Being as I’m still very new to this blogging game (was it only July I made my first post?) I had no idea there were awards for it, let alone awards for educational blogging. Who knew?

Well, apparently lots of people knew: the Edublogs Awards have been going on since 2004. I’ve only been alerted to this thanks to Kristian Stills generous nomination of the The Learning Spy. Which is lovely. But before I getting too carried away practising acceptance speeches, I thought that this would be a fine opportunity to do a bit of nominating myself.

So, my nomination for best individual blog is….The Behaviour Guru. Tom Bennet’s coruscating prose and savage humour make this a delight to read. However, not only is Tom a skilled exponent of the mot juste, he is also a thoughtful and considered chap when it comes to all issues educative. Although he sometimes hides behind a facade of irreverence, his insight into teaching and his compassion for students shine through. Thoroughly recommended.

Moving on, I’m nominating Mark Anderson’s ICT Evangelist for best ed tech/resource sharing blog. As well as organising a very fine TeachMeet, Mark’s blog is, as you’d expect, a pretty slick affair. Lots of whizzy interactive stuff as well as some invaluable tech recommendations and advice. Mark is a passionate advocate of all things ICT but is also rooted in the real world and is happy to demonstrate how to get the best out of all the net has to offer.

My nomination for best individual Tweeter is Dr Mark Evans who tweets as @teachitso. Mark describes himself as a “Proponent of the scientific approach that underpins evidence-based education – without the Snake Oil”. This last is an crucial caveat. I have learnt so much from Mark; he regularly shares all sorts of education news and research. The man is a machine – he literally seems to know everything and can supply a peer reviewed journal entry to back up all manner of surprising things. Probably the most important thing I’ve learnt from Mark is to have a healthy scepticism for some of the mosre outlandish claims made in the sometimes wacky world of education.

New nomination for best new blog goes to Laura Sutherland’s 300000 Questions. Laura’s only being blogging for a month or so but her passion and enthusiasm for English teaching come bubbling through everything she writes. Her blog is very much focussed on reflecting on her own classroom practice and she generously shares all of the resources she’s used. One to watch.

And finally, the Best educational use of a social network nomination goes to Kenny Pieper. His use of Twitter to promote #PedagooFriday , his wonderful blog Just Trying to Be Better Than Yesterday and the educational book club wiki he set up moderates all add considerable value to my PLN. He is as warm hearted, caring and thoughtful as you’d want a teacher to be. Just wish he lived closer!

Not sure what happens next, but good luck to you all.