Me, me, vote for me!!

The last time I canvassed for votes was back in my school mock election in 1987. In typically awkward bugger fashion, I ran as a Trotskyite candidate. As I recall I did rather well and came in third which has got to be some kind of record for any kind of communist in a British election.

For the last 25 years I’ve managed to stay out of any kind of election but now I find myself nominated for an Edublog Award in the Best New Blog category. Which is nice. But I’m not entirely sure how to react. Obviously it’s lovely that I’ve been nominated and of course I’m thrilled at the idea that people get something out of reading my ramblings. But an award?

The best thing about getting involved in Twitter has been the discovery that I’m not alone. I’ve discovered,  much to my surprise, that the world is full of teaching geeks just like me. The idea that there might be others out there who would possibly be interested in what I had say was galvanising and I started blogging almost immediately.

At first the blog was just about reflecting on my classroom practice. Having started though I found I had 12 years worth of unprocessed thoughts clamouring to come out. And out they’ve come. For an idea of the sorts of stuff I’ve been writing about click here.

It’s been a joyous experience to find my voice as a writer. In the past I’ve had a crack at poetry but had begun to resign myself to the fact that I just didn’t seem able to write fiction. It’s been a wonderful discovery that not only can I write non-fiction but that I really enjoy it. And best of all I’ve been able write posts for the Guardian Teacher Network and been commissioned to write a book (more on that another time.) Recognition at last.

The award thing bothers me a bit though. I mean, I’d really like to win. Obviously. But the way one wins this particular contest is by importuning folks to vote for you. And not just once: you can vote every day! I wouldn’t mind if some faceless panel of experts pontificated over proceedings and arbitrarily declared a winner a la the Turner or Booker prizes. But this is a popularity contest, a beauty pageant and I’m just not prepared to parade around in my swimsuit.

Twitter is often dismissed as shameless self-promotion and I’m rather reticent to spend the next few weeks exhorting everyone I follow to please vote for me. It’s just not very British. I can still hear my mother explaining at 7 years old that no one likes a show off and that modesty’s the best policy.

So, I’m going to suggest that if you’d like to vote for me you can do it here but that I’m not going get all tedious about it and start prefacing all my tweets with the #eddies11 hashtag. You however are more than welcome to do it on my behalf.

Thanks for reading.