Interviews with Elementary Students, a Substitute Teachers Lounge First

Send us a text

Have you ever wondered what elementary school students really think about their teachers? In this unique episode, we flip the script by interviewing our youngest guests ever - students from kindergarten through fifth grade - to gain their unfiltered perspectives on education.

Our first guest Anna, a fifth-grade graduate with straight A's, shares wisdom beyond her years about academic success. Her advice to take time for projects "even if you have to take time from recess" reveals the discipline that helped her excel. When asked about substitute teachers, Anna delivers perhaps the most insightful comment of the episode: substitutes sometimes struggle because "we learn a little different than they did whenever they were learning." This gentle observation highlights the generational gap in teaching methods that many educators face today.

Younger voices join the conversation too. Eli, having just completed kindergarten, appreciates teachers who "help you learn about what you don't know" and substitutes who are "kind and sometimes you already know them." Meanwhile, five-year-old Zachary, entering kindergarten, reminds us of the social importance of school, mentioning friends and games as his highlights, along with "giving hugs" to teachers.

The episode concludes with a heartwarming revelation - all three interviewees are the host's grandchildren, making this not just an educational exploration but a family affair. Listen now to hear these refreshing perspectives that remind us why connecting with students of all ages matters so much in education. What young student in your life has shared wisdom that surprised you? We'd love to hear your stories!

Episode Transcript

Greg (00:00):
Greg Collins, episode 293.
It is May 28th, 25, and we'vegot a great treat for you today.
You love it when we interviewstudents, but for the first time
ever we're interviewingstudents from fifth grade and
below.
So you don't know what's goingto be said today.
You just never know with thatage.

(00:21):
But let's get it started onSubstitute Teacher's Loud, all
right.
Now, when you're interviewingthis age, it's sometimes more
difficult to make people feelcomfortable about the

(00:42):
permissions.
Even when I had gotten someparental permissions, sometimes
I would still have reluctancefrom the schools because you
just never know how parents aregoing to react.
So I figured a way to do it asproper as we could.
I'll reveal that to you at theend of the episode, but for now
we've got interviews to dealwith.

(01:03):
All right, let's start with theoldest of our students.
I'm going to let her give youher first name and the grade she
just finished.
Go ahead.

Anna (01:18):
I'm Anna and I just finished fifth grade.

Greg (01:22):
All right, here's what I want you to do.
First, Think of all yourteachers.
Don't say any names, but thinkabout what you liked most about
your teachers this year.

Anna (01:34):
Probably that they always push you to be your best that
you can be.

Greg (01:39):
Okay, that's really good.
Let me maybe I'll embarrass youa little bit, maybe not.
I was at your graduation andyou won an award.
What was it?

Anna (01:49):
I got straight the straight a's award all right.

Greg (01:52):
So I want you to inspire some other students.
What did you do to make you getstraight A's?
Was it the studying?
Did it just come natural?
What advice would you giveothers that would want to get
straight A's in their classes?

Anna (02:15):
Even if you have to take time from like recess or
something, you should still liketake your time to work on
projects because it kind ofhelps your grade a lot.

Greg (02:30):
Good, good.
What are you looking mostforward to when you go to middle
school next year?

Anna (02:39):
All the responsibilities that I'll get next year.
Okay, let's see.

Greg (02:43):
Now Let me ask you this other responsibilities that I'll
get next year.
Okay, let's see.
Now Let me ask you this this isa podcast for substitute
teachers, so take a guess at howmany different substitute
teachers you had this past year.
I won't hold you to it, but howmany different ones did you
have, do you think?

Anna (03:03):
30?

Greg (03:05):
30?
, 30?
, I don't know.
Wow, it was a lot higher than Iwas expecting.
What characteristic of asubstitute teacher is best?
What did you like best aboutyour substitute teachers?

Anna (03:20):
The fact that they're kind , but also they make sure that
we have discipline.

Greg (03:27):
Okay, what's the?
I don't say any names, but Canyou think of anything about
substitute teachers that youwish they would have done a
little bit better or understooda little bit better?

Anna (03:42):
Just like the fact that we learn a little different than
they did whenever they werelearning.

Greg (03:48):
Oh, that's good.
That's good.
I've tried to sub their mathclasses and even though I'm good
at math, they don't do it nowthe way I used to do it back
when I was young, so that's aperfect example.
All right, Is there anythingelse you can think of that?
Let me say it this way Are youdoing anything this summer that

(04:11):
will help you when school startsin the fall?
She's thinking hard about this.
One will help you when schoolstarts in the fall.

