Substitute Teachers Lounge
Substitute Teachers Lounge
Minecraft to Mentoring: Substitute Teachers Tackle Student Conflicts
What happens when students mistreat each other, and how should substitute teachers respond? This deeply reflective episode explores the delicate art of addressing student conflicts while maintaining dignity for everyone involved.
Drawing unexpected connections between spring break viewing experiences—from 1970s home movies to the Minecraft film—Greg Collins shares powerful insights about witnessing and addressing student mistreatment. The episode reveals surprisingly effective intervention strategies tailored to different age groups, from the simple yet profound question "Do you feel good about yourself right now?" for elementary students to the strategic chair-placement technique that works wonders with high schoolers.
Greg Collins Substitute Teachers Lounge. It is April 15th 2025. You've got until midnight to file your taxes, so be aware of that. Spent all of last week on spring break doing some things, but also watching some shows that I might not have otherwise had time to watch, and it's funny how all of them seem to point me in the same direction to do another show that I've never really done before. We're going to touch on how students are treated by other students. The shows I watched last week that made me think of this were these First of all, I found when I was cleaning.
Greg:I found an old DVD of old home movies from my parents from 1972, when I was age 14, and they took me and my brother to Disney World for the first time, so I watched that. I watched a couple of episodes of the Waltons. Maybe some Andy Griffith watched all those. They all seem to be pointing me in the same direction. I also I'm going to epic universe in june, so I wanted to watch how to train your dragon from 2010, because that's one of the lands there. I watched that.
Greg:And maybe the craziest thing, I went and saw the minecraft movie twice, twice. Substitute teacher's lounge. All right, let's start with the last one I mentioned first. You might be thinking Greg, why in the world would you go see the Minecraft movie twice? Well, I was vaguely interested in it. There's a couple of the middle schools in our area that has the Minecraft version for school and they actually get graded at times especially when substitute teachers there of going in and building as assigned and finding things as assigned. So I knew how popular it was and we had some painters in our house and I was just going. My wife was at the house, so I was just going to get away and go see a movie. I had a freebie coming anyway, so I figured that's really the only movie of any interest I'd like to see and I like goofball stuff and I like Jack Black. So I went to see it. I went there with everybody in there was probably associated with a I don't know a second grade kid. There was probably 30 kids in there that watched it with me, with their parents, so it was probably the largest movie group I'd seen in a while and I caught myself laughing through the whole thing. I felt kind of silly, but that's kind of who I am. I'm a big goofball.
Greg:Then our grandkids came over two days later I guess it was three days later and we wanted to take them to see a movie and that was really the only movie that they showed any interest in and I said, well, I guess I can see it again. And I went back and saw it again, noticed some things I hadn't noticed the first time and that's why I went and saw the Minecraft movie twice, which is the most popular movie so far this year. So who would have figured it's about? Like Barbie and Super Mario Brothers from last year? But anyway, the first thing I mentioned was actually the first thing I did is I was cleaning out and watched old videos of when I was 14. And I'm looking at myself and I'm thinking, man, I was such a geek back then. Now there was a lot of kids that looked like me and I had friends, so I didn't go friendless by any means.
Greg:One show I forgot to mention Black Mirror series. Now, I don't recommend that to any of the kids out there, but the Black Mirror series started to get on Netflix and one of those episodes I think the second episode deals with this topic as well but that old video from 1972 got me to thinking. You know, I remember when I was a little kid like maybe first grade there was maybe kids weren't actually picking on me, but I had the perception they were for no reason it's just because I was smaller than them. By the time I got older I never picked on anybody, didn't qualify, wasn't worthy of picking on anybody, but there were. I did see student situations. I don't want to put it in a high category like bullying, it's just more mistreating other students, or maybe the best thing to say about it is saying something about them in front of others and embarrassing them. Now I know from my old video. It made me remember old things that happened in my school. I remember some kids that were affected very badly about being verbally insulted, and I know some parents had to be called to school.
Greg:All that said, if you go back and listen to all the things I mentioned in the opening, all of those that I watched dealt with a situation where kids and in a couple of cases, adults, were mistreated by others and embarrassed by others, and that can stay with us a lot of times. So I thought what I would do today is talk about what substitute teachers should do in various situations and maybe even make me second guess, something that I've done that I realize probably embarrassed a student, although it was their choice, because they did something wrong. Let's talk about that a little bit Now. Let's say this right now I do not qualify to give you any information. I am not licensed in any area. I am just going to tell you what I do at school when I see situations like this and, to be honest, it probably comes up more. The trivial part of it comes up more in elementary school, even though those kids get more embarrassed quickly than anybody else.
Greg:Normally, what I will do when I see someone say something or mistreat another student jokingly, now I try to stay consistent. Sometimes they do that with their friends, just because that's what friends do, that's what brothers do, but I try to keep it equal, because if I let one go and not let the other go, well then that sets out a precedent I don't want to deal with. So, depending on the nature of the situation, I will go up to the kid, I'll say something to the effect of do you feel good about yourself right now? And maybe they might smartly say yes, and I said so. You feel good when you've made someone else feel bad. Now, in elementary school. That's usually the furthest you need to go, because that will put them in a situation where they realize, man, that wasn't good, that I did that and I wouldn't want to be treated that way. You know, I've often said, when I've done lessons for adults even, that think about somebody that's mistreated you. And then I say, well, think about somebody you mistreated. We don't think about the other side a lot. So I would tell that kid all right, I think that it would go a long way if you looked at that. I'll just say, lady, if you looked at the girl that you just embarrassed and tell them you're sorry and they'll do it. And then, to be honest, at that point they usually feel worse than the person that got insulted in the first place.
