May 20, 2025 • 13 mins
Every substitute teacher knows that what works in one classroom might fail spectacularly in another. This revelation hit me hard recently when several teaching strategies I'd successfully employed with teenagers created unexpected chaos among elementary students.
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Episode Transcript
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Greg (00:00):
Greg Collins Substitute Teachers Lounge, may 20, 2025.
Man, I almost called thisweek's episode my Week of
Mistakes.
Then I got to thinking theydidn't all happen this past week
, so I don't want to implysomething else, but maybe the
better one is.
Things I wish I hadn't done inelementary school, that I had
(00:23):
done in middle school and highschool, and because of that I
had students crying.
It was innocent enough, butthey were crying about it.
We're going to talk about thethings that I wish I had done
differently in elementary school, that I had been doing in
middle school and high school.
Substitute Teacher's Loud.
(00:59):
Let me start out by saying anunrelated item that I came
across this week was a programcalled we Will Write.
I loved it.
I used it in the fourth grade.
It kept all three classes inthere, completely occupied.
Students got a chance to writeon whatever the subject they
were given.
Then their fellow studentsvoted on what they wrote.
Man, we had some stuff writtenabout Russia and the Cold War.
(01:21):
This is fourth grade.
We had stuff written about howfamilies sometimes split up and
have to go their separate ways.
We had some written about lovestories.
So it was really prettyfascinating.
How well this program.
I would encourage you, if youget a chance, to use
wewillwritecom.
All right, here we go.
I've got several of thesewritten down.
(01:43):
You can probably tell already.
I think I just heard thedoorbell go off at the school.
I am in a sixth grade classroomright now.
I'm doing it out of conveniencebecause I've got a lot of stuff
going on this time.
Let me tell you first of allwhat I did in fifth grade within
the last few weeks, and it wasinnocent enough.
(02:06):
It was actually intended to bepositive.
Well, here's what happened.
You know, I've done enough highschool, especially to I let
them brag about themselves.
I asked them who do they thinkmight be the valedictorian?
Well, just for the heck of it,in fifth grade I asked them if
(02:28):
they knew what a valedictorianwas, and they said yes.
And then I said who do youthink the valedictorian of the
fifth grade is going to be?
Well, they all indicated thesame student.
He wasn't around.
But then they got to thinkingabout who would be second, like
the salutatorian.
And I tell you what there was alot of students really proud of
(02:53):
their grade and they weremaking arguments for themselves,
to the point of saying thingslike I'm better at you than this
, and another one saying well, Idid better on the last test
than you, and it really got kindof heated and I was glad this
was actually taking place duringthe recess of all things, that
(03:16):
we weren't able to go outside Iwouldn't have brought it up
otherwise and that's what wewere talking about and that's
what developed and we really hadsome tough few minutes right
there because they're stillfifth graders, they're still
just 11 years old and they werea little bit emotional to think
(03:37):
that someone else would not seethem as a high ranking, as they
thought they were.
So, man, there was some tearsshed again.
Of all the things that I broughtup in high school I wish I
hadn't brought up in elementaryschool.
(03:58):
That was the top one.
I'll give you a warning Thinkabout I love elementary school.
I'll give you a warning Thinkabout I love elementary school.
I love this particular fifthgrade so much that I'm going to
come back more to the elementaryschool to which they're going
(04:18):
next year because I know I'mgoing to miss them.
I hate to say this because Iknow some of the sixth grade
students are listening so far,the sixth graders that I've had
today in the school they'regoing to are less mature than
they are as fifth graders at theschool they're at.
So I hope they really help theschools out.
Now one other thing thathappened in the classroom, and I
(04:39):
guess this was totallyaccidental.
I used to turn all my sound offwhen I was in the classroom
volume, text, text, whatever youcall that the silence button
because I didn't want that toaffect the class.
