Now that 2012 is drawing to a close, I thought it might be fun to look back over the past 12 months and find out which ajarn.com blog was read or viewed the most number of times. Actually, any excuse to analyze Google stats and you can count me in. So let's have a drum roll please.....for the ajarn.com top ten blogs.

In 10th place, with 1,614 page views, was the legendary Steve Schertzer and The Culture of Insouciance - an account of the difficulties in compiling a final exam for his Cambodian students.

Elizabeth Franz Larsson was a 2012 newcomer to the ajarn blogging scene, but her blog on the topic of spending habits in Thailand - Watching the Pennies in Thailand - created a lot of interest amongst ajarn.com readers. Elizabeth comes in at number nine on the top ten list with a very commendable 1,630 page views.

The much-missed Phil Roeland was an ajarn blogger from October 2004 to June 2010, submitting over 60 terrific blogs (or articles as they were known back then) over a busy and productive six-year period. And then he was gone! Phil may not have written anything for ajarn.com for more than two years, but thanks to Google search engine, he's never going to be forgotten. His legacy lives on. Phil's brilliant blog - The Ideal Student - written in July 2009 about what qualities and characteristics make the perfect student, still managed to pull in 1,652 page views in 2012.   

We're at most popular blog number 7 and it's that man Steve Schertzer again. Love him or hate him but you can never ignore him. Steve's Happy Hour at the ESL Bar and Grill has had 1,674 page views since September. Are we amusing students to death? That was the question Steve was asking.

Number 6 in the top ten blog list and yet another entry for Phil Roeland. Phil's blog on the subject of interviewing foreigners pulled in just shy of 2,000 readers in 2012. It's not actually a blog about interviewing foreigners for jobs but rather Phil's thoughts on those occasions when you get stopped in the street by Thai students asking you questions from a questionnaire sheet. How, as the teacher, can you make sure your students get the most out of this kind of activity? 

We're down to the top five. Isn't this exciting? Please say 'yes'. Geoff Richards is in 5th spot with a blog he actually wrote back in October 2009 - Games for large, unruly classes - self explanatory really, but it's clear from Google activity that a lot of teachers are teaching large, unruly classes and looking for divine inspiration. Geoff came to the rescue. The blog got 2,817 page views in 2012 and still pulls in the readers over two years later.

John Quinn, 'our man up in Chiang Mai' as he's affectionately known is not going to be left out. His Getting Ready for 2015 about how the ASEAN community will effect life for a TEFLer was read 2,840 times and earns him a place at number four on the list.

Someone hand me the gold envelope because it's time to announce the top three in time-honoured reverse order. And at number three is Lee Lepper with Three Basic Techniques in Whole Brain Teaching. Lee's time as an ajarn blogger was extremely short and extremely sweet but of the two blogs he wrote, three basic techniques attracted over 3,000 pairs of eyeballs. Not bad going at all. Whole brain teaching is clearly a hot topic in today's TEFL environment.

In second place, with 3,579 page views, is Mr Curt Crossley and a blog he wrote over 7 years ago on the topic of The Winning Cover Letter and how to create a good impression when you apply for jobs. Although the eight blogs that Curt wrote for ajarn.com are now in the blog archive section, they are all still well worth a read.  

And the winner is - with a grand total of 3,980 page views - Maya Dattani and What You Can Expect When You Move to Thailand. A blog that does what it says on the tin (or at least in the title) it was a treasure trove of good advice for the newbie teacher. What a pity that we don't hear more from Maya but I heard that she's travelling around Asia and still having the time of her life.

So there you have it. The top ten most viewed ajarn.com blogs in 2012. Hey! Why are none of my ajarn world blogs on the list? Are you guys trying to tell me something?

By the way, no prizes for guessing the most viewed page on ajarn.com. It is of course the jobs page. Almost 1.1 million page views in 2012. Thanks for stopping by!