School Systems: Physical, Social & Academic Processes
This blog is very long, but I hope it is helpful to teachers, administrators and educational advocates. Due to its length, I have also...
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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
Jul 25 min read
Raising Outcomes: Dazed & Confused Continues!
Let’s begin our short chat with the reality of the professional world. When I was in my sixth year of teaching in 2001, my principal...
322 views
by Blaine Helwig
Jun 129 min read
Teacher Burnout – How to Stop It!
Professional frustration occurs in every job to varying degrees; however, I have never experienced the same levels of isolated...
153 views
by Blaine Helwig
Mar 69 min read
Autonomy Comes with a Condition!
Several decades ago, I attended an August meeting with the associate superintendent of elementary schools in a large urban school...
187 views
by Blaine Helwig
Oct 3, 20235 min read
Are You Trainable as an Educator?
Over the last four decades, I have come to realize that a myriad of qualitative evaluations are processed in real time during job...
101 views
by Blaine Helwig
Sep 19, 202311 min read
Impact of TEA's Open Education Resource - OER
In 2011, Senate Bill (SB) 6 was signed into law, and it permitted Texas school district administrators the freedom to choose their own...
241 views
by Blaine Helwig
Jul 28, 20239 min read
The Accidental Principal
My wife and I just finished walking our third ‘El Camino’ in Spain three weeks ago. There are two major walking routes that stretch from...
89 views
by Blaine Helwig
Jul 19, 20236 min read
Preventing Numeracy Gaps from Forming
Numeracy gaps and literacy gaps are the two main academic hurdles in elementary schools, especially Title 1 campuses. Moreover, the...
176 views
by Blaine Helwig
Jul 8, 20236 min read
Managing Takes Effort!
My mother-in-law has long since retired, but she cleans a small two-story concrete supplier’s office every Friday to supplement her fixed...
58 views
by Blaine Helwig
Apr 18, 20233 min read
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...
76 views
by Blaine Helwig
Feb 21, 20238 min read
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...
129 views
by Blaine Helwig
Dec 24, 20226 min read
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...
177 views
by Blaine Helwig
Dec 5, 202217 min read
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...
202 views
by Blaine Helwig
Nov 17, 20228 min read
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...
386 views
by Blaine Helwig
Oct 2, 202216 min read
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...
54 views
by Blaine Helwig
Sep 27, 202219 min read
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...
93 views
by Blaine Helwig
Sep 8, 20227 min read
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...
96 views
by Blaine Helwig
Jun 30, 20224 min read
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...
51 views
by Blaine Helwig
Aug 14, 20214 min read
‘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...
359 views
by Blaine Helwig
Feb 7, 20215 min read
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...
624 views
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