The Edublog Awards (#eddies11) - My nominations

It’s that time of year again - the Edublog Awards 2011. Last year, as a newbie to the world of blogs and Twitter for professional development, I didn’t make any nominations (I was, however, very honoured to be shortlisted for the ‘Best New Blog’ award). This year, now that I’m more of an ‘old hand’, I thought I would try to pick out some of the best of the best. Here goes:

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Every ELT professional’s Sunday dose of thought-provoking and insightful posts!

This was probably the easiest decision to make. No Twitter educator’s PLN is complete without Shelly!

Not a ‘group blog’ in the strictest sense but Barbara’s regular guest posters from all around the world make this a must-read site for any EFL teacher/educator.

This was a tough choice as I have also enjoyed the addition of Brad Patterson’s JournĂ©e in Language and Sandy Millin’s Blog to my blog roll over the last year. However, Dale’s insightful and reflective posts on how lessons unfold in his classroom won out in the end.

Greta Sandler’s students are so lucky, not only because they have such a fantastic teacher but also because she is so committed to giving the chance to express themselves through blogging.

I’ve heard about so many web2.0 tools for the first time via Ă–zge’s blog that this was an easy choice.

In this post, Vicky Loras told us the story of how she left build up a language school together with her sister in Greece but then was faced with the difficult decision to leave it all behind and move to a new life and new job in Switzerland. Her story is inspiring and it led to a blog challenge in which over 20 other great educators shared their stories as well.

Although I haven’t been able to join the chats much recently, ELTchat remains a great source of inspiration, not only through the weekly discussion topics but also through the blog posts shared and the teachers I have connected with.

I’ve chosen Mike’s blog here because it is so consistently good, full of useful lesson ideas and first-hand in-class experiences. Thanks Mike!

I’m a big fan of Mr Warr’s Language Garden blog and the attractive ‘language plants’ he adds to each one, which really offer a different way to look at language. Imagine my delight then when he made the Language Plant Maker available for the world to grow their own.

By the way, while I’m mentioning David Warr, I will also mention that I think there should be a ‘Best Blog Commenter’ award, in which case I would nominate him (or perhaps Tyson Seburn) again.

  • Best educational use of audio/video/visual/podcast - iasku by Chiew Pang

Chiew’s video interview blog has been a great way to get to know ‘the educator behind the tweets’ on a deeper level.

  • Best open PD/unconference/webinar series - RSCON3

This summer’s conference was a great event and one I was proud and honoured to be a part of.

For his unending commitment to his English Raven blog and resource website, his invaluable help and advice for designing educational materials and his fantastic new project World Adventure Kids.

Good luck to everyone - I hope you get the recognition you deserve!

Comments

  1. Great nominations. Need to do mine. Glad to be a runner-up with Sandy behind Dale. I'd vote for the lesson skeleton man as well !

    Cheers, Brad

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  2. Thanks Brad. Your recent super-post was a factor in nominating Vicky for the most influential post as well. :)

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  3. Some great nominations as well. I see you nominated Jason as a Lifetime achievement. To tell you the truth it was a hard choice for me too as I like Jason's work, posts, ideas, teaching resources, but I gave my vote to Ken as he inspired me more this year through some of his excellent articles. :)

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  4. Dave, I am speechless (and it doesn't happen very often : )

    Thank you so much! What an honour, a true honour (and thanks to Brad as well, who was mentioned above!). I really appreciate it and you have made my week, month, rest of the year!

    A million thanks,
    Vicky

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  5. Cheers, Dave, I'm flattered and immensely grateful for your support, fancy a chat sometime? Skype or whatever? Everyone should have a friend called Dave ;-)

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  6. Cheers. Some great picks there. Ceci and I were just talking about this the other day.

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  7. Thanks for the mention, and I'm glad Dale got your vote. I really enjoynhis blog, and am looking forward to teaching a non-exam class so that I can try out some of his ideas!
    Great set of nominations. :)
    Sandy

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  8. Dave! I am greatly greatly honoured to receive your nomination. Seriously made my Monday! I feel a bit bad though, because I think I have been neglecting to comment on others' blogs of late, something I hope to do a bit more of over the year, DELTA depending. Now, to think about my nominations...

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  9. Surprised to see my name popped up here even though I'm not sure if iasku qualifies as a video podcast. Nevertheless, I'm extremely grateful for your even thinking of me!
    If only I could nominate my whole PLN for an award! What a frigging terrific bunch of dedicated pros! Love you all!

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  10. Wow Dave! Thanks so much! I'm speechless! Thanks for the nomination and your words. It definitely means a lot coming from you. My students will be thrilled!
    Have you started blogging yet? Can't wait to leave your students some comments! They are lucky to have you. I know how hard you've been working to give them the best opportunities!

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  11. Jeez, thanks for the Lifetime Achievement award nomination, Dave. Coming from you, it really does mean something.

    Cheers mate.

    - JR

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  12. Hi Dave!

    Love your nominations and you gave me a few ideas when I vote! Thank you so much for nominating the Reform Symposium and being a great big part of it! It is the audience and educators like you that make it so meaningful of an experience!

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  13. I've just mentioned your name and used 'good ole' in the same sentence. I thought I'd get my apologies in quick.

    BTW, I applied to be part of the Reform Symposium and no one ever got back to me about it :-( Probably for the best...

    http://www.yearinthelifeofanenglishteacher.com/2011/11/11-from-11-the-best-of-your-posts-from-this-year-blog-challenge/

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