Geography and all that Jazz

Another great collaborative Twitter project response... Yesterday, I asked colleagues who follow me to provide some descriptions of the British Seaside... Words that appear larger were mentioned more frequently by the word cloud generator. First of all a WORDLE - click the image below to be taken to the Wordle page... Here is a Tagxedo version of the Wordle... Click for biggery... Thanks for all the contributors. What words would you choose ?  How could you use this diagram as a resource in the classroom or for a homework task ?

One of the things that I am quietly 'obsessed' (ish) with is the Mass Observation project , which dates back to the 1930s I have a number of books which drew on the project: one by Simon Garfield, and several chunky ones by David Kynaston. I keep checking on the recruitment criteria , but sadly they never seem to want people my age in my geographical area. Elements of Mass Observation also creep into several other books that I own, and there are elements of cultural geography in the data patterns and other outcomes from the project. Now everyone has the chance to be a Mass Observation person for the day, and the day is the 12th of May , which is coming up. Details of how to participate are HERE You'll need to keep a diary on the day in electronic form, and include a disclaimer that it can be used in the archive... Write as much as you can about what you do, who you meet, what you talk about, what you eat and drink, what you buy or sell, what you are working on,...

A number of posts are appearing over at my LIVING GEOGRAPHY blog on the follow-up to the GA Conference 2011. There were some wonderful sessions.... but enough about me... Anne Greaves has started to post resources from the conference on the GA WEBSITE . Image by Bryan Ledgard Copyright Geographical Association

If you are reading this blog you may well be heading to the GA conference at the University of Surrey in Guildford. It's next week, which is a bit scary as I still have a lot to organise, but cracking through it today. Just been circling the sessions that I'm planning to attend in my conference booklet, and there are plenty of them... the variety of sessions means that there is definitely something for everyone... One additional event that isn't on the programme is the chance to meet myself, Richard Allaway of "Geography all the Way" fame, and David Rogers : author, teacher and chair of the GA's Secondary Committee ... We will be in a pub near the centre of Guildford at around 8.30pm... The drinks won't be free... but they'll be reasonably priced... Full details, including maps and everything, are on Richard Allaway's GEOGALOT blog... What are you most looking forward to at the GA Conference this year ? Don't forget the hashtag....

Get yourself to Amazon or a local bookshop and get/order copies of our two new books, published in association with Can of Worms press... They are out today, and would make a great gift for the child in your life, from 8 to 88 and beyond... Amazon link Amazon link The official 'launch' will be in London tomorrow - we've already used a catapult and a rocket to 'launch' our books, and at the weekend, we'll be using balloons... If you're going to be in London at the weekend, get involved...  (see this Time Out link) Don't just take my word for how these books are, check out these other reviews: Mission:Explore is bold, cool, exciting, innovative, geographic, educational…and just plain fun! Every curious kid, budding geographer, and responsible parent should have a copy!” – National Geographic“ Designed to be read, scribbled on, illustrated, smeared, scratched and sniffed, it may just be the most revolutionary geography-related book...