Good Morning, LYS Nation. This is the 400th post to the column, so as has become one of our traditions, we will review our progress to date.

First, the review:

The 1st post was on written on Monday, February 16, 2009.

The 1st reader’s comment was submitted on February 22, 2009 (thanks for getting it started ML).

The 100th post was on April 14, 2009.

The 200th post was on June 10, 2009.

The 300th post was on September 2, 2009.

The 400th post is today, Wednesday December 16, 2009.

It has taken 314 days to reach the 400 post milestone.

The 400 posts represent more than 284 pages of single spaced text. That is the equivalent of about a 1,400 page book.

The top 7 key words have been: Leadership (132); Robert “Bob” Brezina (49); E. Don Brown (47); Advice (27); School Change (27); Instruction (25); School Improvement (25)

At this point, the LYS Nation is driving the discussion on the blog. This is a good thing for me, I find the blog much more interesting as a dialogue. But it is also a good thing for you the reader. The topics now more directly relate to the needs of the practitioner, and if you don’t like the direction of the conversation, you can change it simply by sending in your comment.

There are 318 e-mail subscribers. Thank you!

There have been over 14,000 site hits.

All of this is incredibly exciting; especially when you consider that just 10 months ago, every number was 0.

A Little Blatant Self Promotion:

First, if you like the site and you haven’t signed up for the e-mail subscription, please do so. I find that it’s easier to write to people than it is to write to web hits.

Second, if you like the site and find it useful, tell three other people. This blog is a much more powerful resource for school improvement when it is a dialogue.

Third, if you have not sent in a comment yet, please do so. Education research points out that the act of critical writing makes the learner smarter. So let the blog assist you in sharpening your saw.

Finally:

Thank you so much for reading and responding. This network, which started out as a way for just a couple of schools to stay connected, has turned into a small nation of board members, central office administrators, campus leaders, and teachers who are focused on redefining what students are capable of. Who knows what we will discuss in the next 100 posts.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn…