April 5, 2025 • 9 mins
Teachers and substitute teachers never truly turn off their "teacher brain," even during spring break. Like comedians and songwriters, educators are constantly collecting experiences, images, and stories that can engage students and improve classroom learning.
• Spring break provides opportunities to gather visual aids that capture student attention better than lectures alone
• Personal photos from places like the Alamo or experiences like holding a sloth create immediate student engagement
• Sharing vacation mishaps (like losing passports or falling in public) teaches students that everyone makes mistakes
• Real-world examples and personal stories create memorable learning moments students remember
• Visual elements help regain attention when students inevitably get distracted
• Even unplanned vacation experiences can become valuable classroom resources
Keep your mind open during spring break. Look for photos, stories, and objects that might enhance your teaching—but remember to enjoy your well-deserved time off too.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Greg (00:00):
Greg Collins.
Substitute Teachers Lounge.
This is the Spring Breakepisode, and I almost didn't do
one.
I figured you know I'll takeSpring Break off, everybody else
is.
And then I got to thinkingabout it Should teachers or
substitute teachers work at allduring Spring Break?
And the answer is an emphaticno.
(00:22):
But how should substituteteachers handle spring break?
I'll tell you some ideas that Ihave accidentally gotten
through spring break and howI've used them in the classroom
and how they you know, for lackof anything else, they kind of
build camaraderie.
So this is going to be anabbreviated episode, just a
(00:45):
short one.
Get your spring break going sothat you can have in your
subconscious and maybe if I comeacross something I like that
might be kind of cool in theclassroom, I'll snap a picture,
I'll buy it or I'll do whateverit takes to take advantage of
(01:06):
spring break without reallyhaving to work.
Substitute Teachers Loud.
All right, all right, all right, all right.
You know, in a way I've alwaysthought of teachers and
substitute teachers being thesame as Jerry Seinfeld
(01:29):
describing comedians you neveractually turn it off.
You always have that comedianmentality in the back of your
brain and you're always lookingfor stuff.
Songwriters too.
I've read books about PaulMcCartney, who they found the
strangest ways of coming up withsong titles Jerry Seinfeld.
(01:52):
There was one episode where hewoke up in the middle of the
night, had a funny thought,wrote it down on a piece of
paper so he'd remember it in themorning.
Teachers are sort of the sameway and substitute teachers if
you really want to do a good job.
You're this way too, in thateven though you're on vacation,
you never actually turn off yourteacher brain.
(02:13):
Because if you come acrosssomething and you think, man,
that sign is funny or maybe I'vemade a collection over the
years of signs that aremisspelled or improper grammar
just to throw them up on thescreen and let the students
evaluate them.
Or maybe come across somethingfunny in a gift shop or, you
(02:35):
know, maybe in a in a trinketstore, especially if you're a
history teacher, a lot oftrinket stores will sell stuff
about the country or maybe yourstate, that kind of thing.
And you know as much as I do ishaving something visual for the
kids to look at.
Even I don't know, maybe notdoesn't have that much to it to
(02:57):
listen.
It just kind of keeps themengaged.
Do this test Look around whileyou're talking to the students,
you will always see somestudents not paying attention.
I've gotten to the point nowwhere a lot of times, if I
really need them to payattention because I don't want
to repeat it, I stop and say,all right, everybody.
(03:19):
And then when everybody getsquiet except maybe two kids I'll
say, all right, we're waitingon two people to look at me.
And then they do, and then theylisten.
But if you'll look around, youdon't have all the students
engaged all the time.
But the instant you throwsomething to look at up on the
(03:39):
board especially, to be honest,if it's not like a historical
figure, it's more of a pictureof the Eiffel Tower or a picture
of the Alamo.
Let me give you for instance onthe Alamo.
My wife is a fifth gradeteacher and she teaches the
Alamo.
So we took a trip down to thatarea, along with some sporting
(04:01):
events and other things, but wedid visit.
It's kind of funny.
