‘A Little Bit of Everything’: From Teacher to Principal with Dr. Alicia Abbey  

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

Spencer Payne (00:08): All right, here we are with another episode of Front of the Class, Real Stories from Real Educators here today with Alicia Abbey and Alicia, to those who are in the education world, what is it that you tell them that you do these days? Because you've had a relatively varied path. So where are you playing today in the education world?

Alicia Abbey (00:25): Yes, I am a principal currently teach at Morningstar Catholic School, which is a private Catholic school. We serve students with special needs in grades K through 12. I also work for University of Central Florida as an adjunct professor as well.

Spencer Payne (00:41): Awesome. And you started before becoming principal, right? You started in the education world in teaching. How did you enter this profession in the first place? What drew you to it?

Alicia Abbey (00:52): Well, I always used to play school with my dolls back in the day when I was a little kid and I tried different things in college. I actually entered wanting to be a pediatrician and then switched to business and something just kept telling me that no, teaching education is really where you belong. So when I was in college, I started working as a teaching assistant for a preschool and I just kept going and then I finally made the decision to go into education.

Spencer Payne (01:20): And when before becoming a principal that you are now, what was your path in education to start? Like, what did you start teaching? How long did you teach for? What grades? Give us a little bit of lay of the land of kind of what's your path been.

Alicia Abbey (01:31): Yeah. So because I was in the preschool area, I really enjoyed younger students. So my first couple of years of teaching was with kindergarten. So I taught kindergarten in the public school system just because they kind of push you into the public school system when you usually go through college and your internship. And I was, you know, just drawn to the younger students. So I loved that. And then a school that I went to as a as a child had an opening and it was a third grade position.

I knew a lot of the people that worked there. So I really, that was kind of like my dream school that I wanted to go to. So I applied, I got in, I ended up teaching there for 10 years for third grade. And then my very last year there, I taught first grade before moving over to where I am now. So, long time.

Spencer Payne (02:15): Yeah, yeah, yeah. Awesome. And what has kept you like 10 years teaching and just real quick, sorry, this path from teaching to principal, how long have you been kind of more on the administrative side?

Alicia Abbey (02:29): So I've been an administrator for seven years. One year I was an assistant principal here and then the past six years I've been principal. Yes, yeah, probably, yeah, definitely.

Spencer Payne (02:36): Cool. So we're talking almost 20 years in the profession across teaching and administrative. Awesome. And what is, what is for almost 20 years? Yeah. What, has kept you in it for this amount of time? What, what keeps you coming back every day?

Alicia Abbey (02:50): Well, first and foremost, the students for sure. But I really think it comes down to the relationships with the students, with the families, with your colleagues. I have been very, very lucky to meet many co-teachers and teaching partners that have just become very close friends, almost family. And the same with the students. I keep in touch with a lot of the kids I taught back in first grade or kindergarten, and I still see them and keep up with them. So really, at end of the day, think the relationship piece.

Spencer Payne (03:18): Yep. Awesome. And when you've been doing something for almost 20 years, again, even though there's two different sides teaching and then administrative, what keeps it fresh? Like what, what's something that maybe you're looking forward to over the next three or six or 12 months, you pick your timeframe. what's something that after, after you've been doing it for a long time, that you still say like, I'm still excited about that thing that's coming up in the future. Is anything spark anything for you?

Alicia Abbey (03:42): Over the years it's changed. So for me it's like continued education. I like to go to conferences. I like to network. I like to meet new teachers that kind of get me excited about education again and new ways to learn, ways to teach. And then also the advancement side I've gotten into and the development side of education. So we actually have a new building project starting. We're expanding our programs at our school currently. So that has given me recently like the new excitement, like something new.

But throughout my career, it's always what's next? What can I do better? How can I improve? That's kept me going. So for me, was like continued education.

Spencer Payne (04:21): Yep. And on that continued education, what's next? How can I keep progressing? How can I keep getting better? any, any highlights to share? Obviously potentially you could get into going from teaching to being a principal and the administrator side and what that means. but any highlights to share of over, over this career in education? Like, what are some of those things that you've, that you can do now that maybe five, 10, 15 years ago, you're like, I can't believe I can do this now. Like, what are some of those things that, that, if that's so exciting for you, like what are a couple examples of things that you're able to do after focusing on that continued education. How do I keep getting better side?

