A fresh focus! "Fresh Takes" is a NEW COLUMN just posted on the EJ site--it will also be in next issue!As many of you know, the ENGLISH JOURNAL is a prize-winning national ELA magazine put out by NCTE. The articles are supposed to address high school and middle school ELA teaching issues. The longer articles are issue/research driven, and there are several columns calling for shorter pieces.
I have had many things published in EJ, especially since I realized the columns were the way to get in and more fun to write. There are columns on approaches to teaching literature, complications of AI in the classroom, LGBTQ and POC issues in the curriculum, multi-language learners, etc.
However, most of the articles in the current editions have not been written by high school teachers--almost all are by professors, assistant professors/TA's eager to publish, or curriculum supervisors.
FRESH TAKES-- new column!!
SOOOOOOOO, I pitched a column that would ONLY publish articles written by current classroom educators. Also, the essays would be based on personal experiences of teachers, most directly about trying new strategies. They would discuss why they tried the strategy, how they proceeded to teach it, and how they tweaked what what went wrong to make the plan better!
I was amazed, but they accepted my column idea and made me the editor! I am excited, and, unsurprisingly, cannot WAIT to start getting submissions in September--or even now!
We are looking for voice-driven pieces for Fresh Takes The article should "sound" like you, like an actual teacher discussing how changes to curriculum impacted students.
I wrote the first piece which is coming out in the September edition (which we will probably get in October). I am pretty happy with it--it's about adding Jason Reynolds' poetry novel LONG WAY DOWN to AP LIT (fail) and ENGLISH 9 (win!). I talked about why I added it, my mistakes, and my changes for success. Honestly, I think you can write even better articles. :)
PLEASE SUBMIT to Fresh Takes at tracytensen@gmail.com
I will respond to every submission with direct feedback, also letting you know if it could maybe fit a different column or be developed into a longer piece. I imagine most will be spot on for this new column though.
QUERIES--I love queries so if you have an article idea and want to bounce it off me, go for it!
Take care--no kidding, columns are the way to get published in EJ. It's fun to see your ideas in print helping other teachers--and the title with your byline is also nice on a resume. :)
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THIS IS DIRECTLY from the EJ column site which can be found at https://ncte.org/resources/journals/english-journal/columns-and-editors/
FRESH TAKES
Column Editor: Tracy Tensen
Let’s hear it for the risk-takers, those trusting the process, those creating the process. Are you on the pedagogical edge? Have you tried something fresh in the last semester or two?
High school and middle school teachers are called on to be many things—two of the best are brave and creative. This column will publish short essays discussing courageous new plans you manufactured and tried, why they succeeded (or failed), and how you tweaked them for the win (or abandoned them). People’s successes are interesting and important, but no matter the results, there is always something to be learned from those who are keeping it fresh, trying new things, and coming away as even better educators. We all value being current and relevant. For many, best practice includes being willing to try new things. However, we are a busy crowd.
Showcasing examples from high school and middle school teachers, these articles, besides being voice-forward, will offer a snapshot of what prompted each fresh idea, how the writer(s) approached it through planning, what could have gone better, and what was stellar. Were the risk and the preparation time worth it? My student-teaching supervisor once said to me, “Do your work well the first time, and you have it forever.” That can be true. However, I encourage you to share why you were inspired to try something new. Please contact me with ideas and questions at the email below. Each column should be 1,200–1,400 words and submitted as a Word document to tracytensen@gmail.com.
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