But then I got to the pointthat I would turn the volume
(05:02):
back up so that, mainly, I couldhear the sub-alert
notifications from the otherside of the room if I had
happened to lay my phone downand get over there and accept
that job before it goes off.
Well, I'm going to rethink thatnow and I'll tell you why.
I don't know what happened thisweek, but I had my volume
turned up and apparently I hadbeen on some kind of.
(05:26):
It was an education-relateditem, but it rolled
advertisements at the bottom.
Well, apparently I had put myphone back in my pocket.
But when I did so I touched oneof those advertisement banners.
Well, it just happened to be anadvertisement for ESPN and
(05:49):
Stephen A Smith started talkingwhile he was in my pocket and he
used a couple of words pocketand he used a couple of words
not terrible words, but the Hword and stuff like that.
That should not be heard in afifth grade classroom.
Now, thank goodness that therewas only a handful of students
(06:11):
that heard it and they giggled.
It didn't begin, it didn'tbecome an issue.
I got it turned off before itgot any worse.
But you know how those sportsshows are.
Sometimes they will tell itlike it is.
Well, I don't want them to tellit like it is in my classroom.
So I guess my lesson there isthat I am no longer going to
turn any of my volumes up sothat when that happens again,
(06:34):
all that will be happening isit'll be playing, but it'll be
playing silently.
So that's the second thing Ilearned.
It wouldn't have bothered me asmuch in high school, so I guess
this is another time that Ihave to do things just a little
bit differently in elementaryschool than I would have in high
(06:55):
school.
One other thing that hadhappened recently and shame on
me, but I was in a fourth orfifth grade class, I can't
remember which one we were doingsome work that required what
this school called.
They call them shoulderpartners.
It just means the kids that'ssitting at the same desk as you
are to work on projects together.
(07:17):
Well, a lot of those studentshave.
The teacher has establishedfinger signals so that you can
quietly request something andthe teacher can tell you to go
ahead.
When they want to go to therestroom, for instance, they
cross their fingers, hold theirfinger up in the air.
I see that and I'll just wavethem out of the room.
(07:37):
Well, that happened to onestudent, and we got to thinking
that student's been gone about10 minutes.
In fact, one of the otherstudents brought it to my
attention before I even thoughtabout it and I said well, go to
the restroom and see if she's inthere and make sure she's okay.
Well, they came back.
She wasn't in there.
Well then I got kind of worriedbecause I didn't know where the
(07:58):
student was.
So I sent one of the studentsto the office and they didn't
know anything about her either.
So I began calling around andabout that time one of the
counselors called.
I guess they had gotten wind ofit too.
They said Mr Collins, we'resorry, she's actually in here
with us.
So thank goodness for that.
(08:18):
But I guess the moral of thisstory is make sure you know
where those students are goingwhen they leave that room so
that you don't have to trackthem down later.
I think she gave me the signalthat she was going to the
restroom.
Maybe she said she was going tothe counseling office and I
just didn't hear her.
And I've learned a lesson fromit Make sure I hear what the
(08:40):
student says as to where they'regoing.
I've already told them I mean,there's a lot of them in those
grades going to the, you know,leaving the room for water or
restrooms or whatever, forwhatever reason, and I've
already warned them.
I said listen, when you all getto middle school, there's a lot
of teachers that will let youmaybe take three or four times
(09:01):
to leave the classroom in awhole week.
You'll have to sign out and beprepared for it because it's
going to be a big change fromwhat you're doing now.
Let's face it some of thestudents, when they're in the
hallway, going to the restroom,whatever, they're moving as
slowly as they can.
They really just did it,probably to get out of work, and
(09:21):
you really have to stay on topof it.
So learn from me don't ever letstudents leave that classroom
unless you know exactly wherethey're gonna be now.
The last one's a bit comical andit's not.
I'm not sure how I shouldaddress this.
