As educators, we love to share our knowledge and help others to grow, and writing blog articles for our fellow educators is an excellent way to do this. We all have ideas and strategies that can help our fellow educators, but it can be hard to get started. Here are some tips to help you get started and write a clear and helpful blog post.
As educators, we love to share our knowledge and help others to grow, and writing blog articles for our fellow educators is an excellent way to do this. We all have ideas and strategies that can help our fellow educators, but it can be hard to get started. Here are some tips to help you get started and write a clear and helpful blog post.
Picking a Topic
The first step to writing an article is to pick a topic. Consider your passions, your expertise, and overlooked issues in your area. Choose a topic where you have experience and can share practical tips and specific actions, not something purely philosophical. For more topic ideas, check out our list of the major themes of this blog and related subtopics.
Setting the Tone
The tone for a blog is less formal than research writing but more formal than casual conversation. Imagine how you would mentor a colleague asking for help on this topic and aim for that tone. Your audience is your fellow educators, so keep it positive, constructive, and concise.
Elements to Include
As you write your article, make sure to include these elements:
- A short biography of yourself (2-3 lines), including your name, country, division, current position, education, and any other important details. This can go at the top of the page, between your title and your article content
- Short quotes by experts on the subject that add specific details or deepen your readers understanding of the topic, with a link to the source either attached to the author’s name or at the end of the each quote
- Practical, actionable tips
- A question or two for reflection at the end of the article
- Approximately 500 words, not including your biography
Language
Write in the language you are most comfortable writing in. You can choose to translate it or submit it in that language, but start by crafting your ideas in the language you express yourself most easily in so that you can capture the depth your thoughts and your natural wording patterns.
Remember that readers may be translating what you write using online translators so keep sentences short and very clear, use one primary idea per paragraph, and try to avoid expressions that might not translate well to other languages or cultures.
Format
When formatting your blog post, we recommend:
- Bold headings for major sections
- Bullets indented one level for lists
For information from other sources, integrate the name of the author or organization into the sentence and include a link to the source either linked to the author’s name or in parentheses at the end of the sentence. For adicional questions about style, check out the Purdue Online Writing Lab.
Conclusion
We are a community of educators, and sharing our knowledge with each other makes us strong. As you write a blog post, remember to keep your focus on God’s leading. As 1 Corinthians 15:58 says, “Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your work in the Lord is never wasted.”
Email for submissions: [email protected]
Further Reading
Here are a few exemplary blog posts that may help with getting a feel for the style of this blog:
- The Power of Story Part 1: Story as a Means of Revealing Jesus
- How to Make Formative Assessment More Effective
- Signals for Quiet & the Transition Sequence
Author
Keri Conwell
Keri Conwell graduated from Walla Walla University with Bachelor's degrees in English and Psychology and an MAT degree in Secondary Teaching. She is currently serving as a project manager for CIRCLE and has served as a high school English teacher at Mount Vernon Academy and a K-10 Physical Education teacher at Ukiah Junior Academy, USA.