One year ago today Help Readers Love Reading! found its home on the web. Okay, not really, not one year to the day exactly. Last January we had a snow day from school, and I took the opportunity to start the website. Today, nearly one year later, we have another snow day.Sort of. It's actually a cold day. Last night temperatures hit the -25 to -30 range. Factor in the wind chill and you're looking at -50ish. Buses aren't running, and nobody wants kids standing outside waiting for one anyway when frostbite can start in only ten minutes. Temperatures yesterday morning were -10 to -20 and hovered in the negative single digits all day. Yeah, we were home yesterday too.
So. January 2008 to January 2009. Snow Day to Cold Day. One year.
What better day to make some updates? Here's what's new:
- Replaced the old recommendation labels with Recommended 5 Stars, Recommended 4 Stars, and Recommended 3 Stars labels.
- Added the Recommended Exceptions label. These are books that don't necessarily match the criteria I set forth, but nevertheless deserve recognition. It just didn't work writing a complimentary review but then labeling it Not Recommended.
- Added information about conference sectionals, teacher inservice, and school visits.
- Updated Site Information. Changed a few boring, little things.
So that's about it. Thanks to all my visitors over the past year, especially those of you who return on a regular basis. Hopefully each visit - whether it's your first, second, or three hundred forty-fifth - will give you another book or two that will Help Readers Love Reading!
Happy anniversary! Stay warm.
ReplyDeletePLO
Thanks much! Don't worry, my sweatshirt is keeping my toasty. And the hat. And the insulated socks. Oh, and the space heater, too. And the quilt. And...
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on the anniversary! Although I just discovered your site a few months ago, your comments and reviews are already helping me find new books to share with my 7th graders. Your writing style is both entertaining and informative, and I eagerly read each new post. Oh, and I sure hope you don't have to make up all of these missed days of school ... you'll be going all summer ...... eek.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the compliments, Barbara. I think we'll be safe from making up those days in summer. At least, I think...
ReplyDeleteI would love to know stats for your blog. Could you include that? Year stats, most popular post visited, and number of comments left? As a math teacher, the numbers say it all!
ReplyDeletewww.recessduty.wordpress.com
Stats, eh?
ReplyDeleteI don't even pay that much attention to stats. Does the world map with all the little dots count?
Seriously though, any suggestions for services to get those stats? What do you use?
Brian
P.S. You reminded me of a favorite footnote from ON THE EDGE OF THE DARK SEA OF DARKNESS which, speaking of education and learning, says there are "Three Honored and Great Subjects: Word, Form, and Song. Some silly people believe that there’s a fourth Honored and Great Subject, but those mathematicians are woefully mistaken."
Using the dreaded competition, Wordpress, it automatically gives me all of that information.
ReplyDeleteNot "dreaded" competition, exactly. Just something I don't use.
ReplyDeleteMaybe if I started using Google Analytics I'd have something there. The new Googlified Feedburner is pretty slick...