Thanks or Bugger Off? On Edublog Awards
Tuesday, 27 November 2007 Clay Burell 
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Re: This:
First response: “I wouldn’t want to belong to a club that would have me as a member.” — Groucho Marx
Second response: “The people in my blogroll (see left sidebar) are my own nominees. What’s the meaning of such an exercise?”
Third response: “But the edublogs folks have done a lot of service to the edublogging community, so they merit some sympathy. Give ‘em the benefit of the doubt.”
Fourth response: “And I’m a nomad. From doing this
for 20,000 solo miles across the USA during my college twenties (and god in heaven, that photo above is certainly not me), to joining the army to escape the States and live in Europe in my thirties, to beginning teaching and an Asian odyssey in Shanghai and now Seoul for the last eight years, I’ve never stayed put. Nomads need all the resume bullets they can get.”
So: I’ll take the badge, thanks. Mixed feelings and all. It might come in handy at the next job fair. Nomads have to eat, too.
And honestly, it’s nice to know that 400 posts in eleven months weren’t written to the wind.
So, to whomever nominated me, thank you. That was kind. Kindness is an important thing.
But again, so many people – what is it, 30,000 edubloggers now? – are doing good work. These awards are clearly random, somewhat luck-of-the-draw affairs. Who’s not nominated simply because everybody thought somebody else would do it? I can think of several glaring omissions when I look at the finalist lists.
And most of what you read on these pages, really, as I try to get teaching and learning beyond 20th century “schooling” – a completely different game – is, to quote some Asian wisdom, an endless story of “falling down nine times, getting up ten.”
And of enjoying writing more than ever in my life. There really is something magical about blogging.
Photo Credits: Groucho Lisa by sandrino, hitchhiker by macwagen
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No. 1 — November 27th, 2007 at 1:53 am
Clay,
Regardless of the need for such awards, this shoes that SOE segment of the populace finds value and meaning in what you are doing. You state that there I randomness in the selection process, and I don’t doubt that; however, you track your stars, you know how many people are reading you. You are right in not putting too much stake in an external award, but your last line tells me you are gaining from all of this: “enjoying writing more than ever.”
Cheers.
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No. 2 — November 27th, 2007 at 2:19 am
Hi — I hate to reach out this way in the comments, but I am not sure how best to reach the mind(s) behind this blog for a conversations. I am working on a book about how blogging, wikis, and digital storytelling, among other things are changing or can change the nature of writing, especially writing pedagogy and the writing process, and many of your posts relate directly to this issue. I would really like to “talk” (email or chat) with you directly because of your expertise and interest (and because I think we’re following the same lines of thought, and this book should have many voices in it). If you wouldn’t mind contacting someone you’ve never met but left a comment (I swear this is not spam), that would be excellent. My gmail is in the link; my university mail is wilberd@mail.montclair.edu.
thanks so much for reading this,
Dana
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No. 3 — November 27th, 2007 at 2:46 am
Patrick, thanks. I’m sorry I didn’t know about the nomination window, b/c you’d have been on top of my list. And yes, you’re right about the gains of sheer writing pleasure.
Dana, it sounds interesting. Your excellent blog (to which I subscribed) makes me look forward to the talks. See your email.
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No. 4 — November 27th, 2007 at 3:49 am
Congratulations. We often are recognized for much so take it when it comes. It’s all good.
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No. 5 — November 27th, 2007 at 3:51 am
Spelling error in previous comments, “We AREN’T often recognized for much”
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No. 6 — November 27th, 2007 at 3:56 am
Thanks Dean. You’re the best. (You are, actually.)
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No. 7 — November 27th, 2007 at 6:19 am
Clay,
Congratulations on making the magic happen in your blog.
Since words never fail me, here a quote in honor of the occasion:
“Be true to your own act and congratulate yourself if you have done something strange and extravagant to break the monotony of a decorous age [mine, that is].” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
diane
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No. 8 — November 27th, 2007 at 7:36 am
Over 120K edublogs.org blogs at the moment… (71770 as of now belonging to teachers).
I guess there’s always an element of randomness in the nominations (only those nominated can get voted for in the end) but we did get over 500 and I can assure you that the shortlisting process was painful as all heck!
Congrats BTW
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No. 9 — November 27th, 2007 at 8:11 am
Thanks for taking my post in the spirit is was meant, James
As I said in the post, you deserve all the credit in the world for your contributions to this new world, and I’m happy to give it. And I have no doubt that you’ve gotten – and will be getting for the new few weeks – little sleep because of your effort to spread some recognition around.
Thanks for dropping in
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No. 10 — November 27th, 2007 at 11:03 am
You totally deserve the nomination. You are one of the few bloggers I read who always answers the comments of your readers. It’s that response that is the essence of blogging IMHO. So many others write about the conversation that blogging enables but you actually model that for others. Thanks for all your thoughtful work.
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No. 11 — November 27th, 2007 at 11:50 am
Diane, thanks for helping with your support in those first months, particularly. When I was new and commentless, you were among the first to respond, encourage, share ideas.
Nice to hear from you again
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No. 12 — November 29th, 2007 at 6:19 am
[...] Thanks or Bugger Off? On Edublog Awards [...]
No. 13 — December 1st, 2007 at 5:03 am
I should congratulations as well Clay. Your enthusiasm for breaking the mold, outta de box thinking always gets me thinking. Keeps me rooted. Whether or not you personally value the award nomination is moot, it does suggest you are being read, and therefore at least have the chance of causing change. THATS something to be proud of.
Its got me blogging again. I hope I can keep motivated.
Keep sharing the great thoughts.
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No. 14 — November 23rd, 2008 at 8:55 am
[...] that nomination: [ Michael:] While I think the Eddies are dubious in many ways (and wrote a post biting the hand that fed me last year, which I linked to under my nomination banner for a few months), [...]
No. 15 — November 23rd, 2008 at 10:28 am
OK, I feel puny now.
In honor of being nominated, I may have to change to a gold foil hat.
And thanks….
Michael Doyles last blog post..What I know now….
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Clay Burell Reply:
November 23rd, 2008 at 11:48 am
LOL. Please take a photo and share it when you do, Michael. And where the heck does feeling puny come in? I’m dense (and foilless) as usual.
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No. 16 — November 23rd, 2008 at 9:45 pm
[This might be better sent as an email since it will bore the snot out of your larger audience, but in keeping with the spirit of blogging, I'll post the details here.]
OK, sometimes I read my own words and wonder where words come from, and I think I know where “puny” came from.
Accepting the nomination graciously would have been the classy thing to do; when my brain thinks graciousness/classy, it thinks magnanimous, maybe not exactly the right word for that, but that’s what flitted in my brain.
Next step: I was not “magnaninous” (even if my brain and I had agreed on the wrong sense of the word), so how did I act.
Step three: “magnanimous” sounds like large or big to me, or rather feels big–maybe because it’s shaped like “magnitude”, maybe because I’ve had several more concussions in my life than most people.
Step four: opposite of huge is tiny, or puny.
So there you go. My wife reminds me that I speak cryptically at times; I have the words flowing all around my skull, and they are somehow linked to each other, but by the time I go from hearing to speaking, the words sound like they came from an alternative universe (because they do).
My wife understands my speech perfectly, as friends/lovers over 3 decades do.
I edit my posts a lot more than I edit my replies, so my sloppiness with words is more likely to pop up in conversations like this.
If I start sounding completely incomprehensible:
1) I’m getting more comfortable with someone, and
2) there is (usually) some crazy, often nonsensical pattern in there.
Michael Doyles last blog post..What I know now….
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