The Editorial Panel of Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School invites all readers, especially classroom teachers, to write for the journal.

A difficult obstacle for teachers to overcome is finding the time to write. Instead of trying to find the time, schedule your writing like any other responsibility. Writing is a wonderful professional development activity, and just like some aspects of mathematics itself, the more you work at it, the better you become. If you have a colleague that shares your same interests, ask him or her to consider being a co-author with you.

Pick a topic that you are very interested in or an activity that is unusual in some respect, one that you have used with students and from which you have obtained positive results. Use that idea for your first attempt at writing.

How to Begin

Keep a notebook. Jot down your successes and concerns as you try lessons with students, or as you see the long-term effect of some aspect of your teaching on student learning. The reflective process serves as a springboard for important ideas and possible articles to develop. Teachers who write say that this journal process helps them become better practitioners of their craft and inspires them to share their thinking with other teachers who are likely struggling with the same concerns.

Remember to keep students' work, since readers are interested in seeing these examples. Take photographs of your students when they are involved in interesting activities. Obtain permission from the students' parents to use these photographs if your manuscript is published -- it's difficult to track students down a year or so later.

Read past issues of the journal and find examples of articles that have an engaging style and format and that attract and hold your attention. Keep these articles in mind when you begin to write.

Look in the May issues of the journal for the indexes of articles on the same topic that might have been published. Reading these articles will help you make your article unique from others that have appeared on the same topic.

Should You Write for a Department?

Classroom teachers often prefer to write about successful classroom activities or share information with other teachers on ideas they've found useful, rather than write a full-length manuscript. If this describes your interests, then look carefully at an entire year's worth of the journal and find the departments that most appeal to you -- "Readers Write," "Math Detective," "Teacher to Teacher," "Thinking of Students," "On My Mind," "Take Time for Action," "Math Roots," "Families Ask." If you like to write interesting mathematics problems, you might try sharing a collection of these through the "Menu of Problems" "Cartoon Corner" and "Solve It! " Use the department descriptions in MTMS Department Guidelines to learn more about that department and how to submit your material.

Persist with Your Writing

Have several colleagues read your first draft. Ask them specifically if some parts are unclear or redundant or if the writing can be improved. Other points of view may help to clarify your thinking and make your submission more comprehensible to readers. Be prepared to rewrite your submission; consider this revision as just another step in the writing process.

Look at the Guidelines for Submitting Manuscripts

These guidelines spell out the average length of a manuscript; how to include photographs and figures; the use of resources and quotations; and other procedural information. The review of regular manuscripts takes two to three months, which includes readings by three volunteer referees who review a submission without the author's identification. Consider rewriting and editing if your submission is not accepted but ideas for rewriting are supplied by the referees.