Building Community and Career Alignment with Kimberly Henderson  

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

Spencer Payne: Okay, here we are with another front of the class episode, real stories from real educators and our real educator today, Kimberly Henderson. Kimberly, can you give us a little introduction when you talk to other educators? How do you introduce yourself? Like, what do you teach? Where do you teach? How long have you been doing it? Maybe fun facts, whatever else you like to spice in. How do you introduce yourself to other people in the profession?

Kimberly Henderson: Hi, Spencer. Thank you so much for having me today. So I'm Kimberly. I'm an early childhood education teacher. And most people are pretty shocked by that. I either get two comments. They either say, that's amazing. You get to play all day long. Or the second comment is, I could never do that. don't understand how you're doing that. But so this is my 25th year and I can't imagine doing anything else. Currently I live in Egypt. I've been abroad. This is my 13th year abroad. My husband is also a teacher who got his certification through Moreland and I have two beautiful children also that go to the school. And I'd like to tell people that I'm the only one in my family without red hair. That's something that that is always interesting. Husband and both kids have red hair. So yeah.

Spencer Payne: Thank you for that intro. And I'm curious if you could, early childhood education in Egypt. Can you just give us a little better understanding of as you look out at your classroom in the morning, what do you see? How many kids, how old are they? Where are they coming from? Like what's the maybe demographic breakdown of where these kids are at the school that you're teaching in Egypt? So can you give us a little better understanding when you look out at your classroom, firstly in the morning, what do you see?

Kimberly Henderson: Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, I love working in this international life. It's completely changed who I am and helped mold my family as well. And in my classroom, I have an international classroom. I have Egyptian students, have students from America, I have students from Korea, from Italy, from all over the world. And it changes every single year, which pushes me to continue to learn. I currently have four year olds turning five. And then early learning at the school is basically three to five years old. I was a kindergarten teacher for the majority of my career and have moved down into preschool just to continue my learning journey of play-based education, which is where my heart is at.

Spencer Payne: Well, let's dig into that a little bit more. Play-based education, maybe for someone out there who has little kids and they want to do that at home, or for someone who's got three, four five year old kind of in the teaching, teaching in their classes. What are some examples of what that looks like? What are some of your favorite games that you play? What are the things that resonate with the kids? Are there any tools that you can share for others who are like, that sounds good. What can I learn from you? What can you share?

Kimberly Henderson: Absolutely. This is, know, when we think about play-based learning, play is learning and learning is play. It's just that simple. And when we think about kindergarten readiness or first grade readiness, a lot of people can jump to how are they holding a pencil? How are they doing their fine motor skills? But for me, this starts out on the playground, right? Them digging a hole and using all of their upper body strength, their gross motor skills goes from their shoulders to their elbows, to their wrists, to their hands. And so many kids think that they don't enjoy riding. But a lot of times it's just because they don't have the strength in their body that they need. And this is where I come in.

I put paper underneath tables and have them draw upside down, right, so that they're working on those shoulder strength. We constantly have throwing activities and I have trampolines in the classroom and spinning things to work on our core because people can't sit up for very long. And so when you think about what kids are interested in, I have a class this year of 11 boys and 7 girls. So dinosaurs are huge this year. But fine motor skills like cutting is really difficult. So I took all of these dinosaurs and wrapped them up with string all over the classroom and they had to cut them free. So here they are working on a skill that they need to but really they're doing something that they completely enjoy. They never knew that they were working on cutting.

Spencer Payne: I this happened two days ago, right? No, I don't want my shirt. Like, all right, let's see how fast you can put that shirt on. I'm going to count as soon as I give you the shirt, I'm going to count. Let's see how fast you can do it. You think you can do it super duper fast. He's like, yeah. And then all of sudden it became this fun game. And I counted and he put his shirt on by himself in 10 seconds. And if I didn't do that, you could, you could just tell like it was going to be one of those days where it was like he was, I was going to put him in the car with no shirt on and just hope that we figured it out later. But sometimes those games, like, I mean, sometimes they're the savior of making something fun and having the kids actually enjoy doing it versus resisting you the entire.

Kimberly Henderson: Yep. then not only that, but them getting to feel proud of them doing it themselves, right? So getting to have that reflection afterwards and being like, you did it, I knew you could do it. And for both parents and kids, what a savior, right? Because the last thing that you want to do in the morning is get into that power struggle. Yes, there are.

Spencer Payne: Yes. Yes. And instead we got to celebrate that he did it in 10 seconds with a big high five and a big smile. And then all of a sudden he was like, it was, it was a 180 in terms of attitude. was like, Oh man, I need to figure out how to do this more with adults too.

