Exploring Guided Novel Instruction (GNI) Pedagogy
Learning - any type of human learning - requires consistent practice and reflection to achieve proficiency at a given task. There must...
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The New 3Rs Academic Transformation
The Right Systems, The Right Resources, The Right People
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by Blaine Helwig
- Feb 21
- 6 min
Transitioning to the Digital/On-Line Testing World
The vast majority of states have moved toward digital standardized testing. They have done this for a couple reasons. First, MONEY! It...
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by Blaine Helwig
- Jan 20
- 5 min
Solving Aimless "Therapeutic" School Meetings
Most professional people I know dislike meetings of any kind. As a matter of fact, one of my engineering colleagues once philosophically...
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by Blaine Helwig
- Dec 24, 2022
- 6 min
Academic Gaps - Each Teacher Can't Do It Alone!
I am not a big volleyball fan. But, throughout my life, I played a lot of different sports and activities including volleyball. Last...
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by Blaine Helwig
- Dec 15, 2022
- 38 min
Math Fact Mastery - Easy to Do!
On July 20th, 1969, mankind demonstrated the ability to place men on the Moon and bring them safely back to Earth. This space journey is...
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by Blaine Helwig
- Dec 5, 2022
- 17 min
Independent Readers - Ultimate Literacy Goal!
Beginning in third grade, every Tuesday night, my mother would load my two brothers and me in the family car and drive us to the city...
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by Blaine Helwig
- Nov 17, 2022
- 8 min
Why Does Failure Continue?
I find the title of this blog interesting because as humans – I would hope that when folks perform poorly at some manageable task or...
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by Blaine Helwig
- Oct 12, 2022
- 4 min
Instructional Coaches - What do they do all day?
Organizing large groups of people to efficiently complete any complex human task is challenging. In antiquity, for example, the Giza...
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by Blaine Helwig
- Oct 4, 2022
- 4 min
New Teachers Must Control Three (3) Vital Areas
Every person, conscious of the fact or not, strives for ‘control’ of events in their immediate sphere of influence. ‘Control’ affords...
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by Blaine Helwig
- Oct 2, 2022
- 16 min
Bilingual Acquisition – Language Learning Tips
Due to age and perspective, adults immediately recognize that the mastery of a second language is an incredibly pragmatic and useful...
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by Blaine Helwig
- Sep 27, 2022
- 19 min
So, You Want To Be A Principal???
About twenty-five years ago, I was a passenger in a car returning to Austin. I was part of a three-member structural engineering team on...
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by Blaine Helwig
- Sep 8, 2022
- 7 min
Atomic Habits – Repetition, Mastery, Pedagogy
After years of visiting Title 1 elementary charters and traditional public schools, I am constantly amazed at the minimal number of...
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by Blaine Helwig
- Sep 2, 2022
- 6 min
Avoid Self-Inflicted Professional Wounds
As a seasoned campus and central office administrator, I have witnessed first-hand a handful of incidents involving educators that not...
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by Blaine Helwig
- Aug 20, 2022
- 21 min
Solving the Mystery of Poor Student Math Performance
NOPE! The usual suspects of endless blame are not the reason poor academic math results in American public schools. In fact, a...
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by Blaine Helwig
- Aug 8, 2022
- 7 min
An Elem. Assistant Principal’s Goal – "Grow and Go!"
I was an elementary assistant principal for almost two years, and I repeatedly heard the AP position accurately characterized as, ‘Grow...
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by Blaine Helwig
- Jun 30, 2022
- 4 min
Chocolate and Title 1 Academic Inequities
Awhile back, I attended a national charter school founder’s lecture about his experiences opening new schools across the country. After...
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by Blaine Helwig
- Apr 8, 2022
- 7 min
New Teacher Tips by “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”
“The Marvelous Mrs. Mazel” is an Emmy winning Amazon Prime video series (4 Seasons) about a New York City divorcee who pursues a career...
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by Blaine Helwig
- Apr 2, 2022
- 8 min
Two Questions that Stymie Most Title 1 Administrators
In the last 30 years, the author has visited approximately 250 Title 1 elementary campuses as a teacher, principal, central office...
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by Blaine Helwig
- Mar 23, 2022
- 6 min
Emulate Before Innovating: COVID or No COVID
Every time we boarded an airplane to travel, my wife would open the airline magazine and complete the three levels of Sudoku puzzles: ...
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by Blaine Helwig
- Aug 14, 2021
- 4 min
‘Fix’ Fluency --- or, Comprehension ‘Breaks Down!’
Word fluency will drive comprehension proficiency since the students can read and not deplete their ‘CPU’ trying to decipher the most...
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by Blaine Helwig
- Feb 7, 2021
- 5 min
Teaching to the Test - A Better Understanding of the Phrase
I have heard the expression – Teaching to the Test – for many years, but I had not deeply considered the thinking behind the phrase until...
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by Blaine Helwig
- Oct 5, 2020
- 3 min
Eliminating Differentiated Instruction is the Title 1 Campus Goal
Back in the spring of 2016 when I was an elementary principal, I attended a district professional development session on a new teacher...
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by Blaine Helwig
- Sep 16, 2020
- 5 min
Trickle-Down Teacher Training Versus Bubble-Up Gap Elimination
The macroeconomic theory of trickle-down corporate tax cuts has been a mainstay for conservative politicians and economists for nearly a...
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by Blaine Helwig
- Aug 13, 2020
- 6 min
Effective Daily Classroom Management – Come Rain or Shine!
Half a century ago, my father, older brother and I watched a herd of horses driven into a rectangular corral from an open field. My father w
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