind of figuring out how to work not just with the students, but with the parents. So can you help us understand a little bit of maybe in the first day, first week, first month, you pick your timeframe of how do you set the foundation with a new class, not just with the students, but also with the parents of  you know, what they should expect of you in your class, but also what you should, what you expect of them and like how you want to set that foundation. So you're kind of all on the same page of, you know, you all have the goal of trying to help these, these, these little ones improve their lives and still some core values. Like don't say I can't, we're just going to keep trying like, et cetera. So how do you, how do you get on the same page with not just the students, but also the parents?

How do you go about that? How do you set that foundation early in a new school year?

Ayoko Vias: Yeah, great question, Spencer. And that is very, very important because it really is a team effort between the teacher, the school administration, the parents, and the students themselves. We all have to work together. We have to be on the same page because if we're contradicting each other, we will not be able to achieve the results that we want to see in our students, whether it's from the parent's perspective or the teacher's perspective. So it's very important that there is a mutual understanding  of what is expected on all sides. So usually within, definitely within the first month of school, the administration organizes parent-teacher orientation in each class.

So the parents, the administration will first do a presentation to all the parents and then the parents get to go to each of their child's class and meet with the teacher. And that's when the teacher and the parents get to have a discussion, a conversation  the teacher will first present the daily schedule, the routine, whether it's homework, what to expect, how the classroom is run. The parents will get to see the classroom, what's displayed. We talk about our expectations. We talk about the curriculum, the calendar for the year, so the parents know what to expect, or at least have a general overview. At that time, they're also welcome to ask any questions.

And in addition to that, I have a very open door policy, especially in the mornings and when they drop off their students or in the afternoon when they pick them up. If they have any questions, if they have any concerns, they are free to pull me to the side and talk to me. We also communicate by email and Google Classroom. At the end of each week, I put a brief summary of the activities we did during that week. And we also take pictures of the different activities we do throughout the day and I share those with the parents. It's an opportunity not only for the parents to see what their student did or what we did in class, but I will also encourage the parents to go through the pictures with their child. So as the child is looking at the pictures, they can be like, yeah, that's when we were doing this and explain to them and go more in depth because that is a way for the child to also review what they did. And it provides a basis for communication between the student and the parent.

Otherwise, it's the typical, how was your day? Fine, and that's it. Exactly. This allows them to dive deeper and be like, what were you doing there? I see you were doing something there. Can you explain a little bit more about it? So it gives them some guideline into a more meaningful conversation with their child so they can really understand what their child is doing. And it will also reveal if there's anything the child is struggling with or maybe a friend said something in that situation that hurt their

Spencer Payne: Good, yeah. Yeah.

Ayoko Vias: feelings, it just provides more meaningful dialogue, I feel.

Spencer Payne: And then do you share maybe with the parents upfront of one, one of the things in my classes, I don't, I don't want to hear the words I can't. And so when a kid does say something like that, here's kind of how I'll counteract that. Because one thing I want to do is let it be known that it is okay to make mistakes and then we can learn from it. Is that something that you, you kind of share with parents in that opening conversation? And if so, like, how do you phrase that? Cause that's one thing I bet most parents are probably like, yes, I liked it. I liked that. Like, do you bring something like that up? And if so, how do you phrase that?

Ayoko Vias: Excuse me actually Spencer. I have not done it during that meeting But now that you brought it up and school is starting in two weeks I actually will because I think it's important at the get-go and so that the parents can also support me in Applying that principle at home  because it's so important and it's so fundamental. usually, I've done it with students more one-on-one. I remember one particular student too at the beginning of the year. was every time, was no teacher, I can't, and it was a meltdown. So I had that conversation with her parents, but not in the, you know, not in the general parents meeting.

But I think it is an important, it's an important and valuable lesson that even if your child isn't struggling with that, to present it to the parents. So even if it's one time that your child says, no, I can't, you already know how to handle that situation. So thank you for highlighting that.