She wanted to go to the Alamo,Me and my sons wanted to go to
Ripley's believe it or notmuseum.
So that shows where mymentality is.
But she picked up on somethings at the Alamo that she
never used in her class before,and even some things that were
(04:23):
like used at the Alamo, that youknow maybe some rocks that were
sitting around just to have arock in your hand from the Alamo
.
That was kind of a cool thing.
I was in a library the other daymoving around with my class and
they were talking about slothsand they thought it was cool
(04:43):
when I pulled up a picture of meholding a sloth on my last
spring vacation that we took.
So that's the kind of stuff I'mthinking about.
You're not going to turn offyour teacher, mind.
You can't, you're not builtthat way.
But you'll come across stuffall the time.
One of the college campus Iused to walk across at
(05:05):
University of Kentucky when Iworked there.
Occasionally they would put upa sign that didn't make any
sense, so I'd take a picture ofit and then we'd talk about it
in a class.
I've taken pictures of thingsout of town that I thought was
kind of cool.
I've taken pictures of thebeach just to talk about various
different things.
One of my favorite stories totell and the lesson of the story
(05:29):
is everybody makes mistakes.
Well, one spring break, me andmy wife decided to go to
Washington DC, and a lot oftimes when you go to Washington
DC and you fly, it's cheaper tofly into Baltimore and just take
an Uber over.
So that's what we did.
So about halfway between Iguess it's about a 30 to 40
(05:49):
minute uber ride from baltimoreto dc I got a phone call from a
strange number and yes, I'm oneof those that I don't answer
strange phone calls.
Well, two minutes later I got aphone call from the same number
and you know that's enough tomake you think well, well, that
might be actually somebody thatneeds to talk to me.
(06:10):
So I answered it and it was theairport that we had just left
and they said Mr Collins, Ithink we have your blue folder
here at the airport.
And this was just a folder.
The folder had both ourpassports in it.
I had a thin notepad at thetime, computerized notepad.
(06:31):
It was in there and I said well, man, we'll be back there on
Friday.
Is there any way you can justput it in your office?
I think it was Delta that foundit and they did that.
The next day we were walking,they were walking to get dinner
and I was holding my cell phonein my hand and tripped over a
sidewalk that I didn't see, wentdown kind of hard.
There was enough people aroundme that some of them kind of
(06:53):
gasped a little bit.
I banged my knee, cut up myknee, cut up my left knee and my
right hand, because my leftknee is the one I fell on, my
right hand is the one I wasprotecting myself on with.
So I did that the same trip.
And then the other crazy thingthat I did was there was one day
where our watches said that wehad walked 30,000 steps.
(07:15):
I think it was six miles steps,I think it was six miles.
So I got in the shower thatnight and, not realizing how
tired my legs were, I lost mybalance and I grabbed hold of
the assistive bar on the side ofthe shower.
It pulled out of the wall and Ijust caught myself on the
(07:37):
shower curtain.
The curtain caught me before Ifell all the way out.
And the point I make with thestudents when I tell them that
story is that, man, we do dumbthings all the time.
I did three in three days.
It didn't bother me, I justwent on from it.
So when you do a dumb thing inclass, don't let it bother you,
don't let it embarrass you, justmove on and everything will be
(07:59):
fine.
And they remember that story,they.
There's some stories thatoccasionally, when I go back to
students, they'll say hey, willyou tell us the cafeteria story
again, and all that kind ofthing.
And that one deals withsecurity at schools and how in
my day we didn't even lock thefront doors at the schools.
So so that's it for today.
(08:20):
Just kind of keep your mind openwhile you're out on spring
break.
Try to find some things you canuse in the classroom, whether
that be videos or things you canshare.
All that good stuff.
And, by the way, my friends inKentucky, my prayers go out to
you.
We have had, at least at ourhouse, 12 inches of rain, not
snow, 12 inches of rain over thelast two days and obviously
(08:45):
we're having major floods.
