Introducing a new blog post series from Eye On Education and Bob Sickles: In the Trenches: Everyday Solutions at Work! In this monthly series, Bob will identify an engaging educational concept presented in one of our published books. Then, a number of select educators will provide examples that demonstrate how they have applied the concept to their schools or classrooms. Readers are invited to provide their own examples in the comments section of each blog post, which will go live on the first Monday of every month.

Jeremy Koselak has worked for eleven years with at-risk high school students across all content areas, in a variety of settings, with a focus on mathematics. In 2003, he was recognized as Teacher of the Year by the Colorado Association of Family and Children Agencies. He is currently the RtI coordinator and director of the Student Support Center at an urban high school. Read below for an Author Spotlight on Jeremy Koselak, author of Transforming High Schools through Response to Intervention: Lessons Learned and a Pathway Forward.

The following poem and tip were written by Annette Breaux and featured in her new book: 101 "Answers" for New Teachers and Their Mentors, 2nd Edition.

Dr. Sally Zepeda, recently named one of the University of Georgia's Distinguished Research Mentors, has updated her book, Professional Development: What Works. This post focuses on one form of job-embedded learning discussed in her book: study groups. Sally has expertise in the areas of professional development, instructional leadership, and the supervision and evaluation of teaching. She is available to provide on-site support.

While the first response to budget cuts for professional development might be putting such efforts on hold, other options are available. Focusing attention inward on internal expertise is one of them...

Some teachers are masters of delegation. They take simple classroom jobs and delegate to students. These teachers realize two important concepts:

1. A teacher cannot do it all. When we delegate those things which a student can do we create more time for that which requires our expertise...

Here are our TOP 5 favorite educational tweets of the week, which were RT’ed and/or clicked on the most by you!—our loyal Twitter followers. These tweets were originally tweeted by @eyeoneducation and some of our other favorite Tweeters. If you're not yet on Twitter, join today!

In Tina Barseghian’s article on Mind/Shift, "YouTube Launches Site Specifically for Teachers," she publicizes YouTube’s newest addition to their site.  YouTube has now made it easier for teachers to utilize their website through their new teacher’s channel: YouTube.com/Teachers. Teachers are given tips by YouTube that allows them to organize, make, and archive videos for easier access and use

Your school is full of at-risk students. In fact, every single student in your class is at-risk. The misbehaving student, the apathetic student, the confused student, the gifted student—they each have unique challenges that confront them on a daily basis and put them at risk of not reaching their potential. That's where encouragement comes in. We all need encouragement! An effective Positive Behavior Support and Intervention (PBIS) program offers students encouragement when they face academic challenges, struggle with tough choices, or feel insecure about what to do.

The staff here at Eye On Education would like to applaud the recent Op-Ed column in The New York Times, "In Honor of Teachers," by Charles M. Blow for speaking positively about the US education system.  He emphasizes that teaching is fundamental to the future of our society and the difficulties of holding a teaching position is adversely affecting the number of teachers.

Name Art. Ask students to create a drawing using their names. These drawings should represent the students and their interests. Students can decorate the letters, create a picture around their names, or use objects to create letters. For example, a student named "Tom" might begin by using hockey sticks to draw the letter "T" since he loves hockey. Then, he could draw a picture of his face in the letter "o."  For the "m," he could draw an M & M candy since that is his favorite snack. Looking for inspiration? Google Doodles are a great example of this type of creative word art.

On September 22nd, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln issued a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, which set a date to free roughly 3 million slaves in the United States. The Proclamation stated that all slaves in states still in rebellion would be free in 100 days.

President Lincoln’s decision to issue the preliminary Emancipation Proclamation came after the Union won the Battle of Antietam in September of 1862. On January 1st, 1863, the final Emancipation Proclamation was issued, giving freedom to all those who were still held as slaves.

Teach students how to use Google Docs. Although many students may have used Google Docs, it is probably worth your time to teach students about Google Docs and how to use the features. Students may assume that they know how to use the different features but they may actually be missing out on key components. There are numerous videos and websites that explain...

In Wikis for School Leaders: Using Technology to Improve Communication and Collaboration, author, online educator, and technology expert Stephanie D. Sandifer provides strategies and how-to advice on the way in which wikis, which when used strategically result in a more efficient use of time, better communication, and increased adult learning for the members of your school community.  Read below to see how to maximize the effectiveness of your professional activities through the use of wikis and raise student achievement in turn.