0:00

This is Greg Collins Substitute

0:00

Teachers Lounge guys, this might

0:04

have been my most discouraging

0:04

week as a substitute teacher so

0:08

far helped me through it. And do

0:08

I use the word amazing too

0:12

often? Alright guys, I promise I won't

0:31

be too much of a downer this

0:35

week, just some things I want to

0:35

talk through. I wouldn't mind

0:38

you all sharing with me your

0:38

comments on this. This was

0:41

probably my most discouraging

0:41

week as I spent as a substitute

0:46

teacher. Basically, because of

0:46

this. As I mentioned, last week,

0:51

the whole episode, last week was

0:51

about going back to virtual, we

0:55

now know that because of the

0:55

area we're in, we're going to be

1:01

online only through

1:01

Thanksgiving. So we've got

1:05

another week and a half of this,

1:05

we just went through one week,

1:09

some of us not, you know,

1:09

probably most of the teachers

1:12

gave some kind of scoring

1:12

opportunity. And it's just not

1:16

the same, it's harder to get

1:16

students motivated. The main

1:19

reason I was disappointed is,

1:19

I'm thinking that I am covering

1:26

the topics adequately. I've got

1:26

some students in each class that

1:31

I really think would do

1:31

outstanding, regardless of who

1:35

was in there teaching them, they

1:35

might be able to just walk in

1:39

and teach the class on

1:39

themselves. So it's not really

1:43

those kids that I'm talking

1:43

about. It's maybe you know,

1:46

that's probably maybe the upper

1:46

five to 10%. But I'm talking

1:51

about the ones that I felt like

1:51

I had covered the subject

1:55

adequately. And then it was

1:55

obvious when test results came

1:59

back that maybe wasn't as good

1:59

as I thought they would have

2:04

been. So now you all have all

2:04

been through that as either a

2:08

substitute teacher or a teacher.

2:08

Now I've got to toy with various

2:13

different issues in my head.

2:13

Should I just give in to the

2:17

fact that I'm only a substitute

2:17

teacher? I'm not expected it to

2:22

cover the material as well as

2:22

the regular teachers? Could I?

2:26

Should I just sit back and let

2:26

that happen and do nothing about

2:29

it? Well, you know what my answer is going to be to that we'll talk about that here in

2:31

just a moment. Should I go back

2:34

and try to figure out what in

2:34

the world is happening. There

2:38

are several different schools of

2:38

thought, I do want to appreciate

2:42

I'm not gonna call the teacher

2:42

by name. But one of the teachers

2:45

I work with, I had talked to

2:45

them about this. And they not

2:50

only responded text, message

2:50

wise, but took the time to call

2:54

me and we kind of talked through

2:54

some things and, and they told

2:58

me, you know not to let it

2:58

bother me, here's where I'm

3:02

coming from. Let's take our

3:02

current situation in the world

3:06

in this country in my area, we

3:06

are still going through the

3:10

COVID protocol. It is just more

3:10

difficult to teach kids while

3:17

they're home. Now, ironically,

3:17

it's easier to control them in a

3:22

strange kind of way, I still

3:22

have kids in class that will

3:26

fuss at each other and aggravate

3:26

each other. It's all in fun. But

3:30

sometimes I have to tell them

3:30

just to stop in the classroom

3:33

and go to maybe 10 minutes of

3:33

silence.

3:37

I don't like to do that. That is

3:37

definitely a last resort. Well,

3:40

in the zoom meeting, it started

3:40

the same way. And it's, you

3:43

know, I shouldn't make it sound

3:43

too bad. Because these are two

3:46

really good kids. They are they

3:46

participate in class all the

3:51

time, they get good scores on

3:51

their test, they are just

3:54

competitive to the point that

3:54

they they fuss at each other a

3:57

little bit. I had to one time

3:57

during the meeting, actually,

4:01

zoom actually will not only let

4:01

you mute people on the other

4:05

end, but then you have the

4:05

choice of allowing them to

4:09

unmute yourself or you being the

4:09

only one being able to do that.