Alicia Abbey (04:57): Well, as you've been in education, things change with the way the curriculum is, the students change, like how they come in. After COVID, especially, you saw students shift where they were huge gaps in learning, more behaviors because they weren't experiencing social. They didn't know how to sit down in the classroom and hear a teacher and listen. So all those things made me want to figure out, how can I make learning more fun for them? How can I make learning fun for the teachers and provide the teachers the correct background and professional development where they can be successful in the classroom too. So those types of things helped me keep going. It's how can I do better? How can I deliver the instruction better to the student? For me it was I wanted to know interventions because I was seeing students that were struggling and I didn't know how to reach them. So that was me going in for more education and getting my doctorate.

After that, now that I'm a principal, it's how can I make the school better? How can I make the school provide more services so that we get more students, the families needs are met, and for us it's behavior. We added a behavior program, more hands-on learning type things. So that kind of keeps it going. You just look for what you can do better and how you can improve and be a better teacher and educator.

Spencer Payne (06:17): Yep, awesome. on that note, right, a continued education, progressing, learning more, doing more. What sparked this transition from going to being in the classroom to being on the administrative side, more responsible for all of the classrooms? Like, how did that get started for you?

Alicia Abbey (06:36): Honestly, it was just what was the next step. I knew I didn't necessarily want to be in the classroom forever. I wanted to grow in some way. I ended up getting married and having a child. And so, you know, he was little. And so the thought of going in as an administrator at the time did not seem like the right thing to do. So I just kept going to school. And that's where I kept going. And I got my doctorate and it was in interventions.

And so it kind of led me, I wasn't special ed, that was not my background, but it kind of led me to the school that I was, like all the different steps. So I kind of found a place and I came on campus here and I fell in love with the students and the mission that they had. And so sometimes it just kind of something else leads you in that right direction.

Spencer Payne (07:19): Yep, you mentioned the doctorate in interventions and you mentioned earlier kind of interventions being a very important part of kind of the role of teacher administrator, some of the ways that you can help and add value.

Are you able to share any examples of either specific interventions? You can leave names out, right? Of like, what was the behavior you saw? What did the intervention look like and what was the end result? Or if you're not able to share any specifics, which I understand if you can't, any more general, like what are the characteristics of a successful intervention? When do you call one? Like, how do you conduct one? Like, how long does it take? Like, what can you share there?

Alicia Abbey (07:49): No, it's okay.

Yeah, mean, so teachers will like evaluate and test students constantly in progress monitoring them. So when you see something is not working with your with the delivery of your instruction, that's usually when an intervention needs to happen, when they're not making progress, when they're not making gains. And so then there's different interventions you can use, whether it's academic based or behavioral. So sometimes it can just be they're not able to focus. So you have to break up the instruction and parts where it's like you build on it and you got to differentiate the instruction. That's a big word now, differentiate instruction is all over. So that's something teachers have to learn. It's not easy when you have, you know, 15 to 20 kids in a classroom, how you have to make sure they're all learning different ways and at different paces. So yeah, it's challenging. Keep showing your toes.

Spencer Payne (08:47): How do you balance that? Like for something that is challenging like that, how do you go about even thinking about deploying a differentiated education for 15, 18, 20, 24 kids? Like how do you think about that?

Alicia Abbey (08:59): It's that's why I feel like connections and colleagues are so important. I always talk to our teachers about collaborate with your co-teachers because you can get, you know, you can have someone do half the work for you. If you plan together, you can plan for a higher group of students and they can plan for the lower group of students. And that way you're not doubling up on your work. So collaboration, I think, is key with who you work with. Plus, then you get fresh ideas. You can't be closed to your way as the right way. I think that's a key thing in education is you want to constantly be looking at different ways and realizing that other people have great ideas and you have great ideas that you can share too. So that helps a lot. That helps reaching those kids is getting knowledge from others as well.