Kimberly Henderson: Absolutely, absolutely. There is so much to, if you can be that quick thinker to get ahead of it, it just changes everything. Because there are many mornings where parents come in and I can see, you've had a day already. You've had a day already, give them to me, I've got them. Yep.

Spencer Payne: Yep. Very nice. Well, so you mentioned a couple of things, teaching for 25 years and teaching internationally for 13 years. Can you share a little bit more about maybe that first experience of maybe where were you before you decided to teach internationally and what flipped this switch already a decade into your career of I'm just going to go teach in another country now. How'd that happen?

Kimberly Henderson: You know, people in the international world talk about wanderlust pretty frequently, right? This is one of our favorite words. And so I graduated from Florida, put some cities in a hat, and moved to Boston. I'd never been to Boston, never seen snow, moved to Boston. And then I lived there for 10 years, and it was absolutely wonderful. And then that itch started to get to me.

And then I found out from a good friend that was teaching internationally, I didn't know that that world existed. I really didn't. I probably would have gone sooner. And as soon as that door opened, I jumped at the chance and never looked back. And all of the places that we've lived since, I have never been to before. It's just always that leap of faith.

Spencer Payne: Yeah. And one thing that you had shared with me was, you're now in Egypt and you've been there for, I believe four years. Is that about right? Yep. And that you never thought your world would ever take you to Egypt, but somehow in these four years, you feel like you have really found kind of your, your community, your tribe, a situation that just fits really, really well for you. I really want to dig into that of kind of, uh, how

Kimberly Henderson: This is my fourth year, yes.

Spencer Payne: What you identified from prior jobs and what you wanted more of, what you wanted less of. Why did, why did this feel like a fit? It said, I really want to dive into this for something that others who might be earlier in their career, I might be saying, I want to teach, but maybe this particular school isn't quite the one, or maybe this district isn't the one, or maybe it's not public or private school. want to try something else. I want to help give people maybe a sense of your journey and your framework of how you found this situation you're in right now that feels like you're a fantastic A plus community that you never thought you could achieve something so fantastic. So I'd love for you to just share a little bit more about your, first of all, yeah, let's just get into why is your current situation so great and something that excites you so much? And then we'll get in the journey of how you got there.

Kimberly Henderson: You know right now and it's so important to think about the time in your life, right? The second, I have the two kids, I have a husband that's also a teacher and everything just kind of fits. And maybe it wouldn't have fit at a different time in my life, but right now I couldn't ask for more. The community that's here, the school system that's here the way that the school teaches, everything just fell into place at the exact right moment. And I think that this is why international teaching is such a draw, because you can find this perfect place without ever thinking that that would be your perfect place as long as you stay open-minded to things and try new things.

Spencer Payne: Yep. what are some of the things that specifically that you really like, appreciate, love, et cetera, about this school, this community, this current situation? Like what are some of the things, specifics that are just like, because of this or commute or the person who runs the school or whatever it is, like what are some of the specifics of the things that really light you up right now?

Kimberly Henderson: Absolutely. Okay, so the biggest thing for us was after COVID, the school that we were at prior, we had no community. And it wasn't because of the school or anything like that. It was something that was going on in the world. And so that was our number one that we wanted in the next spot. So we found this community where really it's that it takes a village and everybody looks out for everybody.

Other schools where I've been at, it's separate between parents, it's separate between teachers, the friends that you have are just your teachers. Here, everybody is intertwined. Everybody takes care of everybody.

If my kids are somewhere, I know that there are 10 parents looking out for them. And it's the same for me. If someone is sick, people are there to assist, right? It's so wonderful to also have a son every day in our lives. We lived in a place where it snowed a little, for a little while, and getting kids dressed for the snow is difficult. Does it mean that I don't like the snow? Absolutely not. I miss it all the time. I miss the changing of the seasons, but for right now, really works for us getting to be outside all the time. The playground, the school's philosophy also agrees with mine. This is so important. I think that when new teachers start out, that you just say, yes, yes, I'll do whatever you want. And this isn't the truth.

You have to find what matches in your heart. And that's what this school does. And I can see it in my kids, them changing in their growing confidence. And also, I live within walking distance of the school and they believe that I also get to keep learning. So I get lots of PD money. I get to challenge myself. I am motivated every single day being at the school. And that's what I would need to stay in a place.

