Writing for the Technology Teacher: A Published Author Possesses a Powerful Public Relations Tool

Every teacher has good ideas and better ways to perform certain tasks. At the same time, all teachers can benefit from the sharing of these resources. One way to share these ideas with others is to author an article for publication. While this is an excellent way to share methods and ideas, most educators shy away from authoring. One common obstacle is fear of rejection. Yet it is fear of the unknown rather than lack of writing skill that keeps good material out of circulation. The International Technology Education Association publishes The Technology Teacher, which is written for professional educators from the elementary through university levels. TTT is a practitioner-specific journal intended to advance the profession. Prospective authors should familiarize themselves with the style of the journal's published articles. The intention of ITEA's publishing program is to allow educators to share ideas with other educators. By contributing, you will be making a significant contribution to education. There are undoubtedly many ideas being used by educators in the field with great success. So many, in fact, that one journal could never publish them all. A published author possesses a powerful public relations tool, perhaps enabling significant financial support for a dream program to become a reality. With this in mind, the question remains, why are so few articles being submitted? The answer is quite simple. The practitioners doing the neat things are overwhelmed, no one encourages them to submit articles for publication, and often, potential authors just don't understand the process. To begin, one must ask what is worth publishing. As a secondary educator with 29 years of classroom experience, I can assure the reader that a great idea or a better way to do something is always welcome. Ideas can come from the new teacher down the hall or from an article written by a colleague in Australia. We are always interested in things that work. The idea may not be original but it doesn't need to be. Some skills that meet the test of time should be revisited occasionally. Others may not have been appropriate until an educator somewhere developed an application technique that met a need. Short, practical items are in great demand: the worksheet used to reinforce a lesson, the lab activity used to apply a new skill, or perhaps the redesign of a facility. If you have an idea or a practice that works, you have the beginning of an article. The next step in the process involves gathering relevant information. Do your homework. Understand your topic. When you describe it, think of potential questions the reader will have that you need to answer in the article. Gather information from other sources or publications. Even your colleagues can verify your thinking. Identify the objective of your article. Be specific. Every lesson that we teach in the classroom or the laboratory needs an objective. An article needs an objective as well. Identify the objective and clearly state it. Consider reader demographics. Know your reader. Refer to membership demographics statistics. Teachers at the secondary level comprise ITEA's single largest demographic group. Tailor the article to meet the needs of readers. In doing this, you will need to include your own classroom experience and application of your selected topic. Tell the reader how often you have used the technique; consider the grade level at which it will be applicable. Do you have an evaluation method or assessment process? This is background information vital to the reader. Effective writing needs to be clear. Use simple dialect in a conversational style. …