Spencer Payne (09:44): Yep. Awesome. After 10 years in the classroom, right. Administrative side, like after doing this for a while, I imagine there's some proud, proudest moments, coolest accomplishments. does anything, anything strike you of, of something that maybe still makes you smile or light up? cause you're like, I can't believe I did that. Or the team did that or that student was able to do that. What is or are one or more proudest, most enjoyable kind of moments in this education profession that you are able to share?

Alicia Abbey (10:18): So for me where I am currently, we're all students with special needs. However, we are right next door to a K through eight school and a high school. So inclusion is a huge passion of mine. So seeing in the past seven years that inclusive environment grow, we've partnered with the Bishop Moore High School, we've partnered with the K through eight school. A lot of my previous students that I taught in my other elementary school are actually attending the high school and they're part of those inclusive programs. We brought peers as partners here, we brought the unified sports teams. So our high school students at Morningstar can compete and play alongside the Bishop Moore students. So those for me were huge accomplishments and was very exciting to see happen. And then have previous students being a part of that now that they're teenagers was really cool too. And knowing that that mattered to them. Somehow I kind of, I think fostered that appreciation of acceptance for other students. So that was a huge proud moment for me.

Spencer Payne (11:19): Awesome. then on the other side, any particularly tough moments in your career where you're just wondering, you know, geez, this is a tough one. How do I get out of this? And how do you, how do you bounce back? Like, how do you, how do you get back on your feet? How do you keep going? any, any tough moments and then how did you get back and extend that out to advice for others who might be going through a tough moment in their education career right now of like, how do you kind of get back on your feet and bounce back?

Alicia Abbey (11:44): Yeah, I think it's hard, you know, when you've been in the profession a while, with any career probably, you kind of hit a wall and you get bored. Also, it's often in education, we kind of feel underappreciated, underpaid. It's not, you know, the most glamorous profession by any means. So I think trying to find your why and sticking to your why, if you came in for the students, the passion about something, for me, inclusion was something that really mattered and I kept coming back to my why of like, why did I choose to do this? You know, and trying to find that again.

Those those honestly, it's mundane sometimes because it's like, you know, it's a season for us. The school year kind of looks the same and it's trying to make it new and exciting and finding those things. And like I said, conferences, networking, meeting people that kind of kept me going over the years when things would get hard. You have your people to go to that are positive. Try not to be around those negative people because that can bring you down. But yeah, I think that that for me was just the people that helped me continue and that passion that I had for inclusion.

Spencer Payne (12:55): Yep. And, um, I'm reminded, you know, completely different profession, right? Professional football, completely different, but I'm reminded of something that, um, always stuck with me that Bill Belichick said, um, and I think it was something after they won a super bowl, maybe the six one or, you know, he was very successful professional coach in his, in his world. And I think someone asked at a press conference, like, you what, how, do you, what do you do tomorrow to top this? Um, and, he's been coaching for like 40 years or something.

And his response was so simple. like, I just really like to go out and have a good practice tomorrow. It's like, hmm, yeah, I just really like to go out and have a good class tomorrow. I'd really like to have a good class next time the bell rings. Sometimes it can be just that simple of let's just focus on the next 45 minutes and make sure it's a really good one. I always like that advice because it just keeps things grounded of let's just have a good day tomorrow.

Alicia Abbey (13:43): Absolutely.

Yeah. Well, yeah, and you sometimes can be planning and planning a great lesson and you're excited for it and the kids, they have other ideas and you're like, okay, that didn't work, but then what will work? What did you take from that lesson that you can kind of, you know, do a 180 and switch it up and make it fun the next day and have a good time? got it, positivity.

Spencer Payne (14:07): 100 % and there's so many draws and other professions to write of like stand up comedians who are trying new material. Good joke, good joke, bombed, bombed, bombed, right? And you might say like the whole set bombed and it's like, actually, no, like I had them here and I had them here. Like I need to do more of this and less of this and let's come back and tweak it tomorrow. Right. There's always a there's always a little nugget of something good that you can try to suss out and use the next day. Just keep tweaking any any wild crazy. I can't believe that actually happens.