4:12

So I had to do that for a little

4:12

while. And it backfired, of

4:15

course, because I was sharing my

4:15

screen and trying to get

4:20

somebody to talk to me or one of

4:20

the kids to answer and I was

4:24

aggravated because nobody would

4:24

answer not even the students

4:28

that usually answer all the

4:28

time. And then the light bulb

4:31

came on. And I realized I still

4:31

had them muted and they couldn't

4:35

unmute themselves. So I had to

4:35

take a my bad on that. But first

4:40

thing we have to decide and I

4:40

think we all know the initial

4:44

answer to this. Is performance

4:44

going to be naturally just less

4:51

Now are we going to get less

4:51

performance, lower performance,

4:55

because we are teaching them

4:55

virtually I think most teachers

5:01

that I've met have come to the

5:01

conclusion that they are. So

5:05

then we have a couple of

5:05

different ways we can react to

5:08

that. We could say, they're just

5:08

going to perform worse,

5:12

virtually, we've just got to get

5:12

used to it. And of course, that

5:15

means that all our grades will

5:15

average down. Or the flipside of

5:20

that is, do we back off a bit

5:20

when we test them? And maybe not

5:25

test them? As difficultly as we

5:25

do at times? Do we make the test

5:31

I hate to say easier, because

5:31

that's such a misnomer. What's

5:34

easier, in one mind? Might be

5:34

harder in another? But do we

5:38

make the net the test easier

5:38

because of what they're going

5:42

through? So those are things

5:42

that we have to consider. So

5:45

that was the first thing I was

5:45

discouraged about the test

5:48

results aren't the same. But you

5:48

know, as a substitute teacher,

5:52

then what am I doing wrong? What

5:52

am I not getting across to those

5:57

kids? You know, there's a little

5:57

bit of me that thinks that I may

6:02

over assume sometimes. I mean,

6:02

I've dealt with numbers my whole

6:07

life. That was my career. I was

6:07

an accountant. Before I retired

6:10

two years ago, before I became a

6:10

substitute teacher. They've

6:13

always told me the teachers I've

6:13

talked to have said they,

6:16

they've always wanted to see

6:16

what an accountant would bring

6:20

to a teaching role like this.

6:20

And I want those kids to have

6:25

fun in class. I'll be honest, I

6:25

want them to like me. I mean, I

6:29

had a podcast a couple of weeks

6:29

ago about do we want to be liked

6:32

or not? Yeah, I want to be

6:32

liked. Because I think that

6:34

promotes interaction. If you

6:34

allow the kids to like you, they

6:40

are more comfortable asking

6:40

questions. Now. I will say this

6:44

the participation level now, oh,

6:44

my goodness, it's what 10% we're

6:50

struggling at our school on how

6:50

to measure participation. I'll

6:55

give you something that seems

6:55

bizarre to me. I gave one class

6:59

A, it was a in a quiz format.

6:59

But it was stuff we were going

7:05

over as a class. So we came to a

7:05

conclusion in a class. And then

7:10

I allowed them to put down their

7:10

answer. So it was basically 10

7:14

points of easy classroom work.

7:14

Only half of the class turn that

7:19

in. So you had to either be

7:19

completely ignoring the fact you

7:24

want it to just get your face

7:24

seen as a student, and then not

7:28

do any work at all, or something

7:28

happened. How would I know,

7:33

although I haven't heard from

7:33

any students. But you know, we,

7:36

we as school systems, now we

7:36

have to figure out how we're

7:39

going to measure participation

7:39

in the virtual meetings? Well,

7:44

that's one way to do it. I could

7:44

just tell the administration

7:48

that those that half of the

7:48

students didn't participate in

7:52

class because they didn't fill

7:52

out the easy assignment. I could

7:55

do it that way. So we're toying

7:55

around with that. We know how we

7:59

can measure participation when

7:59

they're in the room. So I'm

8:03

going to try to come up with

8:03

some things. But as a substitute

8:07

teacher, I don't want to become

8:07

so discouraged that I am

8:12

probably let it bother me for

8:12

about 12 hours, I had difficulty

8:16

sleeping that night, I had

8:16

similar reaction and all the

8:21

classes that I wish they had

8:21

done better on the test. Now

8:26

there's three levels of

8:26

students, maybe there were the

8:30

students that I mentioned, that

8:30

probably would do well, no

8:32

matter who's teaching and what

8:32

the subject is, then you've got

8:35

students at the bottom, a few of

8:35

them maybe don't care who's

8:38

teaching them and what the

8:38

subject is, they're not really

8:41

going to try that hard. It's the

8:41

people in the middle, maybe that

8:45

I worry about most who are

8:45

trying hard, but are having a

8:49

more difficult time

8:49

understanding, you know me well

8:52

enough to know that I think that

8:52

math kind of lends itself to

8:56

that math just comes more

8:56

naturally. Although I guess I

8:59

could say that about reading to

8:59

reading comes more naturally to

9:03

some people than others. So I

9:03

guess other subjects have the

9:06

same flaws. I hear students tell

9:06

me all the time, Mr. Collins,

9:11

I'm just not good at math.