Anna (04:17):
She's thinking hard about this one.
I may end up having my parentsget me a lock to help with the
limited time that I have to getfrom class to class.

Greg (04:26):
All right, that's good, all right.
So, anna, I want to thank youfor being on here with us today,
and you have a good day, okay.

Anna (04:34):
You too.

Greg (04:35):
All right on here with us today and you have a good day.
Okay, you too, all right.
I do want to say that I didsubstitute anna's class a couple
of times and I like the way sheraised her hand in class and
always had an answer for aquestion, and there was other
students like that too.
So she had a good class.
And when you've heard me say onthis part, in episodes past

(04:57):
I've talked about how I went tothe middle school principal and
told them they are going to havea really good sixth grade come
in next year.
Well, anna is in that fifthgrade.
This past year they were thegroup I was talking about, so
that school is really going toenjoy having them.
So, our next student we have astudent.

(05:20):
Well, let me just I'll let himintroduce himself tell us your
name, your first name and thegrade you just finished I am eli
this finished kindergarten allright.
so we have a kindergartenstudent who's going to first
grade.
Tell me this I know you likeyour teachers Tell me what you

(05:42):
like.
Don't give me your.
Don't say their name, but tellme what you like most about them
.

Eli (05:50):
They help you learn about what you don't know.

Greg (05:59):
That's good.
No, that's good.
So did you ever have anysubstitute teachers in your
class this year?

Eli (06:08):
Yes.

Greg (06:09):
I think I one of them is sitting right next to you, isn't
he?
Yeah, I was a substitute ineli's class once this year.
The thing I liked about eli ishe raised his hand a lot.
He paid attention and I knowwhen he was doing his I ready
work he was really concentrating.
You can see how much he wasconcentrating.
Let's say this what is what do?

(06:32):
What's a good trait?
You might not know what thatword means for a substitute
teacher to have.
What do you like aboutsubstitute teachers?

Zachary (06:43):
They are kind and sometimes you already know them.

Greg (06:48):
Oh, okay, you like it better when you already know
them.
All right, let me ask you thisYou're going to first grade next
year.
What are you looking forward tomost about first grade?

Eli (07:01):
I want to be in the teacher's class because I like
that class.

Greg (07:11):
Okay, all right, all right , anything else you have to say
to us today?
Yes, what's that?
Have a good day, all right.

Eli (07:15):
All right, anything else you have to say to us?

Greg (07:16):
today.
Yes, what's that?

Eli (07:18):
Have a good day.

Greg (07:19):
All right, thanks, eli, we'll talk to you soon.
All right, we have our nextyoung student here.
What's your first name, zachary?
How old are you?
Five, five.
What grade will you be goinginto next year?

(07:41):
Kindergarten, very good.
So I saw your graduation.
Was your graduation fun?
Yeah, did you like your schoolthat you were at?
Tell me what you liked mostabout your school, my friends.
What kind of games did you playat that school?

Eli (08:04):
Yesterday we did a water one and a hula hoop one.

Greg (08:12):
Nice.
Well, tell me this what did youlike about your teachers that
were at your school Giving themhugs?
They were good teachers,weren't they?
He's thinking about it, allright?
Well, I thank you for talkingto me today.
Say goodbye, zach, goodbye, allright.

(08:35):
Me today, say goodbye zach,goodbye, all right, all right.
Hope you enjoyed thoseinterviews with elementary
school students, one of themsoon to be middle school
students.
I had a lot of fun doing it andI'll be honest with you, it was
easy to get parental permissionbecause all three of them were

(08:55):
my grandchildren.
So it was really a lot of funto interview them and I'm glad
they agreed to do it and theirparents agreed to do it, and I'm
already I mean, they don't missschool as much as I do already.
I saw some pictures of variousstudents' graduations here

(09:17):
recently and I miss being backthere.
Some of you, I get melancholyabout stuff like this Some of
those students that graduatedhigh school I know I'll never
see again.
Some of them I will, but someof them I won't.
So I thank all of my grandkidsfor giving me an interview.
Hope you enjoyed it, and we'lldo.
We'll probably stick with theseshorter episodes throughout the

(09:40):
summer, so we'll see you soon.