Liebster Blog Award

Thank you so much Katy for my first blog award:

I couldn't help spending a good couple of hours researching what exactly it was, and chuffed to be a part of it all. I have:

1) Create a post on my blog and add the Liebster blog image.

2) Link back to the person who gave me the award and say if  I accept.

3) Chosen 3-5 of my favourite blogs, linked to these in my post and told lucky bloggers that they've been tagged.

The aim of this award is to bring lesser known but good blogs to light (lucky bloggers, please tag bloggers with less than 300 followers).

Following the grand lineage of my award - through a range of Mum bloggers, quilters, a few artists, back to a range of nail and makeup artists in Germany, late December 2010 - furthest back I got was http://tinnymey.blogspot.com/, unless I made fatal click error, and my blog lineage is a sham...Anyone actually figure out where this award started, please let me know.

I also had to do random survey of blogs on blogger (next blog, next blog, so on).  Firstly I was surprised how few work or business related sites there were, and how many blog entries feelin' the love of the blog, about family, all about me, my suffering, my faith, so on.  A bit like the intro and end to 'Love Actually', where sometimes you focus so much on the money grabbing, fearful, brutal world, you miss the other bits.

Also made me realise just how many small blogs I miss out on (and need to start following - thanks again Katy - great blogs you're following, and you'd be on list if you weren't already a Liebster).  Anyway, I would like to nominate the following blogs for a Liebster Blog:

http://frogphilp.blogspot.com/ - teacher journeying through creativity and stuff

http://lovekingsheath.co.uk/  - a newish local site for local people

http://ictelt.blogspot.com/ - ICT enhanced learning from Hazel in New Zealand

http://helgahenry.com/blog - Work to your heart's content

http://www.archivesnext.com/ - What comes next in archives

Labels

Just found the 'labels' widget - have a backlog of labels to do, but will get there.  Wish I'd known before.  Now created 5 blogs for different projects and parts of life.  Starting to look organised.  Hmm...  Also twitter links in well with blogs, and if only I can keep spending time reading others as well as writing own, all will be hunkydory.

Day 2

Started brief twitterings. Had a couple of followers I don't know. Don't know why, but if they like it... Blogging is also starting to build and provide good record of work and also starting to refer back to them. Also Shenley one is now at end of project, so effectively dead, or dieing, but that's cool, because it was intended as a work journal and now the project has ended. Now more of an archive.

After a bit of experimentation, Paganel Primary school have started to encourage creative practitioners to keep their reflections on their own blogs, accessible to the school. That will be 5 practitioners, a teacher or two and me, so a real network of reasonable size which should work. I think this model is interesting - it keeps the blogs of Creative practioners belonging to the creative practitioners. I'm also hoping it will aid proper regular reflection for CPs and fabulous record for me, school and CPs to know what is happening and what has happened.

I'm also in touch with Podnosh to start a Digital Surgery in Weoley. I think this is a risky but potentially the most powerful bit of work I will do over next 100 days to network, share and support others. I'm also keen to bridge gap between schools and communities, supported by an open, sharing digital community media. My analysis of present situation is stuff happening in schools, stuff happening in communities. Only contact is for a particular project, normally led strongly by a school or by a community group with little real partnership or review beyond length of a project/visit. Already have good links with Weoley Library, schools in area, and other community groups I've worked with recently, in particular the Shenley Community Centre Groups. People have good reason to start conversations, but it will involve moving out of 'comfort zone' to meet others.

Next to do is experiment with Wordpress and meet with Podnosh. Need to start making more definite arrangements for Surgeries.