Spencer Payne: Perfect. So we got we got a couple things there, right? Walk to school community. You'll trade the snow for the sun. Maybe maybe you'll trade that again later at some other point. But right now with the little kids, right, prioritize the sun over the snow. We've got philosophical alignment kind of with the school. And that includes maybe the opportunity for you to get better, adapt, learn, improve through your PDs, etc. I'd love to I'd love to dig into the the kind of philosophical foundation or the values kind of of you and the school.

Do you have anything that you could share specifically of when you before you join this school and maybe what decided what made you stay because usually the international assignments are two years. So you've you've decided to stay here for longer. What does that look like when you say philosophically aligned with the values of the school? What does that mean? Like what are a couple of the top things that really matter to you? And again, I'm curious to dig into this within the context of for others out there who might be like, I really wish my school had more of this or this or this. How do you define that? How do you define that for yourself of what's important to you? What matters?

Kimberly Henderson: Absolutely. So my number one is learning through inquiry. I want kids, not just my biological children, but I want kids to be learning in this way. And so for me, that's kind of the full stop, right? So if there's a school that wouldn't be learning in this way where more it's a traditional stance, and again, there's nothing wrong with that, right? But when I see...rows of chairs, things like this, I'm immediately like, hmm, I don't know that this will work for me. And that's OK, because it's just me. I want kids really asking those questions. I want to be the facilitator of the knowledge. I don't want to be the keeper of the knowledge. So I'm here to help. And that's what I want, the way that I want my biological children to learn and the kids in my class to learn. I think that that's incredibly important. And that would then.

If that wasn't available, I don't know that I would be a good fit for them either. There's lots of also sporting teams that are here. It's also an American idea. So for instance, next week we get to celebrate Halloween. And then this necessarily wouldn't be so important if I didn't have kids of my own. I've worked in schools that didn't celebrate Halloween, it didn't bother me, but as an American living abroad, I fully enjoy next week. I can't wait. I'm super excited about it. So little things like that go a long way, I think, as well.

Spencer Payne: And let's just say someone out there listening maybe is like, all right, I know what I want. These are the things that I want in whatever my next kind of employment teaching situation looks like. How did you go about finding it? what it's there's there's because there's two steps to this defining your great, your great situation. That's great for you and the school and everybody wins. One is defining what you want, what you want more of what you want less of. And two is finding it. How did you find it? How did you stumble upon this opportunity that feels like such a great fit?

Kimberly Henderson: So there's all kinds of search programs out there. And so you just want to make sure that

Something that's a really big deal is that the school is non-profit, I would check into. Now again, there are many schools that are for-profit that are fantastic, but that's just something that I look for. And then there are huge corporations that help place teachers with schools. And then I would go for one of the more known ones, just to make sure that everything is legitimate and their background checked the school and just making sure that everything is legitimate and on the up and up.

Spencer Payne: And real quick specifically, you mind sharing what organization did you go through to go help?

Kimberly Henderson: absolutely, yes. So I use search associates. For me, this makes the most sense. It's a ton of work to fill out at the beginning, but then it's very easy to apply. They also, they're in contact of schools all over the world, and you would fill out all of your information, have all of your references there, and schools can even contact you this way. So for me, it just makes the most sense. You can of course reach out to schools individually but it takes a lot more work on your part rather than just getting a really long list of schools that match what you're looking for.

Spencer Payne: Yep. And I'm going to dig into the details again, one more time, just because I find this fascinating, right? Of like, so for example, the ability to live within a walking distance of school, is that something that you shared with search associates of like, all right, show me all the schools that meet these criteria. Like how much of that did you share with them to try to figure out what was the right fit versus I'll share these things, but these all kind of search on my own. Can you get into a little bit of that?

Kimberly Henderson: They're good.

No, it would...I be looking for things like a free tuition of my school. So that would be on there. I would want to know do I get flights home? These are all monetary based type things. Then I can also see what schools are PYP or inquiry based, IB schools. And then I would be able to look at what level of positions would be open, right? So are there early childhood? And then of course I would get the website to dig a little bit further into the culture. That's kind of what's listed on Search Associate.

Spencer Payne: Yep. Got it. Perfect. thank you for, for sharing all that, right? Cause it's just one of those things where so many people are probably in this like, this isn't quite right. I want go find something that feels more right. and I feel like this is a very consistent theme for a lot of people. And like, how do I define where it is? I want more of it, less of, and then how do I actually go find it?

Kimberly Henderson: What is it? And all of those things, I write down those types of questions now. Because when the principal asks in an interview, what are your questions, they don't want to hear, don't have any questions. Ask, where are the houses located? How is the community? What's the most fun thing that you do on your campus?