You know this podcast hasbecome popular enough that the
(09:45):
students at the school knowabout it, even if I haven't
really said anything about it,and they know from their friends
, and especially their highschool sisters and brothers who
have played them, that I usuallydo some kind of video every
couple of weeks on Instagram.
So they know I have a podcast.
They know the same name forboth the Instagram and my
(10:06):
YouTube channel that supportsthe podcast.
But you know Instagram, anybodycan follow that.
So we had that indoor recess andthey thought it was going to be
cool to sit around Mr Collinsand watch some of those
Instagram videos, because thoseare really meant for probably
the students more so than theadults anyway.
(10:27):
So they were playing it, theyliked it, they laughed.
I don't know how I could changethat.
Maybe there's a situation whereI definitely tell them that
they're not allowed to listen toit in the classroom.
They're not allowed to listento it in any other classroom
because, if nothing else,they're going to get me in
trouble.
(10:48):
But it was recess, we were justplaying games.
Anyway they wanted to listen.
I let them listen.
Some of the songs I had donehad a beat to it, so they
thought that was funny.
It was actually quite comical,but I'm not sure that.
Maybe I need to chill out alittle bit on promoting it to
(11:09):
the students.
The high school students arefine.
Most of the ones that listen tothat are probably 18 anyway.
But I don't know aboutelementary school.
I won't mention it to them Ifthey ask me about it.
I'll admit that I have them,but they're not allowed to
listen to it in school.
Now, to be honest, I'm trying toget permission by the end of
this week from an elementaryschool to interview some of
(11:32):
their students for the podcast.
Of course that involvesparental permission, school
permission, all that kind ofthing, but I'm actually excited
and hoping that it's going tohappen, because it'll be the
first time ever that I've beenable to interview students that
young.
Now we'll take all securityprecautions.
(11:54):
We won't let them identifythemselves by name and of course
it'll have parental permissionanyway.
So that's basically it.
I hope you guys have a greatsummer.
I'm going to go ahead and callit quits for this one because,
like I said, I'm in the middleof my planning period and the
bell is getting ready to ringhere in a couple of minutes.
(12:14):
So you all have a great summer.
Hope we all get to sub as muchas we can when the fall begins.
Greg Collins Substitute Teachers Lounge, may 20, 2025.
Man, I almost called thisweek's episode my Week of
Mistakes.
Then I got to thinking theydidn't all happen this past week
, so I don't want to implysomething else, but maybe the
better one is.
Things I wish I hadn't done inelementary school, that I had
(00:23):
done in middle school and highschool, and because of that I
had students crying.
It was innocent enough, butthey were crying about it.
We're going to talk about thethings that I wish I had done
differently in elementary school, that I had been doing in
middle school and high school.
Substitute Teacher's Loud.
(00:59):
Let me start out by saying anunrelated item that I came
across this week was a programcalled we Will Write.
I loved it.
I used it in the fourth grade.
It kept all three classes inthere, completely occupied.
Students got a chance to writeon whatever the subject they
were given.
Then their fellow studentsvoted on what they wrote.
Man, we had some stuff writtenabout Russia and the Cold War.
(01:21):
This is fourth grade.
We had stuff written about howfamilies sometimes split up and
have to go their separate ways.
We had some written about lovestories.
So it was really prettyfascinating.
How well this program.
I would encourage you, if youget a chance, to use
wewillwritecom.
All right, here we go.
I've got several of thesewritten down.
(01:43):
You can probably tell already.
I think I just heard thedoorbell go off at the school.
I am in a sixth grade classroomright now.
I'm doing it out of conveniencebecause I've got a lot of stuff
going on this time.
Let me tell you first of allwhat I did in fifth grade within
the last few weeks, and it wasinnocent enough.
(02:06):
It was actually intended to bepositive.
Well, here's what happened.
You know, I've done enough highschool, especially to I let
them brag about themselves.
I asked them who do they thinkmight be the valedictorian?
Well, just for the heck of it,in fifth grade I asked them if
(02:28):
they knew what a valedictorianwas, and they said yes.