Spencer Payne: Yeah, it's one of those things where like, I bet 12 out of 12 parents, if you said that would probably be on board. I would like to believe anyway, that seems like a pretty universal trait. But it's one of those things that, you know, it's one of those things that can be delicate for how you phrase something like that in an upfront conversation. Now flashing ahead towards maybe the end of a school year. So, you your end of the school year is a couple months ago, right? Of maybe your...

your fourth year in the teaching profession, how do you look back maybe over the summertime in prep for your next class of like, how did you do? Like, not maybe the administration's view of kind of how you did, but you personally, like what do you look for and how do you reflect back at the end of a year of what you thought you did really well, what went really well, what you want to do more of, what you want to do less of, what you want to change? Like, how do you kind of judge  out of the success, so to speak, of your last class and take that into what you want to apply into your next class. Like, how do you go about that?

Ayoko Vias: One of the things that I like to do with our last report card that we give out, is usually the last week of school, and we meet with the parents individually. And I always ask them, actually with every report card I do this, but especially I'm very intentional about the last report card to hear from the parents, to get feedback from the parents. And I asked them, how do you think your child has evolved? What is the biggest change that you noticed in your child? Is there anything you feel I could have done differently to have better helped your child? So again, I do it with every time I meet with the parents one-on-one during report card. But especially at the end of the year, that helps me to recap what went well, what didn't go well, what could I have done better, what should I continue to do, what was most meaningful, what was most impactful.

And the parents are always candid, especially since it's a one-on-one session. There's no intimidation. There's no apprehension. And again, because I make sure I build that rapport with the parents throughout the year, by the end of the year, we have a pretty comfortable relationship that we can have that candid dialogue  to address any highs or lows that may have happened during the year. So I usually use that as well as the evaluation we get from the administration. They usually come and...

overview how we're teaching, they watch how we're teaching and the requirements, make sure that everything is met and they give us feedback on that as well. That's usually earlier on in the year. But I combine those things and pull from those to see, to self-evaluate how I did and how I can improve. As well as in this fast-moving technological world that we're in.

also trying to find out, how do I need to adapt? How do I need to adjust my teaching to take into consideration all of these new tools that are coming into place? Hope that answers your question.

Spencer Payne: Yeah. And on that last note, are there any, uh, are there any, any tools that maybe you used last year that you thought, wow, this is great. I really liked this tool. I'm going to use, I'm going to keep using this and, or anything that you are hoping to experiment with so far this year that you've, uh, you've, you've heard good things about, but maybe you can't quite, you can't quite promote cause you haven't used it, but maybe it's something that you've heard good things that you're going experiment with. any, any tools that you can vouch for that you really liked or any that you're going to try this coming, uh, school year.

Ayoko Vias: Well, I have, during the summer, I did a couple of sessions learning about Tottle and their new AI features. I've never used Tottle and unfortunately you have to, your school has to subscribe to it. So you can't just enroll as an individual. But it is something that I want to present to my school because we're not quite yet, we don't use a lot of technology in the classroom, at least at the pre-school level.

Spencer Payne: Yeah, I can understand that.

Ayoko Vias: but I see lot of benefits to it. And I feel like the things are moving so quickly that if we don't get on board, we're gonna be left behind, so to speak, with the whole AI that is being introduced in every industry, every aspect. I really want to be able to use technology more in the classroom as a tool to enhance what we're already doing. It won't replace it, but rather to enhance it at this level of education.

Spencer Payne: Yep. Perfect. so toddle is a one potentially coming that you've, you've heard good things about that you want to experiment with. other thing you mentioned earlier was, you know, this kind of kindergarten level, just some of the incredible, positive, maybe some negative and maybe hilarious things that come out of the little five, six year old kid's mouse. do you have any stories of any, you know, any, laugh out loud moments, any like, you know, kids say the loudest things, any proudest moments. So pick your, you could go fun, you could go proud moments, any direction you'd like, any funnest or proudest moments that you can think of in these four years in the classroom that you're able to share here with us in the audience.

Ayoko Vias: Yes, definitely. One of my funniest moments, I had a kindergartner two years ago, he's the type, he's all about space and technology, very, very smart kid, very quiet, soft-spoken, but very, very smart. And one day he comes to me and he goes, he goes, teacher Yoko, Jaden is sus.  I was like, sus. I said, what does that mean? He goes, it means he is suspicious. I'm like, a word like that coming out of a five-year-old. I just burst out laughing because he knew exactly what he was saying.

