My unintentional hiatus from TSV had two distinct stages. At first, I was buried in an unusually busy second quarter. School Improvement Plan Co-Chair on a re-write year, Department Co-Chair, a student teacher starting in my class, the usual day-to-day chaos teachers deal with, all in addition to being a mom of two very active boys…all overcame my weekly writing aspirations.

However, then my year-round calendar afforded me some time, and I entered a second stage. I was at a loss as to how to re-enter orbit. I couldn’t think of a topic that would acknowledge and/or make up for the absence. I wanted to set the right tone, or at least find a way to transition onto future posts.

Then, my digital PLC came to my rescue, as they often do. I read this post by the faithful blogger Bill Ferriter, and I had my answer! A top-five list of posts from 2015? Perfect.

My top-viewed page by far was the “Home Page/Archives” which is the main blog page when someone is viewing a current post. I took that out of the equation. 

So, without further ado, here are the five archived posts with the highest number of page views during the 2015 calendar year:

5. “Vol. #46: The Teachers’ Time Off Myth“A math teacher’s email resulted in my infographic and accompanying post. Second only to “Vol. #34: Thank God for North Carolina” for inciting encouraging spirited arguments discussions, this post always raises strong opinions mostly from two camps: teachers and non-teachers.

4. “Vol. 59: Four Things I Wish Parents Knew About Grades Online”  My list of advice for parents in a digital world of immediate grade reporting, born out of four specific frustrations, got some revisiting and re-sharing this year. It would seem they speak to other teachers and are still relevant.

3. “Vol. #82: Read Theory” I’m thrilled the post about this specific tech tool was passed around in 2015. I still use Read Theory in my classroom, now even more than when I wrote this post. What a great free tool.

2. “Vol. #25: FREE iPad Apps for the English Language Arts Classroom” This list of 26 tech tools in alphabetical order with descriptions is almost three years old, yet had the second-most views in 2015. Clearly, it’s time for a re-visit and update. Hmm…

1. Excluding the Home Page and Archives, the most viewed post in 2015 was “Vol. #84: Is This A Grade?”. Frustrated and annoyed from hearing this question, I set out to never answer it again. And I haven’t. Objective achieved.

So there you have it, the top 5 posts with the most views in 2015. I can’t wait to see what 2016 brings. Requests, suggestions, or observations for posts in the new year? Please leave them in the comments!