Happy Birthday to Us: A Look at How We've Grown Since Oct. 2009 Some may commemorate the occasion with parties and presents, but we prefer to celebrate our birthday each year with a (festive?) look at our analytics. On Oct. 15 three years ago, The Learning Network, a New York Times sub-site since 1998, was reborn as a blog. Every year since, we've taken a look back on that anniversary, offering some reflections on how we've grown and changed since 2009. Remember Balloon Boy? The saga began the very day our blog started publishing, giving us a chance to try out our first breaking-news-based Student Opinion question. That first year we posted 13,474 comments on the blog, a vast majority via our daily Student Opinion questions. Over the years it has become clear to us that this feature, a place for young people to discuss the news of the day, is the single most important thing we do. Teachers and students seem to agree, since the data show that we've more or less doubled the number of comments we publish each year. In our second year we posted 34,757 and this year we are up to 66,945. Over the years we've expanded and experimented with the formula we brought over from the old site. We've added features like the weekly Fill-Ins, Poetry Pairings and Teenagers in The Times; tinkered significantly with our lesson plan templates; added guest posts; and now publish regular student contests and more quizzes. Every year we continue to try new things, and the fact that you respond enthusiastically to most of them means that, when you don't, we know which experiments to kill. As always, our great gratitude to the teachers and students that make this blog such a lively place. Write to us any time - here, on Twitter, on Facebook or at lnfeedback@nytimes.com. And now, the numbers and links that tell the story of our third year... Learning Network by the Numbers 7,186 posts 112,847 comments, 66,945 of them approved (We suffered several spam attacks this year, which account for most of the unapproved comments, but there are also some that were not approved because they violated our standards.) 219 categories 2,824 tags On Twitter: @nytimeslearning - 12,261 followers On Facebook: /nytimeslearning - 14,079 "likes" Most-Viewed Posts Published in the Last Year The Presidential Election: Election 2012: Teaching Ideas and Resources, our full collection; our four-part election unit; a series of ideas for "Teaching With the Presidential Debates," and our list of great, free Web sites for teaching the election. Advice From The Times on Writing Well Ways to Teach About Occupy Wall Street For 'Connected Educator Month,' Tips From 33 Educators We Admire Most-Viewed Student Opinion Questions Published in the Last Year: What Is Your Reaction to the First Presidential Debate? Should Couples Live Together Before Marriage? Do Photoshopped Images Make You Feel Bad About Your Own Looks? Are You Fluent in Vocal Fry, Creaky Voice or Uptalk? Is TV Stronger Than Ever, or Becoming Obsolete? Which Is More Important, Talent or Hard Work? What Would You Do if You Won the Lottery? Would You Consider Deleting Your Facebook Account? Do Social Media Campaigns Like Kony 2012 Stunt or Stimulate Real Change? Does Mitt Romney's High School Bullying Matter? Rankings of most-viewed features based on Google Analytics.