And another moment, on my birthday, the kids surprised me. The parents, a couple of the parents got together and they surprised me and they came in with bouquets of flowers and presents and the kids just started, you know, just burst into happy birthday and all hugged me almost to the point of throwing me to the floor because they all just gathered and smothered me. And it just, makes, those are the moments that make the hard work worth it  to know that you are appreciated. The parents, especially when the parents come at the end of the year and tell you, know, at the beginning of the year, you know, my child didn't like to participate in class, that, you know, they were fearful or, you know, they didn't want to make mistakes, but now they are bold and they're confident or a child that you see who struggled with, let's say, literacy at the beginning of the year. And by the end of the year, they're reading a book independently cover to cover. Those are proud moments. Those are your paychecks, so to speak.

Spencer Payne: And on the other end of that note, like you mentioned that, you know, being attacked by 12 kids with a big hug on your birthday is a great moment that helps counteract the tough moments. when there are tough moments, or maybe those first couple of months you had in the classroom where you said you felt just a sense of overwhelm. you know, when you have those tough times, those overwhelming moments, like what do do to bounce back?

What do you do to reground yourself? Like what advice would you share with others who might be experiencing that overwhelm or that, you know, I've had the same conversation with this kid about not saying the word I can't and we're 20 days in and he's still saying it six times a day for those like maddening moments, right? Like what, can you share? What have you done that's helped reground yourself and kind of get past and get through those tough moments? Like what, what have you done and what might you share with others?

Ayoko Vias: One thing I would share is as a teacher it's important to understand that every child is unique and every child will evolve at their own pace. So while you may just have to tell one child one time and it clicks, you might have to tell another child 20 times. And that's before we even get into dealing with children who may have some learning disabilities or delays. So every child is unique and it takes a tremendous amount of patience. And you just have to understand the child and be willing to try new strategies. Maybe the child is, maybe one child is learned just by hearing. And so you tell them and they understand it, they grasp it. Another one might be visual or they might be a combination. They need to hear it several times. They need to also see it. Other children are more tactile. They need to feel it. They need to touch it.

So as you're explaining, you might need to demonstrate, need to walk them through it. So you have to have a lot of tools in your tool belt, so to speak. So if one isn't working, you try another. And I think this is also where it's very important to have good...rapport with your fellow teachers and bounce ideas off of them and say, hey, you know, I'm struggling with this particular issue or this child. I don't know how to get through how to explain this or get this child to understand this. You know, here's the situation. Do you have any input? How do you deal with it? So balancing ideas off of each other is very, very important.

And in terms of for my for myself, when I get to a point where I feel like I'm being hard on myself or I feel like, okay, did I make a mistake? Was this a wrong career change? That's when my faith really rises and that's where I really lean on my faith. Just like we have curriculum for teaching.

My curriculum for life is the Bible, is my faith. So that's when I remind myself, like, you know, God has a plan and a purpose for me. And it's a purpose and a plan for good. So even when things may not be going my way, I remind myself that even the mistakes, even the things that may not seem to be going in the direction that I want it to go right now, it's all part of God's perfect plan and he will work things together for good. So that is what keeps me going.

Spencer Payne: Uh, and I'll get to a more rapid fire kind of quick hitter questions here as we get close to wrapping up here. Um, but what, what would be the number one piece of advice that you might give to, you know, again, right now it's the summertime. We're about to go into our, our, our new school year. Uh, there might be some teachers that maybe you're working with who might be in their first year, right? Um, what, what advice might you give to, to teachers who were in that first year, uh, that you think is most helpful for just

Ayoko Vias: next school year.

Spencer Payne: common problems or issues or challenges that you see first year teachers have? What's the top piece of advice you'd give to those folks?

