As some of you may know, my undergraduate is in English Education, and I am currently working on my graduate degree in Library and Information Science. So, as you can tell, books are a pretty big part of my life (not to mention I have a whole blog dedicated to them). With my interest has come some amazing opportunities, one of which is having my reviews published in the Florida English Journal.
This is the main journal for the Florida Council of Teachers of English (FCTE), and they not only take reviews of Young Adult, Middle Grade, and Elementary books they also publish:
o Feature Articles- Send us essays that relate to exceptional 21st century teaching. The theme for this issue is “Be the Light…Be the Change…Be the Leader in the Classroom”.
o Original artwork/cartoons/poetry: All artwork is printed in black and white. Submit drawings on 8.5 X 11.5 inch unlined paper or on CD. The artist should sign drawings.
o Practitioner’s Book Reviews: Tell us about a practitioner’s book that has been especially helpful to you in your classroom.
o Teaching Tips: Share items you have used successfully in your classroom: lesson plans, books, web sites, classroom management techniques, etc.
o Copy This: Simply send us one of your favorite original assignments. Include background information on yourself, your school population, and guidelines for the assignment.
o News and Views: Provide information on any new state or national legislation that is relevant to our profession; you may state your opinion on it, or simply relay the facts.So if any of you are educators totally submit some awesome lesson plans, tips, etc. But they really need reviews! That is where you all can help out. Submission don't just have to be from teachers or people working in education or even people who live in Florida, they can be from people all over the world in all walks of life. The only requirement is that you love books.
If you have some amazing reviews that you're just dying to share and try to get published, you can send submissions to sjames1@uwf.edu, courtesy of Dr. Susan James. There are some guidelines that need to be followed.
o Short Summary: This includes the plot line (don't spoil anything of course) of the book and some interesting aspects of it (POV used, writing style, topic etc.)
o Notes to Teachers: This includes warnings (heads up to sexual situations, cursing, violence etc), as well as age group in which the book is appropriate for.
o Possible Concepts: This includes the overarching themes that are in the book, along with directions that a teacher could take discussions in.You can check out Dr. James' website, The Book Dealer, where she has some reviews posted from the Journal. Here are examples of reviews that I have submitted: The Difference Between You and Me, Pandemonium, Chopsticks, and The Raft.
Send the word out to reviewers and educators you know so we can get some submissions! And thanks so much for all your help!
