TeacherWriter.net

When I choose writing contests to post to my blog, I try to be sure they are legitimate and not using the contest to scam new writers. There are several things I consider when evaluating a contest.

1. Who is the sponsor? Contests need a sponsor if there are to be prizes.
2. Is the fee reasonable? If the fee is free, then the sponsor is footing the bill for the prizes. Alternatively, if the winners are published in a print anthology, sales of the anthology could cover the cost of the prizes. I try to stick with an entry fee of less than $25. In my opinion, anything more than that is excessive, unless the prize is worth thousands of dollars.
3. How many times has the contest been offered? Many reputable contests are offered annually or seasonally. If the contest has been held a few times, you might be able to read the winning entries online. If the entries are polished and professional, the contest will likely to attract excellent writers.
4. Who are the judges? Not every contest can afford to have a bestselling author be the judge. However, the persons judging the writing should be involved in the publishing industry. You can do a search on the judges’ names to find out more about their backgrounds.
5. Is there anything about it that seems to smack of advertising for suckers? If I see a site overrun with ads, flashing banners, and too-good-to-be-true offers, then I get out of there as fast as my mouse will click.

There are thousands of writing contests to choose from online. Before you enter a free one, or plunk down money on an entry fee, use this checklist to determine if it’s worth your while.

Contests are an excellent way to practice writing according to guidelines and meeting deadlines. If you win one, it can be a fantastic writing clip. If you don’t win, you still have a story or aricle you can submit to other places for publication. If you choose your contests well, you’ll come out a winner, whether you take home their prize or not.

I put off reading this book during the school year, thinking I was too busy. Now that I read it this summer, I wish I hadn’t waited so long.

Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin is the type of book that makes you appreciate how much of a difference one person can make in the world. While this book is nonfiction, it is a gripping account that is hard to put down.

Greg Mortenson was a mountain climber who, on an attempt at K2 in 1993, became lost and wandered into a village in Pakistan. While enjoying the hospitality of the village chief, he found out that there was no school in the village. Boys were sent away to school while girls were offered no education.

He made a decision to change that. He returned to the United States, determined to raise enough money to build a school. Over the years, with the help of generous benefactors and friends, he has managed to build over 50 schools and empower the people whose lives he has touched.

This inspiring story is a must read. You can find out more about the book and the organization Greg founded, as well as what you can do to help, by clicking here.

The Highlights Foundation Workshop at Chautauqua is well known and widely heralded as an excellent training ground for writers. But for those of us unable to attend this annual writers conference, they archive some of the articles that are presented at the workshop. You can access these archived articles here.

Just about any writing topic you may have a question about is answered here, from beginnings, to themes, to inspiration, to writing nonfiction and fiction. The articles are well written by experienced authors and teachers. You may want to bookmark it and refer back to it later, as there’s so much information here. Enjoy!

If you know of other incredible resources, please leave a comment and share them!

School supplies and teacher supplies go on sale for incredibly low prices during the months of July and August. You can buy folders for 8-10 cents each. Crayons and glue are about 25 cents. Spiral notebooks go on sale for about 10 cents a piece.

Teachers all across the nation stock up while they can. Once school begins, the prices shoot back up to normal levels.

Even if you work in a school where the students are expected to provide their own supplies, you’ll find that there are many things you need for projects and activities throughout the year. If you buy these school and teacher supplies on sale, you’ll have them available anytime.

I usually get the newspaper with the ads, and go to two or three stores to get the best buys. When you buy in bulk, this will save you some dough. Last of all, I go to the teacher store to purchase any new posters, desk toppers, and teacher books that I may need.

If you’re a new teacher, you might feel a bit overwhelmed about deciding what you need to buy.

Here’s a basic checklist to get you started. teacher-school-supply-checklist

You can print it out and take it with you to the stores when the teacher sales get started in late July.

Students can be so creative and fun. These two are rapping in math class about algebra and trigonometry functions. When I saw this video it reminded me of why I love teaching. Watch the battle and be prepared to laugh.

Zoetrope: All-Story

Entry Fee: $15

Deadline: October 1, 2008

Guidelines: http://www.all-story.com/contests.cgi

Zoetrope, the highly competitive writers contest accepts fiction entries up to 5,000 words in all genres. Winners may be offered representation by prestigious literary agencies, such as William Morris Agency, Inkwell Management, the Elaine Markson Literary Agency, and others. Joyce Carol Oates was the judge in 2007, and the winning entry is linked to the guidelines page. Polish your best prose and send it to Zoetrope: All-Story.

Bards and Sages 5^th Annual Contest

Entry Fee: $10

Deadline: October 31, 2008

Guidlelines: http://www.bardsandsages.com/2008contest.html

Blood, fangs, and fire, oh my! Bards and Sages is hosting their 5^th anuual speculative fiction contest. This year’s theme is on dragons, vampires, and hybrids. All proceeds from the entry fees go to the Children’s Literacy Initiative, which increases child literacy by providing professional development to teachers. The winning entries will be published in next year’s anthology, and will receive U.S. Series EE Savings Bonds.

Funds for Writers 7^th Annual Contest

Entry Fee: FREE or $5 (You choose the level.)

Deadline: October 31, 2008

Guidelines: http://www.fundsforwriters.com/annualcontest.htm

C. Hope Clark, the founder and editor of funds for writers is a common sense person. She doesn’t believe you should ever give your writing away, and she has dedicated her business to helping writers earn money and find money through jobs, grants and other means available.