The rivers are flooded, thecreeks are flooded just some of
the pictures I've seen.
Our yard is saturated, but wegot it.
We got it pretty good.
I mean, we had wind stormsduring all that and we haven't
had any damage from that.
But there are a lot of peoplethat have and our thoughts and
prayers are with you guys andfor the rest of you.
(09:05):
Some of you have finished yourspring break, but have a good
spring break and we'll see youon the other side.
Greg Collins.
Substitute Teachers Lounge.
This is the Spring Breakepisode, and I almost didn't do
one.
I figured you know I'll takeSpring Break off, everybody else
is.
And then I got to thinkingabout it Should teachers or
substitute teachers work at allduring Spring Break?
And the answer is an emphaticno.
(00:22):
But how should substituteteachers handle spring break?
I'll tell you some ideas that Ihave accidentally gotten
through spring break and howI've used them in the classroom
and how they you know, for lackof anything else, they kind of
build camaraderie.
So this is going to be anabbreviated episode, just a
(00:45):
short one.
Get your spring break going sothat you can have in your
subconscious and maybe if I comeacross something I like that
might be kind of cool in theclassroom, I'll snap a picture,
I'll buy it or I'll do whateverit takes to take advantage of
(01:06):
spring break without reallyhaving to work.
Substitute Teachers Loud.
All right, all right, all right, all right.
You know, in a way I've alwaysthought of teachers and
substitute teachers being thesame as Jerry Seinfeld
(01:29):
describing comedians you neveractually turn it off.
You always have that comedianmentality in the back of your
brain and you're always lookingfor stuff.
Songwriters too.
I've read books about PaulMcCartney, who they found the
strangest ways of coming up withsong titles Jerry Seinfeld.
(01:52):
There was one episode where hewoke up in the middle of the
night, had a funny thought,wrote it down on a piece of
paper so he'd remember it in themorning.
Teachers are sort of the sameway and substitute teachers if
you really want to do a good job.
You're this way too, in thateven though you're on vacation,
you never actually turn off yourteacher brain.
(02:13):
Because if you come acrosssomething and you think, man,
that sign is funny or maybe I'vemade a collection over the
years of signs that aremisspelled or improper grammar
just to throw them up on thescreen and let the students
evaluate them.
Or maybe come across somethingfunny in a gift shop or, you
(02:35):
know, maybe in a in a trinketstore, especially if you're a
history teacher, a lot oftrinket stores will sell stuff
about the country or maybe yourstate, that kind of thing.
And you know as much as I do ishaving something visual for the
kids to look at.
Even I don't know, maybe notdoesn't have that much to it to
(02:57):
listen.
It just kind of keeps themengaged.
Do this test Look around whileyou're talking to the students,
you will always see somestudents not paying attention.
I've gotten to the point nowwhere a lot of times, if I
really need them to payattention because I don't want
to repeat it, I stop and say,all right, everybody.
(03:19):
And then when everybody getsquiet except maybe two kids I'll
say, all right, we're waitingon two people to look at me.
And then they do, and then theylisten.
But if you'll look around, youdon't have all the students
engaged all the time.
But the instant you throwsomething to look at up on the
(03:39):
board especially, to be honest,if it's not like a historical
figure, it's more of a pictureof the Eiffel Tower or a picture
of the Alamo.
Let me give you for instance onthe Alamo.
My wife is a fifth gradeteacher and she teaches the
Alamo.
So we took a trip down to thatarea, along with some sporting
(04:01):
events and other things, but wedid visit.
It's kind of funny.
She wanted to go to the Alamo,Me and my sons wanted to go to
Ripley's believe it or notmuseum.
So that shows where mymentality is.
But she picked up on somethings at the Alamo that she
never used in her class before,and even some things that were
(04:23):
like used at the Alamo, that youknow maybe some rocks that were
sitting around just to have arock in your hand from the Alamo
.
That was kind of a cool thing.