Those are the types of questions that I think really show who you are. And so if those things are important to you, live in close, ask that question.

Spencer Payne: What is the most fun thing that you do on your campus?

Kimberly Henderson: my, there's so many things. So because we're kind of a closed campus, it's almost American soil that we're on. So everything is here. There is nonstop people on this campus from 6 o'clock in the morning until about 10 o'clock at night. There are sporting events. We've just started a pickleball league on campus. I'm over 40, so it's required that I play pickleball now. It's just fact. It's just fact.

Spencer Payne: That is true, that's official.

Kimberly Henderson: things like this happen, we're going to have a huge Halloween carnival next week where there are bouncy slides and all kinds of vendors come trick-or-treating. A huge event that we do at the end of the year is called the Big Splash where everybody gets up, well not everybody, but people that want to get up on the high dive and jump in and we all cheer. It's amazing.

Spencer Payne: And I'd love to transition now to after your 10 plus years teaching internationally, 20 plus years kind of teaching in general, some just stories and approaches that may have accumulated over the years. And so I'll just start with any proudest moments that rise to the top. Anything that you students, a particular team, whatever it may be, any proudest moments rise to the top over your 20 plus years in this profession that you still kind of....if you think about it, it still makes you smile.

Kimberly Henderson: You know, I was thinking about this question a lot because as a teacher, I don't put a lot of focus on myself, right? It all comes back to the kids. And what I was thinking was that recently, within this past year, I've had four students reach out to me after graduating college and tell me that they've missed me and that they appreciated being in my class in kindergarten. I don't know what could be a better, a bigger accomplishment than hearing that. I'm also in touch with several parents that I've had, even from kids all the way before they were born where I had their sibling and then they got pregnant with their next one and I'm still in touch with that parent. So I think for me, that's the best thing that I really got to make a difference, even if it was in the smallest way that somebody knows that I cared about them for this amount of time.

Spencer Payne: I think back to kindergarten, don't remember anything about kindergarten when I was five. I don't remember. Like out of curiosity, like when someone's graduating college, now they're 21, 22, 23, and they're saying, I still, thank you so much. I remember how great kindergarten was. Did they share any specifics of like what they remembered about?

Maybe a specific game or just like the energy that you created in class. do they share any specifics about what it is that they remember from kindergarten that they appreciate now 15 plus years later?

Kimberly Henderson: Yes, and it really, there wasn't, it was just that I made them feel happy or that they learned to love school. It's nothing specific, it's no game, it's no song. It's that every day they were welcome into a space for who they were. And one boy in particular said that before he got to kindergarten, he had felt that he was kind of a naughty kid. And I guess in daycare, think somebody had said that to him. And he said that he never felt like that in my class. And for me, again, that's just the absolute best compliment. That's the only thing that I want from this teaching career is that when people walk into this classroom, they feel loved and supported, and I help them on their journey.

Typically, it's parents that remember me. Like, I get reached out to occasionally. But to have several students this year reach out really, really meant a lot to me.

Spencer Payne: And with that age group, and I have a, again, I have a three-year-old. So some of the things that come out of his mouth are like, I can't believe you just said that. Do you have any wild, crazy, kids say the darnest things moments that rise to the top that you're able to share?

Kimberly Henderson: So I tell parents every year, every single year, I said, listen, if you believe half of what they say to you, I'll believe half of what they say to me, and they tell me way better stories. Way better stories. And I've heard a lot of really interesting things from types of underwear that their mother was wearing that day, that they've had chocolate cake for dinner that night. The span is very large. so typically I just take things with a grain of salt, because they also tell me that they saw a dinosaur earlier in the day. So I just kind of, you know, I just take that, know, oh, that's amazing. Where did you see that dinosaur? So yeah, but I do always tell parents. They tell me way better stories, so watch out. Everything that you do at home comes into the classroom.

Spencer Payne: Oh no. I need to watch out because these teachers might know more about me than I think.

Kimberly Henderson: Now I definitely want to reach out to your kids teachers. Be like, tell me. Tell me about Spencer.

Spencer Payne: Okay, so it never ends with the fantastic kids say the darnedest thing stories.

Kimberly Henderson: It does not. It does not.

Spencer Payne: Any out of curiosity, any others that you might be able to share just because you lit up, it seems like you probably have a hundred. It might be hard to even remember them all. Like anything else rise to the top.

