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By In education, essay

Numbers and Letters: A Day in the Life of a Special Education Teacher

“Two years.

It’s January 2014, and that statistic echoes around my head as I arrive at work. Two years is the average shelf life of a special-education teacher in Hawaii.

I’ve made it a year and a half at this middle school, but it’s felt a lot longer than that. I’ve worked during every break teaching ESY (Extra School Year) in the FSC (Fully Self-Contained classroom), and that’s to say nothing of the part-time job and full-time grad school schedule I’ve also been juggling.

I turn the engine off and sit inside my car for a few minutes to gather myself. I try to rub the exhaustion off my face, but it feels like I’m only spreading it around, like how a child attempts to clean up spilled juice with a paper towel. There’s a metaphor in there somewhere about feeling like a child when I’m here at work, but I let it go and heave myself out of the car. I try not to look at the gas meter…”

 

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By In announcement

Honolulu Civil Beat Emerging Writer – 3rd Place

Happy to announce that I have taken third place in the Honolulu Civil Beat’s inaugural Emerging Writer’s Contest.

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By In Mixed Martial Arts

Junior dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem Statistical Analysis

“Before Rafael dos Anjos and Donald Cerrone battle for the Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight belt in the UFC on Fox 17 main event on Saturday at the Amway Center in Orlando, Fla., there will be a clash of the titans in the co-headliner. Alistair Overeem and Junior dos Santos were supposed to fight twice already, but a failed drug test and an injury to the Dutchman derailed the bout until now.

This is a high-stakes fight. In the thin heavyweight division, the winner will immediately be shortlisted for title contention, while the loser will go back to square one. Let us see what the Tale of the Tape has to say…”

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By In Mixed Martial Arts

UFC 194 Statistical Matchup Analysis

“It has finally arrived.

After a rollercoaster ride of press tours, promotional media appearances and an injury-induced postponement, Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor will square off in the Octagon in the UFC 194 main event on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

It has seemed like a long time since Aldo — the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s most-tenured champion — has been active. He was last seen in October 2014, when he defended his title for the seventh time in the UFC — the ninth if you count his World Extreme Cagefighting run — against Chad Mendes in one of the best fights of the year. After gearing up for a July 11 showdown with McGregor at UFC 189, Aldo suffered a rib injury weeks before the fight and was forced to withdraw. Assuming everything goes according to plan, this year will be the first time since 2012 that the longtime featherweight king logs only a single fight in a calendar year…”

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By In Mixed Martial Arts

An MMA Thanksgiving: 2015 All-Turkey Team

“One wonders what it was like to be in Jones’ inner circle in January — other than awesome, since being able to party hard on the dime of a successful friend is pretty ideal on the face. No, what we’re getting at is this: What were New Year’s resolution talks like?

Jones is not like the rest of us. Things like “eat less junk food, exercise more and don’t avoid my parents’ calls as much” probably didn’t come up in his resolutions. One would imagine things like “fight more than once, clear out the light heavyweight division and take a heavyweight fight” were more to the point…”

Read more at Sherdog

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