9:11

Ironically, when I ask them what

9:16

they're good at, it's something

9:16

that I'm not good at. So who am

9:20

I to say that math, not to make

9:20

the excuse about math because

9:26

I'm terrible at writing. I'm

9:26

terrible at being creative. I

9:30

can't do things like that, but

9:30

I'm good at math. My student

9:33

might be bad at math, but

9:33

they're great in the other

9:36

category. So who am I to say,

9:36

you got to be great and all of

9:41

them but we do have to teach

9:41

them and all of them so

9:44

discouraging this weekend test

9:44

results, discouraging this week

9:49

in interaction with the kids. I

9:49

do have some ideas I'm going to

9:55

try. I've already tried some

9:55

ideas that To be honest, didn't

9:58

work. Going to try some other

9:58

ideas, I have been rolling this

10:03

around in my head, and I'm going

10:03

to try them, I'm not going to

10:08

tell you what they are, because

10:08

I want you to learn the results

10:14

next week after I've had a week

10:14

to try them out. So discouraging

10:19

week, I could let it bother me.

10:19

I did, like I said for about 12

10:24

hours, but after those 12 hours,

10:24

picked myself back up and said,

10:27

this ain't gonna happen, I am

10:27

not going to let this get me

10:30

down. If I let it get me down,

10:30

that is not good for me or the

10:34

students, I'm not going to give

10:34

up by any means I would never

10:38

would have done that never would

10:38

have even considered doing that.

10:41

But I've got ways not so much in

10:41

what I'm teaching them, but how

10:47

I'm teaching them and how that

10:47

needs to change a bit for this

10:51

virtual environment. So that's

10:51

kind of the discouraging part of

10:56

this discussion today. Boy, if I

10:56

ever needed your help, if I ever

11:01

needed to go to go to the

11:01

Substitute Teachers Lounge,

11:04

Facebook page, join the group,

11:04

are asked the question there

11:10

too, to kind of spur a little

11:10

interest and get some feedback.

11:13

And I want you all to tell me what

11:14

you've done and be specific. I

11:19

don't want you to jump in there

11:19

and say, hey, it's going great

11:22

in our area. Well, that doesn't

11:22

tell me anything. Tell me why

11:26

it's going great. Tell me some

11:26

things you suffered through and

11:29

conclusions you've come to,

11:29

here's what I'm hoping, you

11:32

know, we started with just a few

11:32

virtual weeks, then we went to a

11:36

couple who we had half in the

11:36

building and half at home, that

11:39

was a nightmare. It's impossible

11:39

trying to do that. And then we

11:43

had all in the room for several

11:43

weeks before our district

11:47

reached a level that we need it

11:47

to go back to virtual again for

11:51

a while. So maybe some of you

11:51

have even more experience in

11:57

what's been has worked virtually

11:57

for you because you've done it

12:01

maybe from the school year. So

12:01

please go to Substitute Teachers

12:06

Lounge, Facebook, let's get a

12:06

discussion going there. If you'd

12:11

rather keep it private, email me

12:11

at Greg Collin

12:14

[email protected], I've got a

12:14

twitter at sub teach lounge, you

12:20

can go there comment there too,

12:20

you can send me if you if you

12:25

follow my Twitter account, I

12:25

will follow you back. And then

12:29

that way, we can also send

12:29

direct messages to each other.

