Although I prefer to write most of the content for Cult of Pedagogy, I occasionally publish posts written by other educators. Who do I want? Writers with a sense of humor, a real passion for teaching and learning, a voice that readers can relate to, and a fresh, honest perspective. Currently, I am considering writers for the following topics:
Book Reviews
I regularly review books that appeal to educators of all subjects and all ages. Now I am ready to branch out to include more subject-specific books. Since I have a background in 6-12 language arts, I’m comfortable reviewing books that target that audience, but I really need writers that can give a practitioner’s review of books on theory and practice in teaching science, math, social studies, art and music, foreign language, ESL, physical education, special education, preschool and elementary topics, and others I’ve forgotten to mention here. And if you’re an English/language arts teacher and have a great book to review, that’s okay too.
- The books do not have to be recently published; I love introducing readers to older books that have stood the test of time.
- Before submitting, read a few of my published reviews to familiarize yourself with the format. I like to include a general summary of the book, offer my own personal take-aways, and also offer some value that the reader can gain from the review itself, without even having to purchase the book.
- As the publisher, I reserve the right to use Amazon affiliate links to the book being reviewed. This helps me to pay the bills here.
- I only publish reviews of books I think are worth readers’ time, rather than “bad” reviews.
Day in the Life Series
Pieces in this series offer an up-close look at a typical work day in various jobs in education. I am especially interested in the more specialized positions: FMD/EBD teachers, instructional coaches, football coaches, school secretaries, superintendents…any position that might make people ask, “I wonder what their day is like.” I would also like to hear from teachers in different settings — alternative schools, prison schools, etc. Here is an example.
My motivation for this series is partly out of curiosity. Because I want to know what the work is like, I assume others would enjoy learning about it too. I also think understanding the behind-the-scenes work of the people we interact with in education can only be a good thing for building rapport and mutual respect. Finally, I see this series as a good resource for students who are looking at potential career paths or educators looking to make a change.
Power Lessons
I love to share ideas for lessons or projects that have worked well for teachers. If you have done something with your students that you’d like to share with other teachers, tell us about it. Include your instructional goals, a step-by-step plan for how it worked, and reflections on what you might do to improve it in the future. Photos of the lesson in action, along with any downloadable resources, are also encouraged.
Personal Stories
If you want to tell the story of something significant you learned about teaching, learning, classroom management, or anything education-related, and it would work best as a personal narrative-style piece along the lines of this piece, then submit that.
Submission Guidelines
At this time, I am only able to consider complete manuscripts, rather than proposals.
- Word count can be anywhere from 800-3,000 words.
- Use my contact form to submit. You may either include a link to a finished manuscript on a Google doc or attach it as a Microsoft Word document.
- You will receive a quick e-mail to acknowledge receipt of the manuscript, then a follow-up email several weeks later to let you know if it is being considered for publication.
- If your piece is accepted, it will go through a fairly lengthy editorial process with me. Because this process is time-consuming, I can only publish a small number of pieces per year.
- At this time, I am unable to pay contributing writers. I will, however, be sure to promote your website and social media accounts, if applicable.
Thanks for your interest in contributing to this community. I look forward to hearing from you!
Jennifer Gonzalez
Editor-in-Chief
A Note to PR Agencies
I do not accept posts written by non-educators or “content writers” whose primary purpose is to build a blog post in order to link to a paid product. The posts on this site must come from people with experience and passion for education who have personal stories or insights to share. If you are interested in a sponsored posts, I do a limited number of these myself for products that would be interesting to teachers. For more information see my advertising page.