To Do:

Chaperone the spring dance this weekend
Coach junior varsity basketball practices each evening
Hall duty every afternoon during last period
Teach five classes, with three different preps every day
Grade 125 lab reports before tomorrow
Write a quiz for Wednesday
Correct Wednesday’s quiz to return Thursday
Set up a demonstration for Friday
Attend a staff meeting Tuesday morning

If a high school teacher were to make a “to do” list of all the things he or she does during a week—or even a day—of teaching, the results would be amazing. The list above may only be a subset of your own schedule. Simply reading the list is exhausting. Let’s add yet one more item. “Submit an article to the Journal of Chemical Education”.

“What?” you say. “Did you see the list? I have too many things to do. I don’t have time.” Submitting an article for publication is relegated to the bottom of the list, unlikely to be accomplished.

Indeed, why should a high school educator be interested in publishing in a professional journal? Next month, John Fischer, editor of the “Second Year and AP Chemistry” feature, Nancy Gettys, co-editor of “JCE Classroom Activities”, and I will discuss that question during a presentation at the annual convention of the Wisconsin Society of Science Teachers. Why publish?

• Professional recognition. A publication is a tangible accomplishment of your achievements as an educator in a job where pats on the back often have to be self-administered and thank yous can be few and far between.
• Professional development. Readying an idea for publication is a learning experience for the author.
• Professional sharing. Every educator has great ideas lurking in his or her courses and curriculum. An educator can share these ideas with the larger chemistry teaching community through publication.

High school educators are a large part of the Journal’s readership. Shouldn’t we also make up a large part of its authors? A quick look through this month’s issue reveals that only one of the articles, “The Science Teacher: Winter 2003” has an author currently teaching at the high school level. I’m reminded of a term used online, “lurker”. The Jargon File 4.3.3 defines it as “one of the ‘silent majority’ in an electronic forum; one who posts occasionally or not at all but is known to read the group’s postings regularly”. A lurker reads the ideas others share, but does not contribute his or her own. This could apply to the Journal as well. How many of our high school subscribers have submitted an article for publication? Are you a lurker?

The Journal has a wide range of features especially appropriate for high school submissions. (See author guidelines for information.) The JCE Classroom Activity series is an excellent option for first-time authors. The Activity format remains the same from month to month; many laboratory student handouts could easily be adapted to fit the format. The materials needed may be as simple as pencil and paper—see this issue’s Activity: students solve word puzzles that are analogous to interpreting data from a mass spectrometer.

Do you have a unique demonstration that works well for you and your students? Submit it to the Tested Demonstrations feature. Birk and Yezierski’s “Paper-and-Glue Unit Cell Models” help make the idea of unit cells more concrete by giving students easy-to-make models to manipulate both inside and outside of class.

On the Web, the JCE High School Chemed Learning Information Center (CLIC) offers opportunities for publication on the “Internet Only Articles” page. It currently contains Rubin Battino’s “Electrocution Chemistry”, his latest addition to an extensive collection of chemistry skits. For student publications, the page also includes the High School Corner. Miles J. Dixon’s “Kelvin to Fahrenheit and Back—The One Step Method” was motivated by his own interest in chemistry.

Why publish? The Journal needs you. The reasons are numerous, the benefits tremendous. Don’t wait any longer. Move it to the top of your list.