12:31

So let's do that. That's my

12:31

discouraging week, I will not

12:35

let it I'm going to say I won't

12:35

let it happen again to that

12:38

level. And again, thanks so much

12:38

for the teacher that called and

12:42

gave me some ideas. And and

12:42

helped me out in that way. I

12:47

will have maybe part two of this

12:47

discussion next week when I tell

12:52

you what I tried and, and what

12:52

worked and what didn't work. By

12:56

the way, I will tell you in the

12:56

computer applications class,

13:00

which is also difficult to

13:00

teach. If you're in anything

13:04

like that, I'm doing a project

13:04

now where I'm showing them how

13:07

to write an E book and publish

13:07

it on Kindle publishing. 85% are

13:12

just loving it, they can't wait.

13:12

They want to write multiple book

13:15

books. And of course, I have to

13:15

move the class alone. But once I

13:19

show them how to use Kindle

13:19

Direct Publishing, they can

13:22

publish it anytime they want to.

13:22

It's really fun, I shared a

13:26

video with them. If you would

13:26

like a video, just again,

13:30

contact me through either the

13:30

Facebook page or through my

13:35

gmail account. And we'll we'll

13:35

get that to you. So the other

13:39

thing I'm going to try, I use

13:39

Audacity for to create this

13:43

podcast. And I am using

13:43

something different because I'm

13:49

going to teach my kids how to

13:49

use a podcast, I want to learn a

13:53

couple of different systems

13:53

because I know given the fact

13:57

that a lot of them are out at

13:57

home on Chromebooks that it's

14:00

not going to be as easy for them

14:00

to use Audacity. There is

14:03

Chromebook extensions, but it

14:03

just not as I don't know clean

14:08

for lack of a different word as

14:08

it would be on using a PC

14:12

version. And some of them

14:12

because the the system, the

14:16

operating system that runs on a

14:16

Chromebook is a bit unique. And

14:20

you have to kind of use

14:20

extensions for a lot of

14:22

different things. So but that's

14:22

what we're going into next.

14:25

That's been exciting. So if

14:25

you're doing anything like that,

14:29

also let me know. I'll chalk up

14:29

the rest of this podcast as

14:34

maybe something I hope you found

14:34

it humorous. I hope I don't end

14:37

up offending people. But it's

14:37

funny some of the words as I've

14:42

gotten gotten into the school

14:42

system that I hear repeated over

14:47

and over and weird things pop

14:47

into my head all the time I get

14:51

to thinking, Man, are we using

14:51

that word correctly? one that

14:56

comes to mind is I hear this

14:56

word all day. Long from

15:01

everybody, I noticed it early on

15:01

that word is amazing. We might

15:06

have gone to an amazing

15:06

restaurant, we might have an

15:09

amazing student, we might have

15:09

an amazing subject to teach, we

15:14

just say Amazing, amazing,

15:14

amazing all the time, I started

15:18

to poke fun at it a little bit.

15:18

And then I started becoming

15:23

conscious of how often I say

15:23

that word too. And I'm thinking

15:27

man, I was here I was looking at

15:27

other people and talking about

15:32

how often they use that word.

15:32

And then I realized I was using

15:36

it to so I kind of trained my

15:36

brain for this past week. And

15:41

the week before that, too, is I

15:41

was preparing for this, of

15:45

looking at the different ways I

15:45

use the word amazing. And I

15:49

tried to write it down every

15:49

time I used it, to make a note

15:53

of it to see how I used it, and

15:53

I was overusing it. Let's face

15:57

it, everything can't be amazing.

15:57

If McDonald's is amazing. And my

16:03

favorite Steakhouse is also

16:03

amazing. Well, which level is

16:07

which? I have amazing students, I would

16:08

call each and every student

16:12

amazing. They're amazing in

16:12

their own way. You know, another

16:17

word that we use a lot is

16:17

awesome. It's kind of funny, I

16:20

remember back when I was a

16:20

child, we didn't use that word

16:24

that often. And when we did,

16:24

sometimes I would get scolded

16:28

because there was some people

16:28

that thought that the word

16:31

awesome, should be used only for

16:31

God. But you know, I don't know,

16:37

I don't know if I'm overusing

16:37

that word too. But there's a lot

16:40

of things that we call amazing

16:40

what I have. To me, the biggest

16:45

misuse that I've done with that

16:45

word is when I'm trying to sell

16:49

something to somebody, I don't

16:49

mean, monetarily. But I mean, my

16:55

idea, if I have an idea, and I

16:55

want to show someone else, how

17:03

great an idea is, and maybe it's

17:03

not the greatest thing in the

17:07

world, it's just something that

17:07

I've gotten used to using. So I

17:11

want them to think it's the

17:11

greatest thing in the world. So

17:15

I call it amazing. You know,

17:15

maybe we're choosing between

17:19

four different programs for a

17:19

school system and out, do I get

17:24

my opinion, I say, Oh, this one

17:24

is amazing. Well, to me, I don't

17:29

pay much attention to that word

17:29

anymore from either me or other

17:33

people. Because I am trying to

17:33

be as specific as possible. If

17:38

I'm going to just ask you this

17:38

and Facebook pages all the time.

