Long-time readers of this blog know that each year My Wonderful World hosts a Blog-a-thon during Geography Awareness Week (November 13-19, 2011) inviting contributors around the world to share their geographic voice. This year, we are making the Blog-a-thon bigger and better than ever before, and we need your help! We are accepting submissions of all forms ranging from traditional blogs to digital media (e.g. photos, videos, music) to art work, academic papers or even old geography homework assignments. You can be a special part of GA Week by sending us your best original geographic creations. Teachers: this is a great opportunity to get your classroom involved in thinking critically and writing about geography, and for your students to see their work posted onto the web.
The 2011 GA Week theme is “Geography: The Adventure in Your Community.”  It is about connections between people and their surrounding environments, local action, and, of course, geography education. Starting now, we will be accepting any geography-related blog posts that honor Geography Awareness Week, the 2011 theme of “Adventure in Your Community,” and geography or geographic education in general. You can e-mail your intention of submission at anytime to NatGeoEd@ngs.org–just let us know what you have in mind, and we will be on the lookout for your work. With the Blog-a-thon in mind, this week’s Five for Friday looks at five cool ideas for ways to participate. Get inspired!

1. The “Classic”: Write a blog. (Duh!) Here are some great ideas to get you started on your brainstorm:

• Document your daily activities in blog format, showing how place and space play an important role on your route to work, when shopping for food, or while sending a text message to your friends in California. It may surprise you just how much geography is incorporated into your daily life!

• Write a blog post about the geography of a particular current event topic, or a series of news stories you have followed over the past year. Talk about how major changes in climate, natural disasters, and developing cultures/nations have played a part in your life or your understanding of what it means to be geo-literate.

•  Describe a representation of your “world.” Include all your favorite things about this Earth and the places you want to see and experience. Do some critical thinking: How would your perspective of your world change if you were born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Beijing, China; or Curepto, Chile?

2. The “Art-star”: Not much for words? Try creating a unique piece of art that represents GA Week. Think painting, sculpting, drawing, jewelry-making, collage, graphic design, and beyond! Scan or photograph what you have crafted and send it to us with your basic information, a description of your art, what it means to you and, how it celebrates the geography of our world.

3. The “Trend-ster”: For those of you into the vast world of digital media, this category is for you! Celebrate GA Week by making a Youtube video of yourself, your family, classroom or friends that illustrates the importance of geography in your social circle. Share your perspectives on geography, GA Week, the “Adventure in Your Community” theme, or just speak candidly about how geography has been a part of your life. Send us your video and then see yourself featured on our blog, Facebook and Twitter!

4. The “Deep Thinker”: Write a poem, sing a song, or tell us a story as your form of submission for the Blog-A-Thon. Topics can range from stories about your favorite geography teacher, to your best or worst experience with travel, to things you have learned through geographic exploration. Your poems, songs, or stories can be long or short, happy or sad, literal or satirical; they just have to be genuinely geographic! You can even find a friend and work together!

5. The “Spatialist/Specialist”: At National Geographic we love maps! Share your best map productions, geography homework assignments, or academic research papers. Send us your products with a description of what you mapped or researched and why.
Send your submissions to NatGeoEd@ngs.org. Please include the following with your submission:
1) A short description (no more than 200 words) of your post
2) A complete copy of your blog/art/poem/photos/etc (any submissions posted on the MWW blog will be lightly edited for basic grammar and appropriateness–in the case of any major changes, bloggers will be contacted for final approval).

All submissions must be received by Friday, November 4th–the earlier the better! Posts will be published throughout the week of November 13-19th.
–Julia from My Wonderful World