Oh, the Students You'll Meet!

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Seven years of substitute teaching stories have taught me one crucial lesson: behind every student behavior is a complex inner world most teachers never glimpse. In this anniversary episode, I take you inside the minds of six distinct student archetypes you'll encounter in your classroom this year.

Listen as Marie reveals her anxiety about transitioning to high school and losing her hard-won social status. Experience Ben's internal pressure to maintain his athletic reputation through classroom disruption. Discover Julie's competitive academic mindset that drives her constant need for validation. Feel Fred's quiet desperation to simply fit in without being targeted by bullies. Understand Frank's calculated strategy to pass with minimal effort. And witness Gertrude's conviction that teachers are unfairly singling her out for discipline.

These first-person narratives aren't fictional composites—they represent real thought patterns I've observed across all grade levels during my substitute teaching career. By understanding what drives different student behaviors, we can respond with greater empathy and effectiveness. Whether you're dealing with the class clown, the withdrawn student, or the confrontational teenager, recognizing their underlying motivations transforms how you approach classroom management.

As we prepare for the upcoming school year (and my 300th episode next week!), I hope these perspectives help you see your students with fresh eyes. Remember that behind every challenging behavior is often fear, insecurity, or a genuine desire for connection. How might your teaching change if you could hear what your students are really thinking?

Episode Transcript

Greg (00:00):
Hello, hello, hello.
Greg Collins, substituteTeacher's Lounge man.
Today I start my seventh yearof this podcast.
I can't believe it either.
The six-year anniversary waslast week.
This is the start of theseventh year.
Try something new incelebration, I am going to give

(00:22):
you a perspective of variousdifferent students as we go back
to school next week.
I do have one sub job scheduled, ok, so excited about that,
here's what I'm going to do.
I'm going to give you the storyof several students.
It'll be.
I was going to call it thethird person, but I think the
third person is when I say Katedid this, whereas the first

(00:47):
person would be hi, my name isKate, so this is going to be a
first person thing and I hopeyou enjoy it.
I put a lot of thought into itand it will help you deal with
different types of students andI can guarantee you you're going
to see all of these SubstituteTeachers Loud.

(01:20):
My name is Marie and this iswhat's going through my head
right now.
I'm a little bit nervous aboutgoing to a new school.
Sure, it's in the same area,but this year I go from eighth
grade to high school.
Now I know I was not the mostpopular student in middle school

(01:45):
, but I certainly had my shareof friends.
Maybe I didn't sit at thecoolest kids table in the
cafeteria, but I certainly satat a popular table.
And now I'm nervous.
I'm leaving a school where Iwas one of the oldest, coming to
a school where I'll not only beone of the newest but, because

(02:07):
of my birthday, possibly eventhe newest the youngest student
in that high school.
I hope that they treat us well.
I know that things happen.
You know.
Maybe someday I'll havesubstitute teachers and I'll try
to treat them with respect.
Question is how will I treatother students who don't treat

(02:31):
them with respect?
So I guess I just need to getover my nervousness, realize
that there's going to be somestudents that act like jerks all
the time and just go from there.
Hey, my name is Ben.
Here's the thoughts that are inmy head.

(02:52):
I'm going to be the best playeron my 8th grade basketball team
this year.
I'm so excited about that.
I know that, since I'm likethat, I'll have to come across
as the coolest kid in the school.
I want to make sure I do that.
I haven't decided yet if I'mgoing to pick on those that are

(03:15):
lesser than me, or if I need tobe nicer than that.
I realize as an athlete, I needto be a little arrogant.
I need to show off in front ofeverybody else.
I need to make my friends laugh.
Maybe I need to poke fun at theteacher every now and then,

(03:37):
especially the substituteteacher.
We're going to have fun whenthey're in the room, but that's
just me.
It goes without saying thatwhen you're a prize athlete,
with maybe a scholarship in myfuture, this is just how I'm
going to have to act in schoolthis year in the eighth grade.

(04:01):
Man, this is Julie and I'm soexcited about being in the third
grade this year.
I bet I'm going to be thesmartest kid in there.
I bet I'm going to be thesmartest kid in there.
I can't wait to show off howmuch I know, how good I am at
math.
I hope the teachers and maybe Ican talk the substitute
teachers into sending me up tothe whiteboard and have me

(04:23):
compete with other students justso I can show them how smart I
am.
I want to make sure that allthe teachers put me at the top
of their list because I'msmarter than everybody else.
I got to please my guardians.
I want to make sure that I doeverything I can to show off my
talents a little bit.
I want to get a good jobsomeday.

