2024 in Review: Insights from 20 Million Readers!
@TeacherToolkit
Ross Morrison McGill founded @TeacherToolkit in 2007, and today, he is one of the ‘most followed educators’on social media in the world. In 2015, he was nominated as one of the ‘500 Most Influential People in Britain’ by The Sunday Times as a result of…
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What are your teaching highlights from the year?
Many dedicated readers will know that I’m a stickler for data! Here is a summary of the last 12 months in the world of TT.
Teacher training highlights
I’ve travelled from Oman to Northern Ireland this year! I’ve continued to enjoy leading keynote speeches at conferences for school leaders and early career teachers to bespoke workshops on cognition, questioning and feedback. Here are some statistics:
- I have travelled at least 20,000 miles!
- From September to December 2024, I have completed 55 CPD events, supporting ~4,885 teachers in schools.
- Popular CPD themes continue to be on reducing workload, evidence-informed practice, and above all, cognitive science continue to top the list for CPD in schools across the globe.
- Regions hardest to reach continue to be the South West, Cumbria, Norfolk and Mid-Wales.
- School highlights include Ampleforth College in the serene North Yorkshire and the (actual) Royal School in the Berkshire countryside, to bustling settings like Croydon College in London or Trafford College in Manchester – far too many to mention!
Schools are booking CPD 12 months in advance; get in touch early to secure your date!
⌛️ Website headlines
Beyond my travels, the data behind TT remains astounding! This year, this website has welcomed almost one million readers — a true indication to what resonates with teachers. Here are some key figures:
- The website, first published in 2007 as a humble blog; it should surpass 20 million views by Easter 2025.
- There have been almost 6,000,000 events on the website; this means interactions across the site.
- Teachers read the website for 72 seconds per visit (your attention span is impressive in such busy times!)
- I’ve written 101 blog posts, this year averaging two a week, and published 44 resources, keeping teachers and schools equipped and inspired throughout the year.
- In total, there are now 319 resources available to download, plus (almost) 3,000,000 words across the entire site! The YouTube channel is growing rapidly …
- Every visitor views 3+ pages each, and most continue to find the blog organically. (This means TT often appears on the first page of Google!) This is why so many organisations use TT for marketing.
Top blog posts and resources
Sharing ideas publicly, I’ve probably found this aspect of my life as a blogger the most fascinating. It continues to guide me in terms of what content teachers need the most, and what resources continue to make a difference.
- Flexible working for teachers and school leaders is the most popular blog of the year!!
- A practical guide to adaptive teaching is the most popular resource download of the year!
The above content was published in 2024, and blogging habits and consumption has definitely shifted. Below is the most popular content on the site – published pre-2024 – which continues to be popular:
- The five minute lesson plan (7,758 visitors)
- The five minute lesson plan series (6,857 visitors)
- Books and school leadership, teaching and learning (5,095 visitors)
- Rosenshine’s 17 principles of effective instruction (5,095 visitors)
- The question matrix (6,203 visitors)
This data reveals what you value most, and I’ll keep working to meet your needs with practical and timely ideas.
One downside of the website’s success is its long-term sustainability. I am already thinking about what next, in terms of a digital legacy, a succession plan and what happens after me? Those kinds of things… I have turned down four potential investors in the last few years or so. One technical headache: Starting 1st January 2025, we’ve had to pause overseas transactions for any resource downloads. Unfortunately, the financial admin behind the scenes has exceeded our small team’s capacity. It’s something I hope to resolve after a break, but for now, thank you for understanding.
As the year comes to an end; it has been another incredible year of teacher training. Throughout 2024, I’ve had the privilege of working with thousands of teachers, from city academies to gorgeous rural schools, each committed to improving outcomes for students. The work our teachers do is phenomenal!
Wishing you a brilliant start to the new year. Here’s to upgrading your pedagogy for 2025!