I was in a library the other daymoving around with my class and
they were talking about slothsand they thought it was cool
(04:43):
when I pulled up a picture of meholding a sloth on my last
spring vacation that we took.
So that's the kind of stuff I'mthinking about.
You're not going to turn offyour teacher, mind.
You can't, you're not builtthat way.
But you'll come across stuffall the time.
One of the college campus Iused to walk across at
(05:05):
University of Kentucky when Iworked there.
Occasionally they would put upa sign that didn't make any
sense, so I'd take a picture ofit and then we'd talk about it
in a class.
I've taken pictures of thingsout of town that I thought was
kind of cool.
I've taken pictures of thebeach just to talk about various
different things.
One of my favorite stories totell and the lesson of the story
(05:29):
is everybody makes mistakes.
Well, one spring break, me andmy wife decided to go to
Washington DC, and a lot oftimes when you go to Washington
DC and you fly, it's cheaper tofly into Baltimore and just take
an Uber over.
So that's what we did.
So about halfway between Iguess it's about a 30 to 40
(05:49):
minute uber ride from baltimoreto dc I got a phone call from a
strange number and yes, I'm oneof those that I don't answer
strange phone calls.
Well, two minutes later I got aphone call from the same number
and you know that's enough tomake you think well, well, that
might be actually somebody thatneeds to talk to me.
(06:10):
So I answered it and it was theairport that we had just left
and they said Mr Collins, Ithink we have your blue folder
here at the airport.
And this was just a folder.
The folder had both ourpassports in it.
I had a thin notepad at thetime, computerized notepad.
(06:31):
It was in there and I said well, man, we'll be back there on
Friday.
Is there any way you can justput it in your office?
I think it was Delta that foundit and they did that.
The next day we were walking,they were walking to get dinner
and I was holding my cell phonein my hand and tripped over a
sidewalk that I didn't see, wentdown kind of hard.
There was enough people aroundme that some of them kind of
(06:53):
gasped a little bit.
I banged my knee, cut up myknee, cut up my left knee and my
right hand, because my leftknee is the one I fell on, my
right hand is the one I wasprotecting myself on with.
So I did that the same trip.
And then the other crazy thingthat I did was there was one day
where our watches said that wehad walked 30,000 steps.
(07:15):
I think it was six miles steps,I think it was six miles.
So I got in the shower thatnight and, not realizing how
tired my legs were, I lost mybalance and I grabbed hold of
the assistive bar on the side ofthe shower.
It pulled out of the wall and Ijust caught myself on the
(07:37):
shower curtain.
The curtain caught me before Ifell all the way out.
And the point I make with thestudents when I tell them that
story is that, man, we do dumbthings all the time.
I did three in three days.
It didn't bother me, I justwent on from it.
So when you do a dumb thing inclass, don't let it bother you,
don't let it embarrass you, justmove on and everything will be
(07:59):
fine.
And they remember that story,they.
There's some stories thatoccasionally, when I go back to
students, they'll say hey, willyou tell us the cafeteria story
again, and all that kind ofthing.
And that one deals withsecurity at schools and how in
my day we didn't even lock thefront doors at the schools.
So so that's it for today.
(08:20):
Just kind of keep your mind openwhile you're out on spring
break.
Try to find some things you canuse in the classroom, whether
that be videos or things you canshare.
All that good stuff.
And, by the way, my friends inKentucky, my prayers go out to
you.
We have had, at least at ourhouse, 12 inches of rain, not
snow, 12 inches of rain over thelast two days and obviously
(08:45):
we're having major floods.
The rivers are flooded, thecreeks are flooded just some of
the pictures I've seen.
Our yard is saturated, but wegot it.
We got it pretty good.
I mean, we had wind stormsduring all that and we haven't
had any damage from that.
But there are a lot of peoplethat have and our thoughts and
prayers are with you guys andfor the rest of you.
(09:05):
Some of you have finished yourspring break, but have a good
spring break and we'll see youon the other side.
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