FINAL EPISODE - Substitute Teachers Lounge podcast (and why)

Send us a text

All good things must come to an end. After six remarkable years and 301 episodes, I'm closing the door on the Substitute Teachers Lounge podcast. When I started this journey in November 2019, I was simply looking for a podcast that served substitute teachers—and finding none, decided to create one myself. Nearly 100,000 listens later, I'm humbled by how this resource has connected with the substitute teaching community.

Thank you for being part of this incredible journey. Your support turned what statistics said would be a seven-episode experiment into a six-year adventure. Wishing you all the best in your substitute teaching careers!

Episode Transcript

Greg (00:00):
This is Greg Collins, and this is the final episode of the
Substitute Teachers Loungepodcast.
I'm going to tell you the tworeasons, the first one being the
most important, and I also haveone bit of information I do
want to share at the end of thepodcast that I just can't help
to share with you, because Ifound out something about

(00:22):
Frontline that will affect in agood way, I guess a good way
I'll let you decide about 25% ofyou, I'm going to guess.
But anyway, here's the dealYou've heard me talk off and on
about, probably since episode250, and this is 301, that I'm

(00:42):
not sure how long I willcontinue to do this.
I can't believe.
I recorded almost a year'sworth of episodes since then,
since I first started talkingabout it.
It's funny, my publisher, whichis Buzzsprout, when they are
sending you your initialeducation I started this, by the
way, in November of 2019, whenthey send you that information,

(01:05):
they tell you that if you canpublish seven episodes of a
podcast, that you're probablygoing to stick with it, and I
can't believe it was only seven,but sure enough.
As I look at other new podcasts, as I look at other new
podcasts some of them that areno longer around, and I see them

(01:27):
.
They're right about that sevenepisode category, where they
gave up on it after a while.
Here's the reason.
The main reason is I'm just alittle tired of it.
I don't want to say burnout,that's too strong a word, but

(01:48):
it's tough trying to get topicstogether for 300 episodes in a
row, so that's the main reason.
I have greatly enjoyed it.
I started this, like I said,back in 2019 because I was
looking for Substitute TeacherLounge podcasts.
I don't mean episodes, I meanpodcast and there were none to
be found at that time, so we gotalmost close to 100,000

(02:11):
downloads or listens is probablya better way to say it when
you're talking about a podcast,because there's not.
Sometimes you listen topodcasts I do too, though, and I
don't actually download it, Ijust I just stream it, so to
speak.
So that's the main reason.
I'm going to stop doing it fora while, and I hope you've
enjoyed it and I won't be doingSubstitute Teachers Lounge

(02:32):
podcast anymore.
I'll tell you one here in justa moment.
I am going to continuepodcasting.
I'll tell you what that's about.
It has nothing to do withsubstitute teachers or schools
or education.
It's more of a travel typething.
So the other reason is ourstate and rightfully so has
become very concerned aboutinteractions between adults and

(02:57):
students, and while I have neverdirectly communicated with a
student through the podcast orthrough anything else for that
matter, I just would be morecomfortable if they didn't have
to guess as to what I'm doing onthis podcast.
I'm doing nothing.

(03:18):
I'm giving substitute teachersideas.
I've always done that, but Iwant to step out for that reason
too.
That's not the main reason.
The main reason is I'm tired ofit, but this kind of pushed me
over the edge as well.
So that's it.
I don't want this to be verylong.
I will tell you one finalsubstitute teacher idea that

(03:42):
I'll give you.
For some reason, I was lookingat Frontline the other day and
found out that in some areas itdepends on whether your school
systems turn it on or not.
Turn on the option, and I'mguessing most of them don't.
We don't have it in my option,but I had a job that I tried to
accept within five seconds andit was already gone.

(04:03):
And I'm thinking man, doesFrontline have some kind of
automatic acceptance that Idon't know about, because how
could they possibly beat me infive seconds.
Well, they do have an automaticacceptance feature that's only
in use if your school turns iton.
Now it almost feels likecheating, because basically the

(04:24):
way I understand it is, if youflip that on for a school, then
immediately when a substituteteacher or when a teacher is
posting an absence and you'vegot that feature turned on, it
automatically goes to you.
That doesn't seem fair, does it?
But that's what it's for.
Now, don't ask me because Idon't know.

(04:45):
Maybe there's Google answersout there, but I don't know.
If there's two teachers in thesame area that had the switch
flipped on for the same school,well, who does it go to?
I mean, does the algorithm keeptrack of how many it's given
you and how many it's givensomebody else?
I don't know, but that is afeature that is out there.

(05:07):
I will close by saying I am amember of a Disney vacation club
.
It's sort of a timeshare, andthere are lots of shows out
there.
I love them all.
Dvc Fan is my favorite there.
I love them all.
Dvc fan is my favorite.
But one little niche that Ithink doesn't get enough

(05:28):
emphasis is how adults shoulduse this Me and my wife when I
say we, our families, are allgone out of the house.
We had them all togetheryesterday.
They all live close enough thatthey can bring the families
together.
I have seven grandkids throughthem.
I have three kids of my own twoboys, one girl and they are all

(05:50):
in their 30s.
And I bought this DisneyVacation Club.
It's a point-based system thatyou can use for any of the
Disney World resorts.
They have a resort in HiltonHead, vero Beach, out in
Disneyland area, California, andalso in Hawaii that one's
called Alani and I bought itmainly to let the kids use it.

(06:10):
But me and my wife use it allthe time, even like a day before
a cruise.
Why spend extra money renting ahotel room when we can just use
these points that we've alreadypurchased and not have to have
any additional expenditure?
So I decided there was a nicheopportunity.
I called it's actually going tobe probably more of a YouTube

(06:31):
channel than anything.
I called it DVC for Adultsbecause there are little DVC
nuances that are out there.
I did put out one initialepisode, didn't market it,
didn't expect there to be muchout there, because I want to do
two or three episodes first.
The first one is justgeneralities.
The second one is financialstuff.
So if you go to the Orlandoarea a lot, we don't really go

(06:55):
to the theme parks anymore, wejust like the resorts.
That's what my new podcast willbe based on.
So that's it, guys.
I hope you've enjoyed the last.
What is that?
Six, seven years?
I'm rusty in my head right nowthe last 300 episodes, and I
hope you have a great substituteteacher career.