I began this blog five years ago.

Writing it has made me a better teacher for my students, and I hope it’s been helpful to others. It’s been an incredible gift to be able to connect with so many talented educators around the world.

Feedburner, though sometimes erratic, consistently says about 25,000 people subscribe to this blog daily. There’s bound to be overlap, but there are also 2,000 people who receive my monthly newsletter, and fifteen thousand who read it via Twitter, along with others who read it on Facebook and on Google+.

Since I began writing this blog, I’ve published over 9,000 posts (including over 850 “The Best…” lists), not to mention seventy articles and three books (with two more upcoming). I have also begun writing two other blogs — my teacher advice column at Education Week Teacher and the Engaging Parents In School blog.

I appreciate the people I have met — online or in person — through this blog, and everything I have learned from you.

Thanks, and forward to another year!

In addition to the above few words, I thought people might find it interesting to see what have been the most popular posts since this blog began.

Here are they are:

1. The Best Resources For Helping Teachers Use Bloom’s Taxonomy In The Classroom

2. The Best Web 2.0 Applications For Education — 2007

3. The Best Web 2.0 Applications For Education — 2009

4. The Best Places To Get Royalty-Free Music & Sound Effects

5. The Best Teacher Resources For “Foldables”

6. The Best Websites To Help Beginning Readers

7. The Best Web 2.0 Applications For Education — 2008

8. The Best Online Learning Games — 2007

9. The Best Sites To Learn About Valentine’s Day

10. The Best Popular Movies/TV Shows For ESL/EFL

11. The Best Sites For Online Photo-Editing & Photo Effects

12. The Best Online Sources For Images

13. The Best Sites To Practice Speaking English

14. The Best Places To Read & Write “Choose Your Own Adventure” Stories

15. The Best Web 2.0 Applications For Education In 2011 — So Far

16. The Best Websites For Learning About Halloween

17. The Best Internet Sites For English Language Learners — 2007

18. The Best Places To Learn About Christmas, Hanukkah, & Kwanzaa

19. The Best Music Websites For Learning English

20. The Best Web 2.0 Applications For Education — 2010

Though “The Best…” lists are clearly extremely popular, some of my non-“The Best…” posts have also rung a chord with readers. Here are some of those most popular ones:

1. Answers To “What Do You Do On The First Day Of School?”

2. Helping Students Motivate Themselves: Practical Answers To Classroom Challenges

3. Excerpt From My Book On Teaching English Language Learners

4. When A “Good” Class Goes “Bad” (And Back To “Good” Again!)

5. “I Like This Lesson Because It Make Me Have a Longer Temper” (Part One)

6. ESL Carnival

7. What Do You Do To Keep Students (And You!) Focused Near The End Of The Year?

8. Reading Logs — Part Two (or “How Students Can Grow Their Brains”)

9. “let some of the players with lower batting averages go”

10. Maintaining A “Good” Class

11. Jon Stewart & Diane Ravitch Knock It Out Of The Park!