Alicia Abbey (14:14): Yeah. Absolutely

Spencer Payne (14:38): A story is something that maybe when you're 80, you'll probably look back and be like, I still cannot believe that actually happened that that one day is only that you're allowed to share. We'll also make that a caveat.

Alicia Abbey (14:44): I mean, there's...Yeah.

There's always something. I mean, when you're dealing with kids, they always say, like, out of the mouths of babes or whatever babes. But it was early on, before I was truly certified as a at my preschool, know, teaching assistant days, I had a kid and I was out, they went to the bathroom and all of a sudden they're, Ms. Abby, Ms. Abby, I'm ready. And I'm like, ready for what? And I kind of opened the door, like bent over, booty in the air, like to wipe him. And I'm like, I'm not doing that.

So that sticks with me forever. And maybe that is TMI, but like that was classic where I was like, what did I get myself into? So yeah, no, that one was memorable.

Spencer Payne (15:26): I didn't realize I needed to ask on day one if they were all potty trained. It's like, okay, I gotta add that to the checklist.

Alicia Abbey (15:32): Yes, yep, definitely an important question. Yeah, so that's one of our, when we do enrollment and applications for our students, we're like, how are their toileting needs? Very important question.

Spencer Payne (15:41): Yeah. my gosh. Snd that sounds like that was early in your career again, 15 plus years ago.

Alicia Abbey (15:48): Yeah, and then what's fun is that I taught him again in third grade and I was like...

Spencer Payne (15:52): You got this now? Yeah. Yeah. that's amazing. Are there any things that, that you've consistently done in your career that just seemed to work really well for you? And maybe they work so well for you that, that you're surprised other people don't, don't do that thing or those things more regularly. So anything there you can shine a light on of something that just works really well for you and you're surprised more people don't do that.

Alicia Abbey (15:56): You're all set. Awesome.

Try and make light of it. Make it fun. I try and be a kid at heart in all things. Even as an administrator, try and be silly and goofy. You gotta laugh about it sometimes. You gotta be able to move on from the hard things. I guess that's the stay positive mindset too. Try and make light of things.

Spencer Payne (16:42): Yeah, I mean, you're in your past example that you just shared on a wildest stories, right? Like some teachers might be appalled and you obviously were able to just kind of like, okay, well, this is, this is going to be funny one day. I can also choose for it to be funny today. Incredible.

A couple other questions more as it relates to potentially younger teachers or those thinking about joining the profession What's the number one piece of advice that that you give to current kind of first year second year younger teachers? Or if you go back and give yourself advice in your first year of teaching knowing what you know today What would you go back and tell yourself so either?

Maybe it's different answers, so feel free to answer both of them differently. But what's advice for new teachers, either for people that kind of come into your school or that you give yourself?

Alicia Abbey (17:32): Find a good mentor. I think that was huge for me. I had some amazing teaching mentors when I was in my internship that were just full of knowledge and experience and positivity too. I mean, they had stayed in it. They were older too. So they were veteran teachers. And finding that kind of person that can support you is huge. And then again, like the colleagues, those people that you can collaborate with, grow with, and you gotta stay, you gotta know your why. Why'd you come here and stick with it? Have that purpose, that passion.

Spencer Payne (18:04): Yep, awesome. And one note on if people are out there like, okay, find a mentor. How do I go about doing that? Or do I just ask them to be my mentor? Or what do I do? One note I'll share that this seems to really work for a lot of other people is you don't necessarily have to ask them to be your formal mentor. Sometimes that can be off putting. But sometimes it's as simple as, I'm struggling with X. You seem to have a good handle on X.

Can you help me understand how you have solved for X or some ways that you might advise me given my personality of how I might solve for X. Take that advice. Thank them. Go, go put it into practice. Go back and tell them that you put it into practice and the results that you got and either a thank you or a, Hey, I'd like to tweak a little bit more. Could you help me with one more thing? But actually go put it into practice and thank the person afterwards. If you don't do that.

Alicia Abbey (18:55): Absolutely.