And then I said who do youthink the valedictorian of the
fifth grade is going to be?
Well, they all indicated thesame student.
He wasn't around.
But then they got to thinkingabout who would be second, like
the salutatorian.
And I tell you what there was alot of students really proud of
(02:53):
their grade and they weremaking arguments for themselves,
to the point of saying thingslike I'm better at you than this
, and another one saying well, Idid better on the last test
than you, and it really got kindof heated and I was glad this
was actually taking place duringthe recess of all things, that
(03:16):
we weren't able to go outside Iwouldn't have brought it up
otherwise and that's what wewere talking about and that's
what developed and we really hadsome tough few minutes right
there because they're stillfifth graders, they're still
just 11 years old and they werea little bit emotional to think
(03:37):
that someone else would not seethem as a high ranking, as they
thought they were.
So, man, there was some tearsshed again.
Of all the things that I broughtup in high school I wish I
hadn't brought up in elementaryschool.
(03:58):
That was the top one.
I'll give you a warning Thinkabout I love elementary school.
I'll give you a warning Thinkabout I love elementary school.
I love this particular fifthgrade so much that I'm going to
come back more to the elementaryschool to which they're going
(04:18):
next year because I know I'mgoing to miss them.
I hate to say this because Iknow some of the sixth grade
students are listening so far,the sixth graders that I've had
today in the school they'regoing to are less mature than
they are as fifth graders at theschool they're at.
So I hope they really help theschools out.
Now one other thing thathappened in the classroom, and I
(04:39):
guess this was totallyaccidental.
I used to turn all my sound offwhen I was in the classroom
volume, text, text, whatever youcall that the silence button
because I didn't want that toaffect the class.
But then I got to the pointthat I would turn the volume
(05:02):
back up so that, mainly, I couldhear the sub-alert
notifications from the otherside of the room if I had
happened to lay my phone downand get over there and accept
that job before it goes off.
Well, I'm going to rethink thatnow and I'll tell you why.
I don't know what happened thisweek, but I had my volume
turned up and apparently I hadbeen on some kind of.
(05:26):
It was an education-relateditem, but it rolled
advertisements at the bottom.
Well, apparently I had put myphone back in my pocket.
But when I did so I touched oneof those advertisement banners.
Well, it just happened to be anadvertisement for ESPN and
(05:49):
Stephen A Smith started talkingwhile he was in my pocket and he
used a couple of words pocketand he used a couple of words
not terrible words, but the Hword and stuff like that.
That should not be heard in afifth grade classroom.
Now, thank goodness that therewas only a handful of students
(06:11):
that heard it and they giggled.
It didn't begin, it didn'tbecome an issue.
I got it turned off before itgot any worse.
But you know how those sportsshows are.
Sometimes they will tell itlike it is.
Well, I don't want them to tellit like it is in my classroom.
So I guess my lesson there isthat I am no longer going to
turn any of my volumes up sothat when that happens again,
(06:34):
all that will be happening isit'll be playing, but it'll be
playing silently.
So that's the second thing Ilearned.
It wouldn't have bothered me asmuch in high school, so I guess
this is another time that Ihave to do things just a little
bit differently in elementaryschool than I would have in high
(06:55):
school.
One other thing that hadhappened recently and shame on
me, but I was in a fourth orfifth grade class, I can't
remember which one we were doingsome work that required what
this school called.
They call them shoulderpartners.
It just means the kids that'ssitting at the same desk as you
are to work on projects together.
(07:17):
Well, a lot of those studentshave.
The teacher has establishedfinger signals so that you can
quietly request something andthe teacher can tell you to go
ahead.
When they want to go to therestroom, for instance, they
cross their fingers, hold theirfinger up in the air.
I see that and I'll just wavethem out of the room.
(07:37):
Well, that happened to onestudent, and we got to thinking
that student's been gone about10 minutes.