Kimberly Henderson: No, can't. Yeah, I'll let me I'll keep thinking about it as we go back. But yes, it is that they really it's just the onslaught of comments that it's really the avalanche is constant of what they say. It's amazing.

Spencer Payne: Yeah, it seems like nonstop laughter and chuckles in the classroom. And I don't want to sugarcoat the fact that like, you know, it's not all proudest moments and laughter and hilariousness, right? Sometimes this is hard and four year olds sometimes can have sit down strikes and just say, no, I'm not going to do that and be extraordinarily defiant and, you know, push boundaries and figure out how far they can push. So curious, anything, that you're able to share of when

Kimberly Henderson: Yeah, yeah, it's a good time for sure.

Spencer Payne: Like when those times get tough, any hard moments that you had to figure out, like, how am going to handle this that you're able to share? Or how do you bounce back when you're just at wit's end?

Kimberly Henderson: Yeah, you know, the thing is that we're all going to have fragile days, right? And I do think about sometimes like, man, if I could lay on the ground and scream, that'd be amazing. Like, right? Like if we could just all let it out occasionally. And so sometimes I'm like, great job. Way to express this anger. You're mad, you know? And then and then other times.

People just need maybe a quiet minute as well. They just need to feel heard and understood. They talk a lot about how kids that need the most love ask for it in the most unloving ways. And I think about that a lot. And then also, I think it's a four-year-old's job to challenge. At the beginning of the year, typically, I have everybody is quiet and doing the right thing.

But at home, this breaks. And then poor parents get the behavior that I need to see. So once I start seeing more of a balance and kids do start having bigger feelings here and bigger challenges, I know that they trust me. I know that they're able to put that on me. And it also relieves them for the parents, right?

And so there needs to be balance in their life. They need to be allowed to say, no, I don't want to do this, or I'm not in the mood, or I don't like this. That is absolutely OK in this classroom. And I talked to parents about how, when you get on a roller coaster and you put on the safety harness, what's the first thing you do when you put on a safety harness? You test it, right? You push it. And so here it comes down over you, and you're like, mm, mm, mm tell you what, how many times do you do that? Now, maybe this is an interesting metaphor because of course I grew up in Florida so I rode these roller coasters all the time, right? But you push it until you just want to break it. You want to give it everything you have and then you feel safe. Then you let go and then you can have fun.

And for me, this is so much of what I see in the classroom is that kids test boundaries and test boundaries and test boundaries, and this is what they need in order to feel safe. So when I see that, it's really exciting because I know that they want to share the next part of them with me. And that they know that feelings are okay and that we'll work through them and that we love them and support them regardless if they have a bad day. Everyone's gonna have one of those days.

Spencer Payne: Yeah. And one thing that I try to convince myself of easier, not in the moment sometimes than in the moment. But if my son just did whatever I said all the time, I'd be disappointed, right? Of like, well, I'm not here to just raise someone to just take orders from anybody and anybody all the time. Right? Like it's part of the natural order of things of why should I do that? Why does that matter? Like I definitely do want a little bit of pushback.

There's just certain times like we're going to be late for the school. My gosh, we absolutely have to go right now. Or it's just not the time right now. Right. But like the point I'm making is, yeah, sometimes that mindset of reframing this of, gosh, why can't you just listen to me? He's like, actually, if all you did was listen to me, like that would be a problem. Like I wouldn't want that either. and right now we might just need to play a game of how fast can you put your shirt on?

Kimberly Henderson: Exactly right, exactly right. And I think also when parents know that there's no judgment in this classroom, right? Because I have had children dropped off without a shirt on and I know I go out and give the parents a hug. That's who needs that hug in the morning, right? I have the kiddo the rest of the day and we'll get them back on track and all these things, but the mom and dad need the hug. And so once that feeling for them, they also know that they're supported and there's not the judgment there the class also changes. When there's trust and I can go to the parents and say, hey, this is going on, and they know that I have their kid's best interest at heart, everything changes. So yes, I've definitely had kids show up with no shirt on the day in the morning.

Spencer Payne: I can see why you would get kudos from parents after kids are in high school, graduate college, whatever. Because yeah, if you're the one who recognizes, the kid doesn't have a shirt on today, not only am I not gonna scold, but I'm actually gonna go out and hug the parent, because I know what that means. I can see why you get a lot of love from parents years after the fact, because other people might not take it that way.

Why is this kid not have a shirt on? What's wrong with you guys? Like that's not the right way to approach that. And I probably wouldn't have appreciated that without being in that situation. But now that I'm in it, it's like, I get it. You, you've had a way worse day than I have. Well, like already.

