It is that time of year again when Edubloggers from around the globe make their pick for the Annual Edublog Awards. Last year this blog was nominated in several categories and I won Twitterer of The Year and #Edchat won for Best Series of Tweets. The awards are a great way to find new blogs to follow, twitterers to follow and resources to discover. So be sure to check out all the nominations and check back on Dec. 15 to see who the winners are.
I had a really tough time this year with my nominations. There is so much great content out there and so many great people too. But I want to highlight are the best blogs, wikis and people from the past year.
Best Individual Blog: Free Technology For Teachers- Richard's blog is always my first stop in the morning when I want to learn about something new. And it is in my list of blogs I share whenever introducing teachers to blogging.
Best Tweeter: Kyle Pace- Kyle is my pick this year. Always has some really great resources, an #edchat moderator and willing to lend a hand when ever it is needed.
Best Group Blog: The Connected Principals- In my role as a District Instructional Technologist I am able to work with folks at all levels in our district. The Connected Principals is a great way to highlight the fact that administrators can and need to be reflective. This is a great blog to share with any administrator whether they blog or not.
Best Resource Sharing Blog: Teacher Reboot Camp- Not only is Shelly an amazing person and friend but she shares some of the best stuff. Some of it technology, some of it bits of wisdom that will make all of us better. This is another blog I recommend to read to those new to blogging.
Most Influential Tweet Based Discussion: #edchat- Week after week the ideas that come out of this discussion amaze me...
Best Librarian/Library Blog: Van Meter Voice: I have been following Shannon and the amazing work she is doing in her library for sometime. This blog is her way of connecting the small town of Van Meter Iowa to the world.
Best Educational Technology Support Blog: The Pursuit Of Technology Integration Happiness- I have been following Michael's blog now for a while and he has great stuff for teachers either just learning about technology integration or those that have been around for a while.
Best School Administrator Blog: The Principal's Posts- Lyn is an administrator, that, if I were to ever go back to the classroom I would want to work for. Her blog is very reflective of the leader she is and I always take something away when I read her posts.
Best Educational Webinar Series: The Reform Symposium- I was honored to give the closing keynote for this worldwide e-conference. Planed by an awesome group of educators this series, over the course of a few days brought together some amazing live sessions on a huge range of topics. It was so cool to watch the planning of this event and to be a part of it.
Best Educational Use Of A Social Network- The Educator's PLN: Tom Whitby's social network has grown from a small group of educators to a place with well over 6000 members. There is so many good things about the EDU PLN I could talk for days but the organizing of special live sessions with Alfie Kohn, Diane Ravitch and more are just a start.
Lifetime Achievement: Steve Hargadon- Steve is such an amazing guy. I had the honor of meeting and learning with him at an event in Boston earlier this year. He works tirelessly to promote all that is good in education. Between is work with the Global Education Conference, his series of Elluminate interviews, to all the other amazing things he does, I can not think of anyone more worthy of this award.