18 Comments
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Abhcán's avatar

Oh boy!

Also, a fine rendition of the flag of the Ivory Coast at the end. :)

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Daniel Puzzo's avatar

My goodness, you’re right, how did I not even notice that? Some Irishman I am!

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Liza Debevec's avatar

Beast teatscher! You rock. I will be guest teaching a class in Portuguese today, at a vocational school for kids from difficult backgrounds. Wish me luck. (I know I’ll butcher the Portuguese, but that’s not what worries me.)

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Daniel Puzzo's avatar

I clearly didn’t have much of an impact on their spelling.

Wow, best of luck, that’s so impressive, well done you for giving that a go. You’ll be great!

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Liza Debevec's avatar

Thank you, Daniel!

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Lindsey Smith | Not Normal's avatar

Oh my gosh this whole week reads like a year! Were you exhausted at the end of every day? Also I’m wondering if you’ve seen The English Teacher? Such a funny show- different age group of kids but that show and your piece makes me realize what huge amount of comedic potential there is in school settings.

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Daniel Puzzo's avatar

I was a wreck, could barely function after each day. It’s far different than the regular teaching I do. This was more energy-intense, a lot of activity. No way I’d be able to keep up a pace like that longer term.

I’ve never seen or even heard of The English Teacher but I will check it out. Speaking of comedic potential - this is pretty much what my first novel is about, and that’s the direction I’m taking my writing (the fiction side of it). So much potential - there’s a classic British sitcom called ‘Mind Your Language’, it debuted in the 70s. It’s hilarious but VERY un-pc, perpetuating foreign stereotypes, laughing at the silly non-English speakers. That kind of thing would get me cancelled today (think Airplane! style humour times ten). I’ll have to tread carefully!

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Lindsey Smith | Not Normal's avatar

A fine line to thread but I’m sure you can! Sounds like a great new direction.

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Federica Minozzi's avatar

This looks so loud, messy, cute, and chaotic. Exactly like teaching! I never had students younger than 14, and they're not usually that enthusiast to learn math, but this still made me chuckle. Good job!

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Daniel Puzzo's avatar

Grazie, Federica, glad I was able to make you chuckle. I wasn’t chuckling too much during the week, I was just trying to survive!

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The Messy Millennial's avatar

I enjoyed this! You're a patient man. Its not easy winning over kids. Judgiest humans ever! I wonder what they'd think if they found you on here! Lol

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Daniel Puzzo's avatar

I did consider changing the names. The kid who played St Patrick who was telling the audience about my books said he was going to buy my first one and my Substack is mentioned in it. I figure that if he does buy it (he’s 10, I doubt he will), by the time he manages to finish it and sees the Substack address, that post will be long and buried in my archive somewhere!

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Francis F's avatar

Great stuff ! Loved it ! Shame you can’t be their full time teacher , they clearly enjoyed having you. 😆

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Daniel Puzzo's avatar

If only the feeling were mutual 🤣

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Francis F's avatar

What a meany 😆😆

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Wendy McWaffle's avatar

This was wild 😂 you must be exhausted!

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Daniel Puzzo's avatar

Totally worn out. Still recovering. That week really took it out of me. A far cry from funemployment.

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