What blogs have captured your imagination?
Here are 24 of the most popular blogs from www.TeacherToolkit.me during 2015.
January:
During this month, I posted 12 blogs. My favourite blog was Speed-Dating CPD, but readers preferred Power From The Floor; a blog about a collective vision for marking and feedback. Both blogs contained CPD materials we used in our school and have received over 20,000 reads each.
Click the photo to read more about ‘a collective vision for marking’.
February:
During this month, I posted 16 blogs. My favourite blog was Oh Canada, which captured my first overseas excursion to McGill University, Montreal to deliver a series of seminars. However, readers preferred Social Media Failure – a blog reaching over 15,000 readers – which shares the stories of teachers who have made wrong choices online. It never ceases to amaze me, how often I need to remind teachers about the dangers of social media used on personal devices in school.
March:
During this month, I posted 17 blogs. My favourite blog was my One-to-One Meeting with Sean Harford, but readers preferred The Question Matrix as a powerful and practical teaching resource. My blog with Harford alluded to a significant transition in the pipeline for OfSTED.
April:
During this month, I posted 20 blogs. My favourite blog was The Greatest Teacher-Led CPD Event, Ever, which captured our brilliant TeachMeet at our school. Over 350 people attended, many in their Easter holidays and travelling as far away as the Isle of Man! My blog readers preferred 10 Simple Coding Tips for Bloggers; a blog that guides bloggers to develop a unique approach for readers to share your content without too much effort!
TeachMeetLondon 2016 date to be announced very soon!
May:
During this month, I posted 38 blogs! My highest ever monthly output which saw my blog reach 21st across the world on Teach 100! My favourite blog was when, after 18 months of silence, I was finally allowed to announce my new book Teacher Toolkit in a blogpost which explained the process from start to finish. As usual, readers preferred Shush: The Deadly Sin of Teaching, a practical blog for the classroom to help curb poor behaviour.
A book to help you stay stuck in the classroom.
June:
During this month, I posted 34 blogs and I soon realised that blogging once a day was unsustainable. My favourite blog was the publication of our One Page Learning Policy, but readers preferred How To Create A Teaching and Learning Common-Sense Culture?; either way, both these blogs were well-read and have helped us move towards a clarified vision for teaching and learning that is sensible for all. It has also helped so many other teachers, so thank you for getting in touch and for your feedback in developing the finer details.
Our one-page summary.
July:
During this month, I posted 24 blogs. My favourite blog was capturing 10 Highlights in my First Year as a Deputy Headteacher, but over 15,000 readers preferred 12 Ways to Embrace Marking and Feedback;
In the summer, we watched the old school building be demolished!
August:
During this month, I posted 16 blogs. I re-branded my blog and moved over to become self-hosted. I’ve never looked back and Teacher Toolkit now ranks consistently in the top-30 blogs across the world! I’ve spent a great deal of time on coding, SEO and configuration, that hopefully makes my site easier to navigate. My bounce rate is less than 3%! I hope to make more significant changes in the summer to develop my website as a portal for resources and as a place of guidance for parents.
I was also recognised for being in the top-100 ed-tech brands in education across the world! My favourite blog was Developing Good Habits, a blog about well-being; but readers preferred The 7 Deadly Sins of Teaching. Both posts have reached over 25,000 readers each in over 211 countries!
The 7 Deadly Sins of Teaching (Image: Shutterstock)
September:
During this month, I launched my new book and also posted 17 blogs. My favourite blog was Claim Back Your Weekend which provided readers with sustainable marking strategies to help free up their personal time over the weekends. Readers preferred my rare rant on Verbal Feedback Stamps! Both blogs reaching over 35,000 readers.
For me, the highlight of the month was my premature son heading off to primary school for the first time! It was a proud day …
October:
During this month, I posted 18 blogs. People often ask How Do I Do It? so for a change, I blog about why and how I do. @Urban_Teacher came to interview me at my school and helped manufacture a video which proved to be a favourite blog for the month. Why @TeacherToolkit? asks Mark Martin, features me explaining the reasons behind my decisions.
In terms of readership, you preferred Teaching and Learning: One Year Later which shared our evaluation calendar and book observation process. It proved very popular with many, many readers requesting that I email over templates and documentation.
My interview by Mark Martin, also known as @Urban_Teacher.
November:
During this busy month, I posted 17 blogs. My favourite blog (of the year) was when, after 2 years of sitting on abusive tweets (not disagreements), I exposed some teacher-trolling with Blogging Advice Your Headteacher Shouldn’t See! There is a price to pay for having a high-profile online, but countless people emailed me their support and congratulations for remaining humble – for still keeping troll names anonymous – yet exposing the abuse for all to see. A minority still believe I contest about disagreement, but the evidence I have is clear. Despite what these troll accounts say, this is abusive behaviour which is a breach of the Teachers’ Standards. It is not a difference of opinion.
What is interesting, is that over the 5 years of tweeting as @TeacherToolkit, followers of followers have whistle-blown accounts. I now know who these anonymous accounts have belonged to, and as a result abuse is much rarer. I prefer people to tweet critique from a transparent position instead of hiding away.
Besides this hectic month at work and online, there was some blogging backlash as a result of me sharing book-observation practice. Looking in students books is a valuable part of evaluating the overall quality of teaching and learning, it is not about any individual teacher. I am confident triangulating this process (in lessons, in work samples and in student interviews) makes looking in students’ books a robust evaluation of progress. Few disagreed.
Over 25,000 of my readers preferred Why We Must Protect Our Staff From Emails? and towards the end of November, this website was voted the number one blog for education in the UK! Thank you to everyone – in all 211 countries – who regularly reads this site.
Read about the Blog Awards event
December:
During this month, I posted 20 blogs. My favourite blog was my Resilience Assembly resource which you can download below. On the last day of the year, over 15,000 readers preferred 8 Teaching Ideas to Bin in 2016. Many of you have said that you agree with what has been written, so let’s hope the DfE pay attention. I’ll be emailing them a copy next week.
Download my assembly above.
Thank you for reading. I read every email, tweet and comment, so please do get in touch.
Happy New Year everyone and best wishes for the term ahead.
TT.
