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Monday, December 30, 2013

The Five Most Popular Posts of 2013 | Paul Bruno

The Five Most Popular Posts of 2013 | Paul Bruno:

The Five Most Popular Posts of 2013

4271975019_1be4f5247aI do most of my writingelsewhere, where the statistics are more elusive. Here, however, are my five most popular posts on this site in 2013.
1. The Problem with Ted Talks, Including Ken Robinson’s. This one struck a chord with people, and many responded with something along the lines of, “I thought I was the only one who thought this”. My hope at this point is that the TED talk bubble has burst.
2. Teacher Salaries and Household Income by State. I think this was popular in large part because it include a chart. I’d like to think there’s also pent-up demand for numbers-in-context, which we often don’t get, particularly in education.
3. Why Do Teachers Call In Sick? This one might have slipped in as a fluke, since many of the hits seem to come from people searching for a “how-to” guide for convincing your boss you’re too ill to come into work. Still, this post captures well much of my attitude toward teaching.
4. KIPP Schools Have Very High Teacher Turnover. A short and sweet post that succinctly presents something people seem to want to to know about.
5. Once More, With Feeling: “Student-Centered” Doesn’t Mean Anything. This post is actually not as analytically-complete as I usually want to be, but it works as a sort of cathartic primal scream. I’m not sure if nonsense jargon is as common in other fields, but in education it drives me nuts.