Tag Archives: Edublog awards

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Edublog winners – looking in from the outside

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The 2010 Edublog Awards have raised some excitement as well as some good natured jabbing on Twitter. I’m watching the whole spectacle from the outside and find it very entertaining. Meanwhile, I think my Summer holidays will be sucked up by frantic attempts to save nominated people and their blogs/wikis/whatever to my Google Reader, all the while wondering aloud and in a panicky internal voice, ‘How can I keep up with all these people?’ and ‘How can hope to emulate, even on some small scale, the work and reputation these people have built up?

I enjoyed reading this blog post, and can identify with the polarities warring within whenever any kind of acclaim is bestowed upon one. John Spencer, we have a lot in common.

Amplify’d from www.johntspencer.com
Last night I sent out a tweet mentioning being nominated for an Edublog Award.  I then erased the tweet, but it had already become public knowledge on those crazy ether tubes that fill up our make believe world.  I had pleaded publicly and I regretted it.  Then I added a badge and mentioned it at the bottom of two blog posts.  Then I felt like an arrogant fool and so I thought about erasing all of that. 

Here’s the deal: I want to win.  This feels oddly foreign, since I don’t tend to be all that competitive.  I chose individual sports in my youth (if running as hard as you can is considered a sport) so that I could compete against my own personal records. One of my greatest personal accomplishments involved finishing among the bottom of the pack in a marathon.

And yet . . .

Ego and the Edublog Awards
I want to spread some of my ideas and values to a larger audience.  I want people to get past the Waiting for Superman mythology and recognize that it’s about humility and transparency and authenticity.  (And all the while, I’ve got this ego thing that I can’t shake) On the darker side, this is the explicitly arrogant belief that I have the answers (even if the answer is that no one has all the answers).  On the positive side, I think I have something worth saying. I think I’ve been sharing a philosophy that counters much of the screaming in the mainstream media echo chambers about teachers and education reform.

Read more at www.johntspencer.com
See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/hosd
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My nominations for Edublogs Awards 2010

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In the nick of time, my nominations for the Edublogs Awards 2010 are:

Best individual blog – Jenny Luca – Lucacept.

Jenny Luca has been posting regularly through rain, sleet and snow. Her enormous following can be sure that she finds the latest information and news and opens up discussion for pertinent and controversial educational issues. Jenny shares what she’s reading, thinking and doing in a very personal way. The blog reflects her warmth and support to others. Jenny’s blog fits into many categories, but I’ve put it into the personal category because the blog is all Jenny.

Best individual tweeter – @ggrosseck (Gabriela Grosseck)

First person I check out when I open Twitter. Gabriela has the knack of finding the best links, and not always just the ones everyone else finds.

Best resource sharing blog – Judy O’Connell – Heyjude

I can be very lazy and just fish Judy’s blog for resources if I want to. Judy does all the work and I’m grateful. Of course, this is no dry, resource-only blog; Judy’s blog keeps you up to date with the latest in education and latest technology for learning, teaching and networking. Also, having just bought an iPad, Judy has everything I need to work out what to do with it in her blog, on Facebook and Twitter.

Best teacher blog – On an e-journey with generation y (Anne Mirtschin)

Anne is my hero when it comes to setting an example for teachers who create engaging, relevant, real-life learning situations. Anne’s students’ classroom is the world. I’m jealous. And Anne doesn’t just talk about it – she does it.
Best librarian / library blog – Bright Ideas (Judith Way)

Bright Ideas is the absolute best teacher librarian/library blog. Judith sources best resources for teacher librarians/librarians to support learning and teaching, and networks madly with educators who share what they do. It’s a window into what’s happening in school libraries and a great place to connect to new people.

I wish I’d had the time and energy to think about the rest of the categories, and there are so many people I’d really like to nominate. My Google Reader is bursting at the seams and is testament to how many people I rely on for my own learning.

And every year I learn about new, amazing people who are making learning and teaching such an exciting business. Thanks to all and thanks to Jenny Luca who has made my jaw drop to the floor with her nomination of my blog.

Although I’ve left this quite late, you might still have time to squeeze in some nominations here.