10 Hits and 10 Misses for 2012

Since I started this blog forty-two months ago, I’ve had over 1 million visitors (most of them, this past year) to the 835 articles I’ve written on

integrating technology into the classroom. They may be about how to use wikis or blogs in the classroom or what I’ve learned from my students as we got through another tech week. I have regular features like Tech Tip Tuesdays, Dear Otto, and Weekend Websites. I post a lot of lesson plans that have worked for me and share my thoughts on other ideas that affect teachers trying to tech-ify their classrooms. It’s a fast changing world. I’m just trying to hang on and share the ride.It always surprises what my readers find to be the most provocative and least interesting. The latter is as likely to be a post I put heart and soul into, sure I was sharing Very Important Information, as the former. Talk about humility.

A few side notes about my year:

• The busiest month was September. In 2011, it was November.
• The deadest month was June. In 2011, it was February.

Without further distraction, here they are–the Top Ten Hits and Misses of 2012:

Top Ten Hits

…though I’ve skipped any that have to do with website reviews and tech tips. Those, I cover in other posts:

1. 107 Favorite iPad Apps for K-8
2. 20 Great Research Websites for Kids
3. Great Websites (this won by a landslide)
4. Great Lesson Plans
5. 20 Common Computer Problems and Solutions (a Third Grader Can Do)
6. Great Resources
7. Great Apps
8. How to Align Technology with Common Core State Standards
9. 19 Free Posters For Your Tech Lab
10. 29 Steps to Internet Safety for Kids

I get the message–readers want tech ideas. I’ve written quite a few pedagogy articles about tech ed and none of them ranked higher than #20.

Top Ten Misses

1. Classroom Management 101: Use Wikis
2. What’s a Tech Teacher Do With Their Summer Off?
3. Common Sense Wins Out: It Takes More Than Praise to Make Kids Smart
4. Kidpix Projects
5. Product Review: Just Air Case for Ipad
6. Keyboarding Projects
7. Do You Skype? Dilbert Does
8. #6: Photoshop for Fifth Graders–Autofixes
9. What I Wish I’d Known Before Starting WPP Online
10. How Do You Use Twitter in Education

I was surprised my attempts at humor flopped. I only published 5 and all had similarly abysmal placements. That’s fine because I’m not a funny person. It’s work for me so I’ll stick to what I do better.

Did you have a favorite you agreed/disagreed with? I’d love to know. Take a moment to answer this poll:

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Jacqui Murray has been teaching K-8 technology for 15 years. She is the editor of a K-8 technology curriculum, K-8 keyboard curriculum, K-6 Digital Citizenship curriculum, and creator of technology training books for how to integrate technology in education. She is the author of Building a Midshipman, the story of her daughter’s journey from high school to United States Naval Academy. She is webmaster for six blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, Editorial Review Board member for Journal for Computing Teachers, Cisco guest blogger, a columnist for Examiner.com, featured blogger for Technology in Education, IMS tech expert, and a monthly contributor to TeachHUB. Currently, she’s editing a techno-thriller that should be out to publishers next summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.