Every year or so, I get a call from someone who wants me to do some educational writing for them. This could be anything from Sunday School curriculum to writing test items for the Minnesota Department of Education. As well, I've been called on to read test items for a teacher certification exam and evaluate them and I've written political Opinion Essays discussing educational issues.
All of these have come with a satisfyingly large paycheck!
The key here is to LET IT BE KNOWN THAT YOU ARE AVAILABLE! It helps that I am a veteran teacher -- but when I started educational writing, I wasn't a veteran. A friend of mine was called by the Science Museum of Minnesota because someone had heard that he could write a sentence or two. He was busy and referred them to me. They took me and the end result was that I received the Science Museum of Minnesota's Teacher of the Year award, an all-expense paid trip to Washington, DC and a chance to actually, really meet with the (surprisingly short!) Paul Wellstone.
Another key is to write whatever you have the opportunity to write -- don't be picky. Writing is writing and you have the internet and children's books to research any topic that you don't know much about.
Lastly: Let it be known that you are not picky!
January 26, 2008
WRITING ADVICE: Educating For Dollars
Guy Stewart is a husband; a father, father-in-law, grandfather, friend, writer, and recently retired teacher, and school counselor who maintains a SF/YA/Childrens writing blog by the name of POSSIBLY IRRITATING ESSAYS
that showcases his opinion and offers his writing up for comment. He has almost 70 publications to his credit including one book (1993 CSS Publishing)! He also maintains blogs for the West Suburban Summer School and GUY'S GOTTA TALK ABOUT DIABETES, ALZHEIMER'S & BREAST CANCER!
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2 comments:
Interesting. I'd love to hear more specific information on how and to whom you make it known you're available for this sort of writing.
I can't speak for other states, but in Minnesota, teachers (naturally) have the first grab at these kinds of gigs because the email is sent out targeting registered teachers. On the hand, there were some "civilians" in the group. These may be people who simply contacted the state education department and asked if they could "serve" their state in such a way.
As a teacher, I'm on an awful lot of mailing li sts. Also, I've had at least one contact because I worked with young people in our state's Writers and Author's In The Schools program, so that's something to look into as well.
I've also written coherent "educational" opinions for local papers as well as teacher's journals (though I can't be sure how influential these were in garnering requests).
So -- as a neophyte non-teacher, perhaps contact your nearest state education department.
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