Kimberly Henderson: Already. It's only eight o'clock in the morning.

Spencer Payne: Yes, a hundred percent. So thank you for that approach because I like, that's the first time I've ever heard that. And I think that's probably what is so endearing to you, to these parents who are reaching out years later. and maybe that exact thing is that, that empathy that you're sharing right there, but like, what's, what's something after 20 plus years in the classroom, what are some things or one thing that you do in the classroom or with parents or you know, in any of those contexts that just seems to work really well for you. And maybe it works so well that you're surprised other teachers don't do that also. So is anything that you really do consistently that you look around and you're like, huh, how come other people don't do this too?

Kimberly Henderson: You know, so I've really been thinking about this as well, and I'm not sure, because this is one of my favorite things about teaching, is that I don't think anybody can do what I do just like I couldn't do or teach the way that my co-teacher teaches, right? I get to make it my own. And so while I see things that work for me, it doesn't necessarily mean that it would work for someone else, but what I do that always works for me is I assume good intentions always, always. When something happens, when I get an email, maybe that you could read as harsh, I assume good intentions always.

And my other favorite thing to think about is that if someone ever comes with anger...anger is one of the only emotions that needs to have another emotion tied to it. So you can feel happy and just be happy. You can feel sad and just be sad. But if there ever someone approaches you with anger, it's usually because they're worried or scared or unhappy. All of these things, right? And especially with parents, these are their hearts walking around outside of their body. And so assuming positive intention always.

Spencer Payne: On that note, any specific examples that you could share where maybe you were met with anger, maybe it was from a parent, maybe an administrator, maybe it was a student. And how did you approach in your mind realizing that this anger is maybe coming from something else? How do I really understand what really the root cause or the issue is as it play here? Because oftentimes, like you said, anger is maybe directed at something here, but the real root cause is over here. can you, any specific examples that you can share? Just, I highlight this because it's such a real, it's such a great point that you're making. Any specifics or any examples that you can share where you were met with anger by someone and you try to diffuse it or find out what was really going on to help get to a better place by really understanding the root issue.

Kimberly Henderson: Absolutely. Yep, absolutely. So I'm very lucky here because typically this doesn't happen. But so I remember a time in Boston, I had a parent come in and sit down and just full on yell at me. I was new to teaching. I really didn't know how to handle that situation at all and was scared, to be honest.

And so now reflecting on that though, I know that he was concerned about his daughter. this is what, and he came at me with a lot of anger. And I wish I would have said, I see what you're saying. I wish I would have listened more. But as a young new teacher, I was also afraid of doing the wrong thing. I wanted to defend my point of view, right? And instead of just sitting back and listening and saying, I'm sorry that hurt, you must be worried. I think that that would have diffused it so much better. And I think about this parent often. He was or is German and that was my first stint moving abroad. And I almost think it foreshadowed my move.

And I regularly think about him whenever I get maybe a semi-irritated email or anything like that. So I learned so much from that experience to where I really wish I would have just sat back and said, I'm really sorry. I hear you.

Spencer Payne: Yeah. and yeah, thank you for sharing that, especially because that, like, you could have shared an example of, yeah, this is how I handled that perfectly flawlessly, et cetera. And instead you shared maybe the example that helped create the foundation for how you handle this better in the future, which is like, Hey, I will never forget that time that I didn't handle that as well as I could have and how much I learned from that. that over the next 20 years or 15 years ever since that happened, whatever it's been, can.

You can handle that situation better 10 times, 12 times, 20 times, 50 times, because you think back to that one and you're like, oh, that was not how I, that was, I was not how I should have done that. I learned a ton from that experience. I'm going change that next time.

Kimberly Henderson: Yeah. And this is, yep, absolutely. And we're all just people, right? All of us are just people and we're all gonna make mistakes. And if you can own up to a mistake that you've made, you can do anything, you know? And even, mean, I don't know that necessarily something was really wrong, but I could have done better.

And this is the tricky thing about teaching, right? You go home and you reflect on the day and there's always something you can do better, always. And, yeah, good.

Spencer Payne: I say, and on that note, do you have, who do you, who do you consult or brain trust with or whatever it may be? Like, do you just do that yourself when you reflect of like, could I have handled this better? Do you, do you discuss that with other teachers, your husband, maybe because he's in the profession? Like, how do you go about trying to kind of suss out like, Hey, here's what happened. Here's what I did.

Here's maybe what I think I could have done better. What do you think? How could I have handled that? Do you have people in your corner who you kind of have that type of a conversation with and how do find those people?