In fact, one of the otherstudents brought it to my
attention before I even thoughtabout it and I said well, go to
the restroom and see if she's inthere and make sure she's okay.
Well, they came back.
She wasn't in there.
Well then I got kind of worriedbecause I didn't know where the
(07:58):
student was.
So I sent one of the studentsto the office and they didn't
know anything about her either.
So I began calling around andabout that time one of the
counselors called.
I guess they had gotten wind ofit too.
They said Mr Collins, we'resorry, she's actually in here
with us.
So thank goodness for that.
(08:18):
But I guess the moral of thisstory is make sure you know
where those students are goingwhen they leave that room so
that you don't have to trackthem down later.
I think she gave me the signalthat she was going to the
restroom.
Maybe she said she was going tothe counseling office and I
just didn't hear her.
And I've learned a lesson fromit Make sure I hear what the
(08:40):
student says as to where they'regoing.
I've already told them I mean,there's a lot of them in those
grades going to the, you know,leaving the room for water or
restrooms or whatever, forwhatever reason, and I've
already warned them.
I said listen, when you all getto middle school, there's a lot
of teachers that will let youmaybe take three or four times
(09:01):
to leave the classroom in awhole week.
You'll have to sign out and beprepared for it because it's
going to be a big change fromwhat you're doing now.
Let's face it some of thestudents, when they're in the
hallway, going to the restroom,whatever, they're moving as
slowly as they can.
They really just did it,probably to get out of work, and
(09:21):
you really have to stay on topof it.
So learn from me don't ever letstudents leave that classroom
unless you know exactly wherethey're gonna be now.
The last one's a bit comical andit's not.
I'm not sure how I shouldaddress this.
You know this podcast hasbecome popular enough that the
(09:45):
students at the school knowabout it, even if I haven't
really said anything about it,and they know from their friends
, and especially their highschool sisters and brothers who
have played them, that I usuallydo some kind of video every
couple of weeks on Instagram.
So they know I have a podcast.
They know the same name forboth the Instagram and my
(10:06):
YouTube channel that supportsthe podcast.
But you know Instagram, anybodycan follow that.
So we had that indoor recess andthey thought it was going to be
cool to sit around Mr Collinsand watch some of those
Instagram videos, because thoseare really meant for probably
the students more so than theadults anyway.
(10:27):
So they were playing it, theyliked it, they laughed.
I don't know how I could changethat.
Maybe there's a situation whereI definitely tell them that
they're not allowed to listen toit in the classroom.
They're not allowed to listento it in any other classroom
because, if nothing else,they're going to get me in
trouble.
(10:48):
But it was recess, we were justplaying games.
Anyway they wanted to listen.
I let them listen.
Some of the songs I had donehad a beat to it, so they
thought that was funny.
It was actually quite comical,but I'm not sure that.
Maybe I need to chill out alittle bit on promoting it to
(11:09):
the students.
The high school students arefine.
Most of the ones that listen tothat are probably 18 anyway.
But I don't know aboutelementary school.
I won't mention it to them Ifthey ask me about it.
I'll admit that I have them,but they're not allowed to
listen to it in school.
Now, to be honest, I'm trying toget permission by the end of
this week from an elementaryschool to interview some of
(11:32):
their students for the podcast.
Of course that involvesparental permission, school
permission, all that kind ofthing, but I'm actually excited
and hoping that it's going tohappen, because it'll be the
first time ever that I've beenable to interview students that
young.
Now we'll take all securityprecautions.
(11:54):
We won't let them identifythemselves by name and of course
it'll have parental permissionanyway.
So that's basically it.
I hope you guys have a greatsummer.
I'm going to go ahead and callit quits for this one because,
like I said, I'm in the middleof my planning period and the
bell is getting ready to ringhere in a couple of minutes.
(12:14):
So you all have a great summer.
Hope we all get to sub as muchas we can when the fall begins.
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