HeyJaredTeacher by Trade; Mentor by Mistake
Stories and tips for language learners, reflections on teaching, bibliophilia, life lessons, occasional wisdom, bad humour, travelling [mis]adventures, curmudgeonry
- Indexed issues, last 90 days
- 8
- Latest publication
- Sep 30, 2026
- Audience
- Checking…
- Earliest in this view
- Jul 19, 2026
Latest issues
I Tried to Keep My Birthday Secret – Ukraine Had Other Ideas (opens the original)
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“DANIEL, can we talk in my office? It’s very important.”My second day on the job and I’m being called into the director’s office? I’m in Ukraine for my first full-time English teaching gig and I’m in trouble already?“Uh, sure.”Little did I know the dramatic impact I would have on the school and its teachers.Especially their livers.<a class="image-link image2 is-viewable-img" href="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!Okbg!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-me
50 Things I Hate About Modern Life (opens the original)
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This week I welcome a dear friend and loyal companion, someone I’ve known for much of my life. He recently celebrated becoming half a century old and is thus feeling especially salty – even more so than usual.As a birthday present, I’m risking him potentially tarnishing my good name and hard-earned reputation by allowing him to share 50 gripes and moans that have plagued his life. He is not one to suffer fools gladly.If you’d rather read something more inspirational, then I’ll direct you to my v
I Thought the First Plane Was a Joke. Then the Second One Hit as I Was Taking a S*** (opens the original)
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“Did you experience 9/11? Were you there? Because I was. And this isn’t funny, this is offensive, this is personal.”“But you’re not from New York, are you? And weren’t you only four or five at the time?”“It doesn’t matter, I’m American, I’m patriotic, I love my country, I love New York. You can’t understand this, you weren’t there, I was.”“You sure about that? I was more ‘there’ than you.”<a
She Quit Corporate Life to Get Kids to Love Books (opens the original)
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<img alt="" class="sizing-normal" height="220" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!zgBB!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F95448cf7-5304-4a27-87fc-2fb54ab81862_1100x220.jpeg" width="1100"
An Elegy for a Season I Don’t Even Like (opens the original)
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<img alt="" class="sizing-normal" height="1089" src="https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!maTz!,w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F51cd46b2-cb36-49e5-9968-ae569a167d5b_4000x2992.
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