Ayoko Vias: Yeah, that is an easy one to answer. And my answer is you don't have to stick to your schedule. Because I was a big stickler coming from a project management. You know, I want to check off every box. You know, you got to do it in this particular order. I'm very organized. And I had to learn to throw that all out the window. Yes, you have to have a plan. You have to have your lesson plan. You have to have your schedule for the day. But you have to be flexible and you have to read the  room. Let your students, let your students guide you and direct you. Yes, you're the teacher, you still have to maintain a sense of control, but if a student is having a bad day, I had a student one morning  come to class and very sad story. The car was coming out of the garage and accidentally ran over their cat.

So he came to school in a complete meltdown. And I'm like, OK, how are you going to teach when this child is grieving? So I had to put the schedule away. I had my assistant go and take care of the other students. I took time, and I just sat with this child and just held him and hugged him and let him cry. And the mom was still there. And I said, you know what? The mom wanted him to stay. And I said, I don't think it's a good idea. I think he won't be able to focus. He's grieving and he needs to be home right now. And she agreed and so she took him home. So you have to be able to read your students, read the situation and adapt. It's okay if you don't check every box for that day. You can make it up later or you know in another way. So flexibility again you have to be flexible and you have to understand that the day is not always going to go the way you had planned and that is okay. That's okay.

Spencer Payne: 100%. And you just shared, uh, you know, was going to ask with your prior career, cause you've had a whole career, right? Prior to teaching, uh, what is a skill you've already answered this. What's a skill that maybe you learned in your prior career that maybe you had to unlearn. And that was maybe sticking to a schedule perfectly every day. Cause that was your old role and now it's a little different, but on the other side of the token, what's something that maybe, uh, you learned in your prior career that has helped you in your teaching career. So what's something that you can draw strength from that you've learned that you can now apply that is an asset to you in your new teaching career?

Ayoko Vias: I would again say the same thing that I had to unlearn is the same thing that has also helped me because as you know, as a teacher, there is still an administrative aspect, a huge administrative aspect. And in fact, I think in one of the the total sessions that I was doing this summer, said we actually teachers actually spend 49 % of their time in actual classroom interaction with the students and the other 51 % is mostly mostly like administrative lesson planning and dealing with administration. So from a project management standpoint, being organized is still crucial as a teacher. You have to do your unit plan. You have to prepare your lesson plan. You have to make sure that there is a logical flow, a logical sequence in how you teach.

So those skills have still been beneficial for me. It's now in the interaction with the children that you have to be flexible. So it's a double-edged sword.

Spencer Payne: Yep. And what to you after four years in this profession that was never on your radar, what to you is the number one single best thing about the education profession?

Ayoko Vias: Wow, single best, that's tough. Can I have two? Say that again? I didn't hear you. You said, say that again? Okay, thank you.

Spencer Payne: You can cheat and have two or three if you need to.

Ayoko Vias: Again, number one, would say being in a position where you have such a huge impact on your students' lives. And I look back at, I remember my own kindergarten teacher. Her name was Mrs. Penrith, and this was more than 40 years ago. But I can't tell you a single thing she actually taught me. I can't tell you a single song that I learned in kindergarten. But I remember how she made me feel and she always made me feel safe, she made me feel loved. She made me feel like I could overcome anything. So the fact that I remember her 40 years later. I hope I have that same impact on my students. And again, with that thing that I said about overcoming your fears and not saying I cannot. If I don't teach them anything, if they don't take away anything from what I have taught them, if they can learn that they can do anything, if they are determined to, they will go, the sky's the limit.

So that's one thing, yes, that's one thing. So the impact that I have on students is one of the great benefits of this job. And of course, one of the biggest perks as a teacher is having...

Spencer Payne: great lesson to instill.

Ayoko Vias: two months summer vacations. And as a mom, being able to have that time with my own children is priceless. It's really, really priceless. You can have adventures and vacations and explore new things with your own children and build lifetime memories with them. And thirdly, what would I say?

You cannot go into this profession for the salary. Let me put that out there. You have to be, otherwise you will give up. You'll give up. And as I said before, I tell people I stumbled into teaching and found my purpose and my passion. And it's because I am so passionate about it that despite the ups and downs, despite the challenges, because it became such a passion, I was able to stick with it and to the point where I made the career decision to get my teaching license, because I knew, like I said earlier, that I don't see myself doing anything else at this point in my life. So if you come into it, if this is truly your passion,  it will be the best decision that you would have made.