17:43

If I'm just going to be using

17:43

the word amazing. I am not

17:49

giving enough information. If

17:49

I'm going to say something's

17:52

amazing. I'm going to tell

17:52

people why it's amazing. So

17:56

that's the first word that I

17:56

think is overused when you tell

17:59

something somebody amazing,

17:59

thanks to yourself. Am I doing

18:02

that? Just to kind of swing them

18:02

over to my side? Let me give

18:06

some specifics. Let me show them

18:06

why I think this is amazing.

18:11

Another word is literally, I

18:11

hear that word used misused all

18:17

the time. I actually had heard

18:17

an adult the other day, they

18:21

were talking to somebody on

18:21

their phone. And they were

18:24

talking about a funny story. And

18:24

they actually use the phrase, I

18:29

literally laughed my head off.

18:29

Well, I hope that's not true.

18:34

Because you guys know what the

18:34

word literal means. Unless

18:39

there's somebody's head rolling

18:39

across the floor, because

18:41

they're laughing so hard. That

18:41

word was misuse. So that's one

18:45

that we I think that we meet

18:45

misuse a lot, we overuse it and

18:50

it's kind of become something in

18:50

that vernacular that we

18:54

shouldn't be using it that way.

18:54

Another one, I you know that the

18:58

word challenge comes up from

18:58

time to time in schools. We use

19:01

it sometimes to be tough with

19:01

students, we call it a

19:05

challenge. I try not to use the

19:05

word that I'm challenging my

19:09

student in this regard. I won't

19:09

give them questions. And if

19:14

everybody misses it, I'm going

19:14

to come to the opinion that I

19:19

didn't teach it well, more so

19:19

than it's good to challenge the

19:24

students. If they miss it, they

19:24

this just miss it. Well, I'm

19:27

going to rethink that. I'm going

19:27

to think that if even the

19:31

strongest students in the room,

19:31

didn't do well, well, then I

19:35

messed something up. I didn't

19:35

teach them as properly as I

19:38

should. Did set that half of the

19:38

class get it right and half of

19:42

them didn't Well, that's

19:42

different that that's, I would

19:45

say that was something I needed

19:45

to challenge those students and

19:48

they need to know what they need

19:48

to study for now. So that's

19:52

another word challenge that I

19:52

think is misused. realist. Oh my

19:57

goodness, I hate when people use

19:57

the real estate Word realists.

20:01

Oh, you might think that way.

20:01

But I'm a realist, here's what I

20:05

think, well, they're only using

20:05

the word realist, so that they

20:09

can say something negative about

20:09

something. And that is a misuse

20:13

of the word. So I don't want to

20:13

use that word at all. I don't

20:19

want to have a conversation. And

20:19

just because I disagree with

20:24

somebody, I'll say, Well, I'm a

20:24

realist, that's what's really

20:28

going to happen. And that's not

20:28

a good way to use that word.

20:31

Another word is defensive. We

20:31

have gotten to a point in our

20:36

society, and maybe in our

20:36

classrooms, where all of a

20:40

sudden, if somebody disagrees

20:40

with us, well, we shoot back by

20:45

saying, don't be defensive. And

20:45

I'm thinking, boy,

20:48

are we miss using that word or

20:48

not, we're trying to run that

20:52

other person down, maybe even

20:52

the student, are we trying to

20:56

run a student down by not

20:56

saying, don't be defensive, just

20:59

because they said something.

20:59

Contrary to what we just said,

21:04

the kids know that I like them

21:04

to debate in class, maybe I'll

21:09

try some of that virtually to

21:09

try to get more kids involved.

