This post is meant to compliment the following post – The Evolution of EFL Classroom 2.0.

I seldom comment about this “little engine that could” and how surprised I am at how just a little passion can go a long way….. There is a lot more going on here than meets the surface and I’d like to explain a few things for members who might be interested.

1. From time to time, I get emails asking about the “finances” of EFL Classroom 2.0. Half of these are critical and suspicious with claims I’m “taking over the EFL universe” or have some grand design etc… (still haven’t got one claiming I’m Dr. No, but I’m sure it will come!). Half of them are really positive and saying they will or want to support EFL Classroom financially. So I’d like to say that in the near future, I’ll make a nice, transparent breakdown of the finances here – begining about a year and a half ago when we started up with just one computer, 3 chords and the truth.

That said, I will say that this place will always be free, always be without any claim for money and always be free of ads. The ads you see as “Supporters” are just that. People/organizations that have contributed here and deserve exposure. If you think you merit it – email me!

I have probably paid from my own pocket about $1,600 dollars since we began. A rough estimate. Much of that “lost” by a change in Ning policy which really kicked us in the stomach, but couldn’t keep us down and continuing to deliver the goods for teachers and learners. This is a pittance for how good ELT (English language Teaching) has been to me and represents the “MAGIC” of the internet. For a small amount of money, passion, idealism and sincerity can find a place in the marketplace of ideas…..Amazing.

2. There is A LOT of traffic here but I’m mostly wanting a few great teachers talking! Quality before quantity. Sure, I’m really glad so many teachers come here for ideas, downloads. I’m a teacher and understand that priority – IT”S ABOUT MY STUDENTS STUPID! And that was my focus the first year. Get the content here so teachers didn’t have to scour the sour universe of a lot of sour stuff…. And I am surprised at the numbers. Our growth is STEEP and arithmetic. When you see “X” number of members online – also know that many more are online here! I’m proud I set EFL Classroom 2.0 up so that a teacher can register and share their pw/id. So theoretically, it could appear that one person was online but actually 5,000 people were! So please, don’t be afraid to also set up a class id/pw and share it with students who can explore our content and get help!

But our google analytics numbers don’t lie and we are averaging around 850 unique visitors / day and more than 5,000 page views/day on average. Weekends, things really fall off but that’s expected. We are teachers after all! I remember teaching primary school and just coming home and falling on the couch Friday night and not moving ’til Sunday afternoon!

3. I will repeat here — I DON”T OWN EFL CLASSROOM! It is OUR site. I truly mean that. It is like a city created by people. I was the first here, by the English Internet river. More came. A town , now a small city. Maybe one day a nation…. but YOU contribute and make this a great place. Even those that don’t post. Especially those that don’t post (and that’s a longer post and I’ll share my views on this another time).

4. Just want to say,I try my best. That’s all we can ask of anyone on this site, any teacher. The mark of immortality in my mind. A dog running tongue out, ’til it drops!

I just keep sharing my self and teaching as others do too. In this way, we better our student’s English. It does trickle down. So I echo the above – “IT”S ABOUT THE STUDENTS STUPID!”

Keep it about the students, keep sharing…

David