Spencer Payne: And on the other end of that spectrum, what is the single worst or hardest or toughest thing about this profession? Or if you could change one thing with a magic wand, where would you point that magic wand?

Ayoko Vias: appreciation, appreciation from administration. You don't always get the appreciation or the encouragement that you may need. You may not get it from the administration, but you will get it from your, if you're fortunate, and I think I'm very, very blessed, I get a lot of it from my colleagues. I get a ton of it from my parents and most of it from my students. And that is the fuel that really keeps you going.

Spencer Payne: Perfect. And two more quick ones. Any other educators maybe you work with, maybe you follow on Twitter or Instagram or wherever who you draw inspiration from. Is there anybody out there you want to give a shout out or appreciation to on the note of appreciation who you think is just doing it well, doing it right, who maybe you seek to emulate. And maybe it's even your kindergarten teacher from 40 years ago of remembering how she made you feel. But is there anyone that you'd like to shout out and give some appreciation to who you really appreciate how they go about their teaching.

Ayoko Vias: So many, but yes, I do want to give a shout out to Mrs. Penrith, who is my kindergarten teacher. I have tried looking for her on Facebook, Instagram. I don't even know if she's still around, but if she is, yes, she was an amazing teacher. A teacher that I currently admire is one of my colleagues. She's the one who teaches the French kindergarten, and her name is Melanie.

She also shares that same passion for teaching. You can see it. She lights up. She makes teaching fun. She's very much a disciplinarian as well. But she makes teaching fun. And her students just absolutely adore her.

I've always told her that I wish I could be a student in her classroom and I wish we had the time. I really would love to be able to go and just sit in her classroom as well as other teachers just to pick up strategies and methods. I think it's important and I'm really, really trying to get our school to allow us the opportunity to do that. But if I were to pick anybody's class to sit in, it would be Melanie. So good job, Melanie. Keep it up. I admire you.

Spencer Payne: Thank you so much. anything that we didn't have a chance to discuss that you do want to leave as final words of wisdom, maybe for our audience of prospective teachers, early in their career teachers mostly. So anything we didn't have a chance to discuss that you want to leave as words of wisdom or maybe anything that you did share that's just so important, you want to say it one more time. So any new or repeated last words of wisdom.

Ayoko Vias: Yes, I'd like to say teaching is definitely a noble profession. It is such an important profession and teachers are not valued as they should be. And I think we realized it during COVID, parents were having a meltdown having to teach their own kids. And that's just your own kids. That's just maybe two or three, maybe four kids. now teaching a classroom of 12, 15, 20, everyone with a different personality, a different method of learning, it's a lot of work. It's a lot of work, but it is very, very rewarding.

So my advice is get into it only if you're getting into it for the right reason. It can't be for the paycheck. It has to be something that deeply resonates with you, that is a passion, a calling. something that you know that you are meant to do. Otherwise, you will not last. And we need good teachers who will stay because having to change teachers every year, it creates a lot of instability for the school as well. So it's important to have teachers who love what they're doing and who will stay for the long haul.

And for that to happen, we also need administrators who value their teachers and give them the support and the encouragement and the appreciation that they need to keep on going. I've seen too many outstanding teachers leave. And I think that could have been avoided. So yes, get into teaching, but make sure you get into it for the right reason.

Spencer Payne: Yeah, well, thank you so much, teacher Ayoko for your phenomenal real stories from a real educator who came into this profession as a second career, never thought about it 20 years after a whole other career moving to another country to teach moving in with grandparents, but having this amazing experience where your children get to live with your grandparents for a

Ayoko Vias: Blindsided.

Spencer Payne: Let's keep both instilling. We don't say I can't around here. We say I just haven't done it yet.

Ayoko Vias: Yes, yes, yes. It's hard, but I can do it.

Spencer Payne: Yeah, it's hard, but I can do it. Well, thank you so much for sharing your story with us and good luck on this upcoming school year.

Ayoko Vias: Thank you so much, Spencer. It's truly been a pleasure.