This time last year, I wasn’t blogging so I read all the nominations for the Edublog awards, but didn’t really feel like I had input. This year, I’m even more pleased to have an input.

If you are a blogger and want to participate, please go to the Edublog Awards website.

Individual Blog: This was a challenging nomination. There are so many truly spectacular blogs out there. However, I believe Tanya Coyle’s Lexical Linguist Blog is one of the most influential blogs around.

Group Blog: There were two blogs that I considered nominating here. However, I think that ASHASphere will be my nomination. ASHAsphere is a compilation blog. As such it is relevant to the field of Speech-Language Pathology and a great read. Maggie McGary works hard to ensure quality posts and relevant topics. She works hard to make sure ASHA members benefit from social media.

Student Blog: This was another tough one. There are three student blogs that are truly wonderful…particularly when you consider the amount of work they put into blogging while they are doing the work for graduate school. However, Hanna B. gradstudentSLP is a great read. I really wish I could nominate all three though – they are all worthy of it (SLP_Echo, Olivia SLP). The effort these ladies put into the blog while concentrating on their studies is nothing short of amazing.

Teacher Blog: Caroline Bowen’s Blog is phenomenal. While not a “teacher” in the US public education system, Caroline is a “teacher” in the grander sense of the word. Through her work she is educating SLPs around the world on issues pertaining to phonology, articulation, and speech-language.

Influential Post: Tanya Coyle’s blog posts about twitter are awesome. In particular, I think the post about the etiquette for social media (twitter specifically) is wonderful. It is easy to lose sight of manners when you’re interacting with a computer and not people. Tanya’s post reminds us there are people on the other end.

Twitter Hashtag: This is a no-brainer for me. Without the #SLPeeps I simply would not use twitter. They are my primary learning network, my friends, and my extended family.
Free Web Tool

Video/Podcasts: I think some of the most informational video podcasts are from GeekSLP.  Barbara Fernandes video blogs helpful iPad tips and tricks, discusses various apps that are useful for therapy, and other great posts.

Social Network: I think the best use of a social network (other than the #SLPeeps on twitter of course) would be Pediastaff’s use of Pinterest. The boards they have created are an incredible resource to SLPs, OTs, and PTs.

Lifetime Achievement: I think I will have to nominate Dean Trout’s 2Gals Talk About Speech Therapy blog for the life time achievement. Dean, a retired SLP, worked in the field for over 30 years. Now she is retired and sharing her skills and knowledge with the rest of us through her blog and Teachers Pay Teacher’s store.

There you have it. For those of you whom I wasn’t able to nominate… please know it’s not because I don’t love you. It’s simply because there are so many incredible writers out there and nearly impossible to choose. You are ALL winners to me.

So…who do you nominate for Edublogs? Let me know…

Until then…Adventure on!

Mary