Fifth Anniversary of Blog
Dear Readers,
This post marks my fifth anniversary as a blogger. I want to thank those readers who regularly read my twice-weekly posts, those who have dipped into them occasionally, those who have subscribed to the post, and finally those—over 6500–who have taken the time to write comments. The blog has had nearly 850,000 views from around the world (40 percent outside of the U.S) since August 2009. Not exactly viral but, for me, most gratifying.
For the 597 posts I have written in the past five years, I have followed three rules:
1. Write less than 800 words.
2. Write clearly on school reform and classroom practice.
3. Take a position and back it up with evidence.
Anyone who blogs or writes often knows that sticking to these rules is no easy task. Occasionally, I have slipped and alert readers have reminded me of these rules. Yet after four years, writing two posts a week–with help from guests (teachers, administrators, non-educators, family, and academics)–has been very satisfying. I remain highly motivated to write about what happens to policy as it gets translated into practice and those unrelenting efforts of reformers with varied ideas inside and outside the schools who have sought improved schooling.
Five posts have caught the most clicks since beginning the blog:
“Data-Driven Instruction and the Practice of Teaching (over 24,000)
“Cartoons on Common Core” (13,000)
“Chains or Spaghetti? Metaphors of Implementation (nearly 11,000)
For the first time, a cartoon feature has entered the top five posts. Three years ago, I started a once-monthly series of cartoons on selected topics of teaching, administering, policymaking, and school reform. This year I started monthly series on poetry about teachers and students written for, about, and by students, teachers, administrators, and non-educators.
As I begin my sixth year, I am not sure where I fit into Roz Chast’s breakdown of bloggers, but poking fun at those who blog is, well, part of being a blogger. Thank you again, dear readers, for making the past five years a satisfying experience.
Larry Cuban