Spencer Payne (18:59): And you have question number two, and they don't know if you ever did question number one, their odds of helping you go down drastically. So get people to invest in your success by taking their advice, doing it, showing them that you did it. And then you gain a ton of credibility that way to go ask for thing number two or thing number three thereafter.

Alicia Abbey (19:19): Yeah, because then they feel like they gave you purpose too and they feel pride behind it as well. I think seeking advice too from others, because you don't just naturally find a mentor necessarily, but if you go to your administrator, if you go to a college professor, they can help guide you at least to find somebody that would probably be a good mentor

Spencer Payne (19:25): Yeah. Yep. And for newer teachers, what is, what's a common trap that you see first or second year teachers kind of fall into sometimes and how do they avoid that or how do they get out if they fall into it?

Alicia Abbey (19:54): Sometimes it can be like picking up bad habits of other fellow teachers, like the negativity trap is one for sure. And then just, I don't want to say laziness, but try and make it exciting. Try and put in as much effort as you hope the students are gonna put in and you wanna see from them because oftentimes I think that happens sometimes is you just get burnt out. And then how do you expect your students to be excited too if you're getting burnt out? Like you have to kind of look at it that way. Like make it fun, make it exciting both for you and for the kids. Because you end up feeding off of their excitement too when you bring a fun lesson or something. You're like, yes, this is awesome. They're excited. They wanna learn.

So I think try and avoid the negative is the biggest thing.

Spencer Payne (20:42): Yeah. again, some other advice I've heard other folks say is be willing to go first, right? Like if you expect your students to be excited or energized by something first, if you're not, you're probably going to be disappointed. And that doesn't guarantee that if you're energized by what you're teaching or excited about it, that doesn't guarantee that they will be, but likely is far higher. If you're bringing that energy that they'll that yeah, that they'll mirror it.

Alicia Abbey (20:56): Mm-hmm. Yeah, no, you gotta kinda set that mood.

Spencer Payne (21:10): Then match it based on the mood that you set. It's highly unlikely that if you're coming in bored, mundane, et cetera, that somehow miraculously your students are going to turn you around. It's the other way. And the more you put in, the more they'll probably give you that energy back and you can kind of create that flow. But, but you gotta go first. You gotta go first.

Alicia Abbey (21:20): Right. Yeah, they definitely feed off, I think, the teachers. They do. They feed off the energy of the teachers. Even if, like, you're anxious about something, they can feel that. So it's hard sometimes to separate work and home life, too. That can be difficult, but you have to take care of yourself before coming into work sometimes, too. Like, if you need a personal day, take a personal day. I always try and tell our teachers that, too, because we, life, life, you know, gets in the way sometimes, and sometimes you just have to take care of yourself. So that's important, too, to remember as a new teacher that if you feel overwhelmed, ask for help, ask for a day off. That's why we have them.

Spencer Payne (21:59): Yep, 100%. And you got your PhD. You talked about continuing education. So I'm going to assume that you also have a master's degree. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm assuming you would. Yes.

Alicia Abbey (22:13): Yes, in Ed leadership. That one's how I became the principal

Spencer Payne (22:19): Okay, perfect. And for that, and what was your rationale for going to get your masters at the time? Why do it? What did that unlock for you?

Alicia Abbey (22:31): In the classroom, you're only affecting at the time. You only see that immediate effect on your students. And I kind of wanted to focus more on the big picture. Like what can I do for the school as a whole? Or what can I do to help education grow? So that was my original interest in going into it. And I kind of mentioned earlier, it just wasn't the right time because I had just had a child. And I was like, can't, it's a full-time job. Administration is tough, no doubt, just like teaching is. But it was the right eventually. So I definitely encourage people to go to school whether you think you're going to use it right away or not because it will come in handy at some point. There was a reason you were interested in.

Spencer Payne (23:10): Yep. And what to you is the single number one best thing about the education profession? And you could choose to answer that potentially as a teacher or as administrator, or maybe it's the same answer. But what's the single best thing about this profession?