Kimberly Henderson: Absolutely, you have to have these people. And this would really be a huge piece of advice for new teachers is to find these people, to find positive people. It's OK to ask for help. It's OK to run things by, and I think by others. Teaching can be lonely. Of course, you're surrounded by people all the time. I don't necessarily see many adults throughout the day, right? And so you have to find your people and say, this is how I handle the situation. What do you think? How would you have done it differently? And so this means you have to be confident in yourself to be able to accept feedback and growth, right?

Because you need to find people that aren't just going to say, no, you absolutely did the right thing. They're crazy. Nope, I don't want any of those people. Not helpful, right? And so sometimes what my people say is not easy to hear, right?

Spencer Payne: Yeah, not helpful. Yeah.

Kimberly Henderson: but I need to hear it. And so if you can formulate your group and really create trust with people that push you and challenge you and make you a better teacher, those are your people. And making sure that things stay positive and that you don't go back to that assuming positive intent. Those are your people.

Spencer Payne: Yeah, yeah, perfect. Thank you for sharing that, especially that point of, know, some of that starts with your own reflection and your own honesty to show up to somebody with a genuine desire for, I know I didn't handle this as best as I could have. I'm not really sure what the right thing is but like, here's what happened. Can you help me understand if I ever face this, how can I, how can I do this better? How can I walk away feeling great next time? and again, anyone who just says that was perfect, that person is just crazy. You did great. It's just like, I mean, in all sincerity, like there's a, there's a 0 % chance that I got an A plus in that exchange. Otherwise I wouldn't be asking you. So like, don't fill me up with false. Like, like I just did everything perfect that I don't need to change.

Like, let's have a real conversation about how this could have potentially got better. the more that you individual, me coming to someone of like, I don't think I handled this as well as I could have. The more you're honest, the more you're likely to get an honest reaction back. The more you go at someone though, if you're in that situation of like, I'm pretty sure this person has, there's a problem and I did this perfectly. The more likely you're maybe gonna get that fake, yeah, you're right, they were wrong. You were totally right. Like you've to have an open, honest conversation with yourself first. And then that will more likely get you the best answers that you can get from others who are then more willing to help you when they realize, this person's actually seeking like improvement. Yeah.

Kimberly Henderson: of course we all need friends that are gonna be on your side, right? I'm not saying you don't need people on your side, at the same time, when you're actually asking for feedback and growth, those are the people that you have to find. And you do, we say there's a great program called Adaptive Schools, and you talk about even that you go to the balcony and you look at things from all different perspectives. And this is so important, it's just not all about you and sometimes that isn't easy to hear.

Spencer Payne: Yeah, but sometimes that's where the best learning comes from. A couple more questions here, rapid fire style as we get closer to wrapping up here. What to you is the single number one best thing about this profession, education?

Kimberly Henderson: It's the kids telling me ridiculous things about their parents. No, the kids. mean, for sure, every single day is the best day, getting to be part of their learning.

Spencer Payne: And on the other end of that, what's the worst or the hardest thing about this profession? Or if you could just point a magic wand at one thing and it would change overnight, where would you point that wand?

Kimberly Henderson: Work-life balance, 100%. I've gotten a lot better at it, the older I've gotten. And living in Germany, they're very protective of time. And so I keep that with me always. My family and myself, I am important. I matter. I love my kids and I love my class and I love my job, but I love myself too.

Spencer Payne: What will be the number one piece of advice you give to a brand new teacher navigating their first year in the classroom? Or maybe said another way, if you go back and give yourself that advice in your first year, what might you say?

Kimberly Henderson: Yeah, absolutely. I would listen. Listen more. There's a wealth of knowledge. Ask questions, ask for help, and listen. We come out of school just raring to go, and we want to prove ourselves, and that's great. But be kind to yourself. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time, slow and steady. Ask questions, ask for help. Every time.

Spencer Payne: and your masters, can you share a little bit about your approach to getting your masters or not getting your masters? What can you share there?

Kimberly Henderson: Yeah, I actually, I went back to school because I knew I was gonna be a teacher, but I did not wanna be a teacher. I just did not, I was not interested. And so I went into school, I was gonna be a business major. Business major, this is what I'm gonna do. And then one day, just to make some extra money, I got a job at a child development center, met a little boy named Grant.

I went in and changed my degree the very next day to early childhood and I said, okay, I give up. This is what I'm doing. But I went back and actually got my MBA because I wanted to see if I could do it. And then hopefully one day I'd like to be some sort of maybe open up my own child development center, things like that.