Her contest is also a common sense topic. You choose to write on one of two topics:

The Best Advice I Ever Had And Ignored, or

The Best Advice I Ever Had And Followed.

Your entry is a nonfiction essay of 750 words or less. Entrants will be added to her mailing list, and I can assure you, she gives good information in her FundsforWriters newsletter. Winners receive cash prizes, the amounts based on whether you enter for free or pay the $5 fee.

Here’s a heads up for you on school supplies on sale for teachers during the first two weeks of July.

I went to Staples today to buy a new chair mat for my office, and had a wonderful surprise. Staples had an unadvertised special for teachers. I happened to find out because I noticed a teacher buying 50 folders. Another teacher noticed me buying binders. It was like a viral promotion, and within minutes, several teachers were buying up classroom supplies at unbelievable prices.

Folders, two pocket: 1 cent each, maximum 50

Hand sanitizer, individual size: 1 cent each, maximum 25

Binders, 1 inch: 25 cents each, maximum 25

Pencils, package of 1 dozen: 50 cents each, no maximum

There may have been more, but that was all I needed at the time. I was stoked! I spent $7.00 and bought folders, binders, and hand sanitizer for my class. Yippee!

You may want to mosey on over to your local Staples and see if they’re having any specials like these. You’ll need a teacher ID card or your Teachers Rewards card to take advantage of it.

Free resources for writers are a wonderful thing to find, but sometimes finding quality resources can be like hunting in the dark. I was fortunate enough to come across Simon Haynes’s website early in my writing, and his tools and advice have been a remarkable help.

I especially like his tool Sonar, for tracking submissions. He has a novel writing software program called yWriter. It helps you storyboard, drag and drop scenes and chapters, checks for word repeats, and the list goes on. There are more free resources on his website. His applications are quick and easy to use.

His website also has plenty of articles about writing from someone who knows what it’s like to work, write, and find publishing success. Simon Haynes is the author of an award winning series of funny, fast paced science fiction novels about a spaceman named Hal Spacejock. Hal is a bumbling, macho character that fortunately has a dependable robot sidekick that tries to keep him out of trouble. If you enjoy Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett, you’ll love Simon Haynes.

To celebrate the release of the fourth book in the series, Simon Haynes is giving away a free download of book one, Hal Spacejock on his website. Don’t think that because it’s free it’s not good. It’s hilarious. But be warned. Once you read his first book, you may be hooked.

 You will be surprised how much you can accomplish by using a timer. There’s a secret to using a timer effectively. It’s not to track how much time you spend on a task, but rather to guide you in not spending all

your time on one thing. The timer will help you stay focused on your to do list, moving from one thing to the next, and getting it all done with a peaceful, relaxed attitude.

Set the timer for each task. Break down your to do list and never set your timer for more than 15 minutes.

When the timer goes off, stop. Even if you aren’t completely done, stop. That’s the secret of using the timer effectively. You can always finish the job at a later time.

Reset your timer and move on to the next task. Tackle the next thing on your to do list, with a 5, 10, or 15 minute interval.

We all know that in today’s world, it’s hard to stay focused for more than 15 minutes at a time. This timer system takes advantage of that by keeping you moving and working, and not allowing you to get bogged down in one thing. Marla Cilley, the organizing guru at the Fly Lady site says, “You can do anything for 15 minutes.” She’s right. By breaking things down into small 15 minute increments, you can everything done and have time left over. She even has a teacher journal on her website to help you get organized.

Here’s a sample afternoon in my room. As soon as the students are out the door, I set my timer.

5 minutes: Straighten up the classroom, pick up stray pencils and papers.

5 minutes: Put tomorrow’s bellwork on the board, change the calendar/schedule.

5 minutes: Get all of tomorrow’s supplies/papers ready. (I keep these in a folder, labeled by day, at my desk, so this is a quick task.)

15 minutes: Start grading papers. (More about managing your grading in a future blog.)

Now I check to see if I have a meeting to attend. If not, I take a break and visit colleagues. I allow 20 to 30 minutes for this. Then it’s back to work.

10 minutes: Call a parent.

15 minutes: Grade more papers.

15 minutes: Any other task that needs to be done.

5 minutes: Pack up and go home!

Even when I have meetings, which is almost every day, by using my timer effectively, I can be out of the classroom by 5 p.m. The goal with this system is to go home with no student work in your bag. That way you can spend your evenings with your family and have time for writing.

Eye on the Future

Many people dismiss creative visualization as New Age balderdash. Yet most will agree that your attitude has a positive or negative impact on your life. Creative visualization can be used to create a positive attitude about the future, and to help you set a plan to reach your goals. These three steps will give you a basic formula to use creative visualization in your teaching and writing goals.

1. Visualize yourself in your dream job. Whatever it may be, picture yourself there. Imagine yourself doing the work it entails, and enjoying it.
2. Work backward to where you are now. Think about the steps you took to get this job. Did you take classes? Did you have a standout résumé? Did you get to know people that would help you land that job?
3. Take action. Make your plan. Take all the things you did of in step 2, and put them in order to make a plan. Use that plan to guide you, step by step, to your dream job.

Of course, this will work in any area of your life, by creating a conscious effort to attain the things you desire. As I sat down to write this post, I looked at my calendar. It has an anonymous quote that reads, “Being willing makes you able.” Creative visualization makes you willing and able.