Alicia Abbey (23:26): It's kind of funny because it's very routine in one way where you have a schedule and you have to stick to it to some extent. But then at the end of the day, you never know what's going to happen. There's always something new and exciting in your day because you never know what's going to happen as far as a kid goes or what catastrophe, like the pandemic, happen, which changed education quite a bit. So yeah, I would say it's something that keeps you on your toes constantly because there are a lot of changes in education.

Spencer Payne (23:55): Yeah. so yeah, a lot of changes, relationships, like you mentioned earlier. and yeah, this kind of like, much as there seems like on the outside, there's routine, there's a, there's a, there's a lot of improv involved potentially being a teacher.

Alicia Abbey (24:08): Yeah, I mean schedule changes all the time because you know event got gets canceled or a speaker gets canceled or something So then you have to go with the flow. You're like, okay, we're gonna try something else

Spencer Payne (24:20): Yeah. And on the other end of that, what to you is the single worst, toughest thing about this profession, or if you had a magic wand and could just point that wand at one thing in the education world and it could be solved. Like, what would you point that magic wand at? What would you want to solve?

Alicia Abbey (24:38): The salaries for teachers. I think they don't get enough credit for how much planning and work they put into it day in and day out. And they take on those feelings of students. They become a nurturer, a caretaker for every student. They're a nurse during the school day. They're a counselor. They're a mother, especially when it comes to the little kids too. So it's a lot. And I do feel like sometimes they're underpaid for that and then underappreciated. if you have children, if your administration, if anything, just make sure you thank those educators because that means the world when they do hear that, think.

Spencer Payne (25:19): Yep. Awesome. And on that note of potentially, you know, care being that caretaker role or feeling like you can take on the weight of not only your, your life, but that student and that student and 12 students and 25 students, how do you, how do you balance or advise other teachers to balance kind of taking on some of that, but not too much so that it, burdens you, it taxes you out, it burns you out. Like how do you balance that and or how do you advise other people to balance that?

Alicia Abbey (25:51): You have to separate yourself at some point and you do have to make sure you're taking care of yourself. Whether it's going to get a massage, making sure you have some personal days, finding the things that you enjoy, meditating, running, going out in nature. Just make sure you take care of yourself first and then you're able to take care of others once you feel good and solid and that helps a lot.

Spencer Payne (26:15): Yeah, there's a quote I remember hearing of how, how can, how can you build others if you haven't built yourself first? and as, as sometimes as selfish as it can sound, depending on how you define that word to take care of yourself first, and then you can take care of others. sometimes it's how you have to do it. And there's a reason why in an airplane, Right. And the warning message at the beginning, it's like, put on your mask first before you help others. Right. Like you've got to, you've got to come from a place of a, a solid foundation for yourself before you're ever able to help others. If you have a foundation of sand, you can't help anybody with the foundation of sand because everything's going to collapse. So you got to make sure you're taking care of yourself first.

Alicia Abbey (26:35): Yeah.

And build those teams because having other people that understand where you're coming from too and want to support you, that's huge too and vice versa. When someone needs you, it's always good to be there as well.

Spencer Payne (27:05): Yeah. On that note, any examples recently? Cause you've just brought that point up quite a few times of kind of relying on the team. And sometimes your idea can mesh with somebody else's idea. And then all of a sudden, Oh, that's now the right solution to be able to, to, to go execute any, any examples out of curiosity that strike you recently of, of kind of that teamwork in action or when, when two people kind of came together and the outcome was far better than if they didn't actually talk up front. Any examples that strike you?

Alicia Abbey (27:18): Well, I mean, for right now, since I'm in administration, it's like my admin team. have a student services person that her background's therapy. That's not my background. And yet we're seeing so much behavior concerns. So it was like, OK, I want to see what services our parents need. We also meet with our PTO. We hear our parents side of it. So collaborating with not only just your education world, but the parents, too. What do they want to receive for their child? And then also hearing what the kids like.

Being in those classrooms and seeing the teachers teaching and seeing the children react and how they're growing, that's key too. So it's kind of, you have to see the whole picture sometimes. But that to me is a team. That makes a school that helps the growth of the school, because you see it from all the angles.

