I have a love-hate relationship with this time of year. I sincerely appreciate the opportunity I have to reconnect and celebrate with the people I care about most, but I often resent the hectic pace required to achieve those moments of peace and joy. Though in the end, the memories make all the effort worthwhile.

In general, this same scenario can apply to our lives at work. We strive all year to meet the goals set for us-or that we establish for ourselves-and at year-end, it can be very rewarding to look back on what we've accomplished. On the Cisco Education Blog, for example, we try to share news, thoughts, and ideas that will motivate and inspire readers to begin their own transformation in teaching and learning.

In that spirit, I thought it would be interesting to look back at the five most-read blog posts of 2018. Are they familiar? Feel free to take a second look. Or, if you missed them the first time, now's your chance to see why they resonated with other readers.

1.    Inspiring those "a-ha" moments with digital learning. At the Shawnee Mission School District in Kansas, teachers and students innovate with collaboration technology to foster engagement and bring excitement and creativity to the classroom-those "a-ha" moments.

2.    The more intuitive way to learn. Educators can't afford to sacrifice teaching time to grapple with new solutions that don't fit with daily routines. For technology to deliver on its promising potential for education, it must be simple and easy to use. At EDUCAUSE 2018, Cisco announced an enhancement to Webex that more tightly embeds collaboration into teaching routines and learning processes: Cisco Webex Education Connector.

3.    The future of STEM: Cisco Networking Academy turns 20. In 2018, Cisco Networking Academy commemorated its 20-year anniversary, a major milestone for the internationally recognized education program, which was launched in 1997 to help educate a workforce skilled in STEM disciplines. Today, Cisco Networking Academy runs thousands of academies in more than 180 countries where it engages 1.3 million students annually, offering training in disciplines like cybersecurity, networking, IoT, and programming.

"NetAcad is the reason for my success. It opened so many doors and opportunities just two years out of high school."

-Tre Malik, Cisco Networking Academy Graduate

4.    Beyond edtech: Success in the classroom of the future starts with breakfast-and lunch, and dinner. It was September, and school buses were on the move. Excitement and anxiety were high-and easy to see.What was less visible: one in six of these student passengers doesn't get enough to eat.

5.    E-rate do's and don'ts. This fall, students arrived at school with new pencils or backpacks or shoes, and were greeted by smiling teachers and principals, shiny desks and lockers-and, possibly, exciting new technology that promises to transform the way teachers teach and students learn. For many schools, this new technology is made possible in part through funding from E-rate. Keeping a few Do's and Don'ts top of mind can help make the E-rate application process less complicated.

And, because I'm a fan of even numbers, here's a bonus: my favorite blog post from 2018.

6.    On a connected campus, wireless is the invisible hero. In September, my daughter moved into her dorm room with a cell phone, laptop, smart watch, smart speaker, and printer. Not too long ago, I was thrilled with a Coronamatic.

On today's secure, intuitive campus, a high-density network-including all those invisible wireless connections-is what keeps everything running. And though the campus itself hasn't changed too much from when I was a freshman, the underlying technology that powers it has fundamentally shifted. Check out this campus map to explore the technology that invisibly keeps a modern connected campus running.

Happy reading, and happy New Year!