21:13

But I would never say to

21:13

somebody, you're just being

21:17

defensive. Now you know how that

21:17

word should be used. Let's use

21:20

it in that way. And not just

21:20

because somebody is disagreeing

21:25

with us. And probably maybe the

21:25

last word I can think of, and

21:28

again, I would love for you go

21:28

to the Facebook page, and

21:31

challenge me, I promise, I won't

21:31

get defensive. challenge me and

21:36

I won't get defensive. I

21:36

promise. The last word I was

21:39

going to mention, is perfect.

21:39

You know, I'm not sure there's

21:46

anything in this world that is

21:46

truly perfect. We have to strive

21:54

and make our students whether as

21:54

a teacher or as a substitute

21:58

teacher, better all the time,

21:58

I'm never going to reach

22:02

perfection. Neither are you.

22:02

Neither are those students. One

22:08

thing that I do use that word

22:08

for in the classroom, I try not

22:12

to overuse it, because then just

22:12

kind of becomes artificial. But

22:16

when when a kid gets a question,

22:16

right, and you know, in math,

22:21

especially, there's perfect

22:21

answers. It's either right or

22:24

it's wrong. So the only thing

22:24

that may not be in might be a

22:27

bit imperfect is the way you got

22:27

there. There are certain ways

22:31

that you arrive to a conclusion

22:31

you have to show your work, and

22:35

maybe some ways are in now, this

22:35

is an impossible phrase, I was

22:39

going to say more perfect than

22:39

the other. That's, that's

22:42

something that can happen. It's

22:42

either perfect or it's not. It

22:44

can't be more perfect. But

22:44

sometimes if they get an answer

22:48

correct in class, I'll say

22:48

perfect, that was exactly what I

22:51

was looking for. And that tends

22:51

to encourage the students. Now,

22:55

I won't say it artificially, if

22:55

they missed it, I'll usually say

22:59

something like, you know, I know

22:59

why you gave that answer. I know

23:04

why a lot of people would give

23:04

that answer. Let's go through it

23:08

on our own and see how that

23:08

goes. So guys, sometimes we're

23:12

going to have weeks that are

23:12

discouraging, let's try to pick

23:17

ourselves up. I know some

23:17

teachers, especially maybe some

23:21

that are getting close, maybe

23:21

they're within a few years of

23:24

retirement, it becomes more

23:24

difficult to stay with things.

23:30

And maybe it was in the past,

23:30

you become discouraged. It's

23:34

kind of funny. Everybody knows

23:34

that. And it's just the way I've

23:38

always been guys for two years

23:38

since I've retired, I still

23:42

can't sleep past 5am. So I

23:42

usually go into the school and I

23:47

get there 30 minutes easy before

23:47

most of the other people and

23:51

they joke with me and say all

23:51

you can tell who the newer

23:54

teachers are sent man, I have

23:54

always been like this. And you

23:58

know, what happens is, I start

23:58

thinking of things. I guarantee

24:02

you every morning, I will wake

24:02

up and think, you know, this is

24:06

a better way I could have done

24:06

what, what what I planned for

24:11

today, let me go in and revise

24:11

it a bit. And I'll do that. So

24:16

don't get discouraged by things

24:16

always look for new ways. I've

24:20

got ideas this week. I can't

24:20

wait to share how they went next

24:25

week. We'll do that. And

24:25

remember, are you using these

24:28

words? You know, I know this was

24:28

just an amazing podcast, maybe

24:32

the most amazing one that I've

24:32

ever done? Well, that's trying

24:36

to sell it to you because I'm

24:36

misusing the word amazing. So

24:41

I'm gonna go back in my

24:41

vocabulary and make sure I'm

24:44

using words correctly. Guys,

24:44

let's do whatever we need to do.

24:49

Let's stay encouraging for our

24:49

kids. Let's use the words that

24:54

motivate them most. Let's not

24:54

use certain words so often that

24:59

it D motive them, and let's see

24:59

if we can just become better

25:03

substitute teachers together.

25:03

I'll see you next week it will

25:07

be the next it will be the

25:07

Sunday before Thanksgiving next

25:12

week in the year 2020. So, we'll

25:12

see how things are going. I

25:17

already know that some of our

25:17

normal plans that we do for

25:20

Thanksgiving will not happen

25:20

this year, but we're not gonna

25:24

let it get us discouraged.

25:24

Right. So I will see you next

25:29

week. Uses provided by