Spencer Payne: I mean, we've got to ask now what was so impactful about that day meeting Grant that changed the entire trajectory of your life.

Kimberly Henderson: I immediately fell in love with this child. That was it. I don't believe in soul mates or anything like this. But if there was that person, he would be mine. And I fell in love. He is just the most incredible person. I met him when he was eight weeks old. I'm still friends with the family to this day. And this is over 25 years now it just everything clicked in that moment. I couldn't imagine not working with children, that it had to be this way. And he changed that. Yes, mean, babysitting and you know, like, because I worked at Universal Studios throughout high school. always, kids were always there. My family is full of teachers, things like this. I knew it was gonna happen, but I just wanted to try something different.

Spencer Payne: Hmm. Hmm. And had you worked with kids at all before that? was this the... Yeah.

Kimberly Henderson: But the second I met Grant, I was like, why am I fighting this? This is it.

Spencer Payne: incredible. Like just, just like that after one day.

Kimberly Henderson: Yeah. Yep. Yep. I went in and I was like, I don't, I have to be working with these people. That's it for me.

Spencer Payne: And what, if you could share one, two, three things, could be three, could be one, whatever it may be. Since you've been in this profession for 20 plus years, decided to change your whole life on a dime after a day. What, if anything, do you wish maybe the public at large who does not work in education? What do you wish one, two or three things that they knew about this job, this career, this profession, what it's like to be a teacher that maybe you don't think that they really realize if they've never walked a mile in those shoes?

Kimberly Henderson: I think that people need to know that not everybody can do this job. So many people think that... I think that...teaching is easy or they get to put their two cents in or I think it's a job where I don't think many other jobs people say, well, I could go out and do this pretty easily. But for some reason, teaching seems to get that rap. And so I would love it if people came in and spent a day and just saw everything that was put into what we do.

And that's it about early learning. People regularly come into my room and say how cute it is. Now it is. It's absolutely gorgeous. But everything we do is with intentionality and purpose. Every single thing. And so it's just to know how much teachers care and how much time and effort we put in and how much we love the kids that are in their class forever.

Spencer Payne: On that note, any other educators who you wanna share a little love to? Anybody whose approach you really appreciate, someone you work with now, someone you've worked with in the past, maybe someone who was a teacher when you were going through their class, anybody who you wanna give a little shout out to, a little love to, who you just like, this person's doing it right.

Kimberly Henderson: You know who I'd love to talk to is Jenny Mitchell. Jenny Mitchell also works at Moreland, and she has been an inspiration through the majority of my overseas international career. And I love her dearly.

Spencer Payne: Well, we're gonna have to work, work, we're gonna have to work to chat with Jenny Mitchell more. Um, and any, anything that we didn't have a chance to discuss in this that you would just really want to share or anything that we. Yeah.

Kimberly Henderson: I wanted to share one thing with you because I read a crazy moment and so we talked a little bit about the kids, but lots of people ask me how do I get to work, do I ride a camel to work, things like this living in Egypt, okay? I do not ride a camel to work, however, for one of our holiday parties, we have camels on campus pretty regularly, okay?

And I just have to tell you the story that there's a gate that you come in and there's...get the camel into the school, but the camel was refusing to put its head down, and so they could not get it through the gate. And our task as teachers was to figure out a way to get this camel to dip its head to get into the school for this party. And I just, I love this whole image of teachers standing around this camel that's all dressed up and everything, because that's what teaching is like. We're gonna be these incredible planners and then incredibly flexible at the same moment and have the best sense of humor constantly. So I just want to...

Spencer Payne: Yeah. You never know when your day is going to turn into camel herding. and again, any, any other than last, like that was some great last words of, right? You got to be a planner and the improv. so I guess that would be great, great final words for anybody listening or thinking about getting into this profession or maybe newer to it is you have to have this paradox of being a great planner and also knowing when it's time to throw the plan away and shuck and jive a little bit.

Kimberly Henderson: This is exactly right.

Spencer Payne: Yep. Well, Kimberly, thank you so much for sharing your real story from a real educator from the U S to picking Boston out of a hat to Germany to now finding your tribe and your community, so to speak in Egypt after I want a little more of this. I want a little less of this using search associates to go find that thing that, that really is a great fit for you. And now you're four years in and sounds like staying for as long as they'll have you because it's a great fit for right now. So thanks so much for sharing your stories. Appreciate you.

Kimberly Henderson: Thank you so much, Spencer. It's been such a joy. Thank you.