I just found out the Edublog Awards are accepting nominations for just one more day! I’d like to throw in the bid for my favorite Edu-Blogger, Francie Skarritt — www.FrancieSkarritt.com. I believe her blog is deserving of being given an award in any of these categories:
- Best educational use of video / audio / visual / podcast
- Best individual blog
- Best teacher blog
In less than two years, Francie has created a blog-centric web presence that has done some pretty amazing things:
- Garnered her the “Educator of the Year” award from our local Chamber of Commerce.
- Acheived a ranking by Teacher Certification Degrees as the 22nd most influential elementary school teachers on Twitter.
- A few months ago launched a new online forum to promote the discussion of education topics among her teacher peers and local parents.
- But, more importantly, she has put her blogging activities into turbo mode and is using her blog in a very creative way;
- She has recently created a slideshow video to better explain the District’s Reading & Language Programs to parents.
- Regularly posts teacher tips … and education humor.
- Uses her blog as a training tool in her role as the Grand Ledge School District “Literacy Coach” for the Language! Program. These regularly produced videos are shot in her classroom by her resource students.
It’s this last bullet — her HIGHLY creative use of video in her blog — that I think deserves the attention of the judges at the EduBlog Awards. The videos are not for the direct instruction of students but are for the ongoing support and training of her teacher peers in a program for which she is responsible and which the District has chosen to support because of its effectiveness in improving student reading skills.
Although we all LOVE to watch the amazing trends we’re witnessing in EdTech and how education is being transformed, I think we should pay special attention to GREAT teachers going out of their way to pass on their knowledge and experience to the next generation of teachers. Francie is certainly one of these great teachers!