Spencer Payne (28:13): Yep. Yeah. Yeah. and on that note of, kind of like the PTO and dealing with parents, that can potentially be for many teachers, a source of, again, great teamwork. can potentially be a source of, consternation for some folks depending on how they choose to engage. what, what kind of curiosity have you seen, work really well in terms of how to, you know, be on the same team with and, and engage with students' parents.

Alicia Abbey (28:46): I think that's exactly where you have to come from the place of we are a team together. We want what's best for the student ultimately. And sharing that maybe what you're seeing in the school versus what they're seeing at home, come from it like that angle often helps kind of calm the situation and just reminding we're in this together, but I need your help too. It is a partnership. And that usually works pretty well because ultimately they want what's best for their students who even if it might not always agree.

If you can kind of help each other see each side and be empathetic too. Because what they're going through at home is not always what we see at school and vice versa. So really it's just about communication sometimes and having empathy for each person.

Spencer Payne (29:31): Yep. And two more quick hitter questions as we wrap up. Knowing what you know now, would you still go down this teaching education path and recommend it for others?

Alicia Abbey (29:44): Yeah, you know, there's been different times I kind of shared I was interested in medicine, like being a pediatrician, clearly kids still, business, because I'm thinking about money and future. But I get to do a little bit of all of that. It's kind of interesting. I get now the business side being in the administration, I get to teach. I don't know what else I would do. I really have thought about it multiple times. I'm like, I love it too much. It's different. I get to do a little bit of everything with my current career.

Yeah, I don't think I would change it at all.

Spencer Payne (30:15): Yep. Awesome. And any last words of wisdom for either potential or maybe younger teachers out there or anything that you already shared that you feel like is so important that you just want to restate it because you don't want it to get lost amongst everything else. So any, any new words of wisdom or anything else that you just want to make sure is out there a second time. Cause it's just that valuable.

Alicia Abbey (30:39): I think everyone will, once they have a student that tells them they're excited about learning or they see it through their eyes that first time, they want to keep coming back. I think that's the most exciting thing is being able to see through a child's eyes or through a teenager's eyes, something that you did to help them get there, whether it's education, social, physical, if you're a coach too, like with sports, that's such a rewarding thing.

So to me that kind of keeps me coming back and making it fresh and not wanting to go away. And I hope most people that go in education I think feel the same way probably.

Spencer Payne (31:16): Yep. Uh, yeah, that's awesome. And I'll share, got a little two and a half year old and sometimes you just have no idea what is going in and sticking and what is just exiting. And sometimes it seems like you're, trying to share stuff and it's just like, well, he obviously didn't get that. Um, but it's, mean, again, it's two and a half. So context, right. But we count like the fish in some of the books that he has, and I'll count up to 15 and then 20 and then 25.

Alicia Abbey (31:25): True.

Spencer Payne (31:43): And it's, it's awesome to watch him all of a sudden click at like 14, 15, 16. It's like, Oh, you actually were listening to me for the last two weeks when I said this seven times. you get it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And when you see that it's like, Oh, like it felt like nothing was happening. Um, and then all of a sudden, like you're just spouting them off. like, Oh, this is actually really cool. I guess, like, I guess it can change and reorient how you view, I don't know, success of like.

Alicia Abbey (31:51): You got it now, yay! I helped, I helped! haha

Spencer Payne (32:12): I showed it to you that one time and you didn't do it right away. Like, well, that's maybe the wrong frame here. Like maybe it's like, I need to show you 20 times. and that might be like what's needed and it's clicking and then all of sudden it clicks for you. And when you see it click, does, it's a, it is a very, I don't know, addictive maybe isn't the right word, but it's a very cool feeling. And you're like, yeah. Like I want to do more of that. Yeah. so find that first moment as a new teacher, find that. Yeah.

Alicia Abbey (32:41): Yes, just remind, yeah, and just kind of remind yourself like, oh, I remember how cool that was when they finally got it.

Spencer Payne (32:48): Yeah. Yep. Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Alicia Abbey, with this real story from not only a real educator teacher, but also an administrator. Thank you so much for sharing with us today.

Alicia Abbey (32:53): Thank you for having me, this was fun.