(04:46):
I think to do that I'm going tohave to let everybody know what
I'm capable of doing and what Iwill do this year as the school
year progresses.
I'm looking forward to it.
I'm Fred and this is my story.
I don't know why I've neverreally felt like I fit in

(05:10):
anywhere.
I'm nervous about next year.
It's going to be the same kidsthat I basically went to school
with last year, but now we're inthe seventh grade.
So how's that going to change?
Will they finally stop pickingon me?
Will they finally treat me?

(05:30):
Will they finally treat me likeI'm just another student?
They don't have to be my friend.
I would rather them just not bemy enemy.
I sure hope that they look atme with more respect than they
did before.
Maybe there's some things I cando to work on that.
We shall see.

(05:57):
But right now I'm prettynervous.
I want to fit in.
I want to have maybe some humorfor the cafeteria, maybe even a
little for the classroom, ifthe teacher or the substitute
teacher lets me get away with it.
But I sure hope thisnervousness goes away as the

(06:18):
school year moves on.
This is Frank and I sure hope Iget away with not doing much of
anything this school year, justlike I did last year Just sit in
my seat, play games on mycomputer.
Like I did last year Just sitin my seat play games on my
computer.
The teachers don't bother metoo much about it.
If I'm nice to this teacher,I'll still get a C.

(06:40):
Why work that hard when I canpass the class with a C?
A's and B's are overrated, man.
But I can't wait to get toschool and shoot.
I'll say it.
Maybe I'll be the lazieststudent in the room this year
and a student that I won't makethe teachers mad.
I might make them frustrated.

(07:02):
I hope that they'll come aroundand just kind of give me a
grade for showing up every day.
I'm Gertrude and I will tell youthis If the teacher picks on me
, like a teacher did last year,I am ready to get my parents
involved this time.
I don't know why the teacherdidn't like me this year.

(07:25):
She had all her favorites.
She picked on me all the timeand just when I thought I might
get a break because thesubstitute teacher was in there
one day.
I don't know what happened, butapparently the teacher left
notes for her to keep an eye onme and then that substitute
teacher picked on me too.
I don't know what's going on,but it's all the teacher's fault

(07:50):
.
All right, guys, it's Greg, I'mback.
That was just a few perspectiveof some things that I saw all
of those last year at variousdifferent levels.
I tried to pick names that wereeither really general or really

(08:11):
unusual as to not, you know,offend anybody who might have
those names.
But I'm looking to go forward,to go back to the school year
this year as a substituteteacher.
Remember, you're going to runinto that student that's scared
about a new school.
Probably not anything you cando about that, but you can just

(08:34):
let the student know that you'refriendly, you're willing to
talk about anything.
Let me know if I can help youwith any situation.
Then you got the athlete dudeman.
He's just going to be that way.
I remember a time when I had tocall out an athlete and it
almost cost him a start in afootball game.

(08:56):
That night he apologized to me.
He knew he shouldn't have donewhat he did, but that comes up
too.
I've had past podcasts where Ireferred to kids that thought
they were smarter than everybodyelse and almost got into a
fight with another kid whothought they were smarter than
everybody else.
It happens Some students arenervous about fitting in.

(09:18):
You can see it on their faceAgain.
Not necessarily anything youcan do about that other than
just kind of keep an eye on them, make sure nobody's picking on
them, that kind of thing.
You're going to run into lazystudents at all the different
class levels who just want tooccupy a seat and nothing else.
And I've run into teachers who Ithought were kind of picking on

(09:42):
the students for some reason.
And you know it's just me, butI kind of go out of my way to
try to find a little bit of goodin everybody.
I hope people continue to findsome good in me when I've done
something that maybe is not themost popular thing.
So that's it.
Next week will be the 300thepisode and it'll also be the

(10:04):
first week of we go back toschool.
Now that's for most people.
I think I did hear that oneparent was telling me about a I
think it was a sister who livedin another state and they went
back to school on july 31st areyou kidding me?
But anyway, we're all back toschool.
The summer went fast.
I enjoyed the summer.

(10:24):
I'm even looking more forwardto going back this fall.