Greg:Now situations in high school. I'll escalate that a little bit. I'll start the same way. I might go up to that person, that student. My favorite kind of thing to do is to pick up a chair, walk back to the student, put my chair right next to them and then I'll sit in it and I won't say a thing. They'll know why I'm there. I'll start out similarly by saying are you proud of yourself for just doing that? And normally a high school student would just be quiet. And then I'll say did you do that just because you thought it would make you popular with everybody else in the room? Or for your buddy sitting next to you, because I don't see either one of them laughing anymore? Why did you do that? And they'll come up with something. A lot of times they'll even say that was probably bad of me to do that, I'm sorry. They'll a lot of times apologize before I have a chance to.
Greg:Now some kids to be perfectly honest when they're mistreated that way. They probably don't want me to do that, they want it to just pass. But it makes me feel like, well, the next time they feel like they're going to insult another kid in the class and embarrass them or say something about them that isn't true, something along those lines. Maybe they'll think about it twice next time If, for no other reason, they're going to say I don't want Mr Collins to come back here and sit with me and embarrass me again. So that's kind of the way I handle it.
Greg:I don't want students to be affected to the point that they don't want to come to school, and the more I can as a substitute teacher just almost. I mean, I can call myself a bystander. I'm not the regular teacher, I'm a bystander, but I observe what happened. I might even say something to you know. Walking down the street, for some reason, an episode of Seinfeld popped into my mind when George saw a mother mistreating their child in a parking garage and called her out on it, and then the child went after George. He started insulting George. So of course that was a comedy and it was comical. The situation was comical Probably happens from time to time.
Greg:I don't want it to happen on my watch. I want everybody to feel comfortable in the classroom, whether it's coming from me or it's coming from somebody else. Now I did that with one elementary school kid and it affected him enough that he started crying a little bit about it. But you know, when I go back to that school, that kid is the first one to come up and hug me and say Mr Collins, we're glad to have you back. Isn't it funny how, even though I disciplined them more than any other student in that classroom, they still take the time to come up. Maybe they even remember me for it. Maybe they're even thankful that I did it. In a weird sort of way it gets them out of that mode where they think they have to be mean to other students.
Greg:I'll tell you one thing that I do a lot because it works usually. I started doing this in middle school. In fact, I'll even say that it probably works better in that middle school age range which what would that be About? 12 through 14. I guess they're 11 when they first start sixth grade. But you know what I mean. And I'll say all right, guys, right now we're going to do this or I'm going to give you this privilege. I'm going to give you 10 minutes of playtime on the computer because you all work so well today and your teacher gave me permission to. But if you get on websites that you're not supposed to be on and the teachers told me that you're not supposed to be on and I teachers told me that you're not supposed to be on and I catch you at it, well, I'm not going to take away that privilege for just you. I'm going to take away that privilege for everybody in the room. So if that happens, everybody in this room is going to lose their privilege and it's going to be your fault, and I tell them that, and a lot of times they will still do it and I'll catch them at it.
Greg:They don't think I'm as smart as I am. I can't. I'm not as smart as they are computer-wise, but I'm smart enough to know when they have other windows and other tabs open and there's all kinds of things. Now that teachers, if they leave you that program, you can track what the students have been looking at anyway, and sometimes I've told them that your teacher knows how to track what you've been on and I would just let your teacher address it tomorrow. But at the same time, when I've done that and called them out on it, it did embarrass them. Maybe it affected them. I may consider stop doing that. But if I you know, if they're doing something they're not supposed to do, I have to correct it. But maybe it's best if I just take the privileges away from that one student than the whole class.
Greg:I even remember when I was in high school fussing about that why does the whole class have to stay in and be punished, when it was only a couple of students in the classroom doing it? And here, as I've gotten older, I'm doing the same thing. I remember when I didn't have any kids and I remember and he was always proper in doing so. But my father would occasionally tell me. He'd usually talk to me about it for a while and when he realized we were not going to come to the same conclusion, he would say, greg, it's just because I said so and I would have to live with that. And I remember growing up and saying I am never going to say because I said so to my kids. And then of course, I did just like all of you have, and all that kind of thing. So I would encourage you today.
Greg:I don't want to say put on a happy face, that sounds kind of corny but think about situations in your classroom that might affect that student's not mentally, of course, but affect them, embarrass them and don't let that happen or correct the situation. When it happens You're going to gain a buddy from that student. They're going to be happy that you did that Some of them will probably wish that you didn't but at the same time, be happy that you got them out of that situation the other student. Maybe it will help them not to be that way in the future. I will say this about my high school, since they were talking about it and I got to be careful about this because there's the old standing joke that treat when you're in high school, treat that kid nice because you're probably going to be working for him someday.
Greg:I never was an athlete.
Greg:I never had the popularity of an athlete. Everyone knew I was smart. They would occasionally ask me questions about something and I would help them with it. But there are situations where now, as I see the way the popular kids turned out, you know if you're not careful, you think well, my life turned out better than them and they didn't really treat me the way I wish they should have, but we got to be careful about that. That is not a fair way to look at it. In fact, I've tried to help some of my old buddies in situations they've been in, regardless of how they treated me.
Greg:You can probably think right now of a friend you have that at one time. You all I don't want to say enemies, that's too strong but maybe you were enemies in the past and it all worked out. So just be conscious of situations you see in the classroom. Maybe you're of the mode that you think it's none of your business, but if I can casually correct a situation and get that kid to apologize, I'm going to do it situation and get that kid to apologize. I'm going to do it. I hope you all have a good rest of the semester. I guess we've got what is it? Eight, seven, eight weeks, something like that. It'll be here before we know it. All the spring breaks are over now, I think, so we've got the end of the year to look forward to.
