Publishing Your Work

Whether it is a completely unique idea or just a twist on an old classic, engage in collaboration with other chemistry teachers around the world and publish your work. There are many venues and the pool of precollege chemistry instructors that are already contributing is relatively small. Publishers need your ideas, your colleagues need your ideas and you will find rewards in the process, including personal satisfaction, recognition of your employer/administration, material for curriculum vitae, interest and involvement of students in the research involved in preparing for the article, continuing credibility with your students because you are engaged in real research and have a professional life outside of the classroom and/or the accomplishment of a life goal.

Look at what you already use or work on developing something that will fill a void in your curriculum. These are some types of items to consider: Unique Teaching Ideas, Experiments and Demonstrations, Background Articles, Games and Puzzles, Jokes and Cartoons, Book/Technology/App Reviews, Research, Curriculum design, Assessments, and more.

If you need to refine your ideas and/or take “baby steps” to build up your confidence, start a blog and present your ideas at conferences. Both of these will bring you into conversations that help strengthen your ideas and build your confidence.

Venues to Consider: Local & State Publications, Journals, Print/Online, Formal/Informal. Check out the web site of the publication you wish to publish in and look for author guidelines.

If you have questions about publishing your work, post them here and we will try to help.

Community: