Teachers Are Writers, Too

by Patricia L. Schall

We’ve spent much of this week celebrating the winners of our Student Writing Contests; now, we want to encourage teachers to write too.

We know you have full and busy lives, but there are so many opportunities for you to make your voices heard too. We invite you to consider submitting a short article to Focus. It could be something as simple as a successful lesson plan you would like to share or a brief reflection on something that moves you about teaching and learning.

Don’t forget the six-word story requests we used to launch NJCTE Project Spark. It won’t take long to write six words describing what lights your teaching fires.

Need some advice? Check out “Office Hours,” our recently launched column on the NJCTE Blog. Ask a question. Offer some of your own suggestions in the comments section.

You might consider submitting an article to the New Jersey English Journal. The editors look for all kinds of submissions, from articles about practice to poetry to brief personal essays. Watch  for submission guidelines.

Even if you just comment on some of the blogs or news sources you follow or write a letter to the editor of a local newspaper, you are writing. The public needs to hear from teachers. Don’t let others do all the talking for you.

 

Share your ideas with others and keep your writing fires burning. Donald Murray, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer about writing, used to keep a sign by his desk stating, “Never a Day without a line.” Let’s hear from you!

New Jersey Council of Teachers of English, the New Jersey state affiliate of NCTE, the National Council of Teachers of English