25 Innovative Educators to Follow on Twitter

If you've ever visited my Twitter stream you will know that I follow quite a bit more than my share of educators. I pretty much follow anyone I think I can learn from. My stream goes fast and sometimes I miss something, but that is why I love lists, retweets, hashtags and likes. If I missed it today, I am sure I will find it tomorrow. 

Over the years I've seen many lists of teachers who are great follows on Twitter. Each of these lists connects to some incredible educators and I thought it was about time that I shared my favorite follows. Narrowing down my PLN favorites to just 25 educators was not easy. I know I am leaving out many great educators, but I needed to start and end somewhere. We all know that there are way more than 25 educators sharing great resources and ideas on Twitter.

This list is not a "Top 25 List". There are many incredible educators sharing wonderful and innovative ideas that I know I've missed. Please feel free to share any of your favorite Twitter peeps in the comments below. 

What are the qualifications to be on my list?

1. The educators on this list are active collaborators on Twitter. They do more than just tweet quotes, images, and links. They share, connect, and engage with their PLNs.
2. These educators share practical ideas and resources that every teacher can explore and bring back to their classrooms.
3. Everyone on this list shares some incredible tools and resources, but they also share ideas to help teachers teach and students learn and innovate. They are not just aboutsharing the tools.
4. Everyone on this list is an innovator who is willing to try something new even at the risk of failing. They are original risk takers who learn by doing. 
5. The educators on this list model life long learning. They are passionately curious.

Who are the people in your PLN?

Here is the list of some of my favorite Twitter educators. Great follows for new and experienced educational explorers. 

• George Couros @gcouros 
  “If students leave school less curious than when they started, we have failed them.”
• Matt Miller @jmattmiller 
  “Don’t just teach a lesson, create an experience.”
• Kasey Bell @ShakeUpLearning 
  "Cultivating a culture of communication in the classroom creates a foundation for building the other, ‘C’s:’ collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking."
• Alice Keeler @alicekeeler 
  "The only difference between 'I'm techie' and 'I'm not techie' is the willingness to click on stuff and see what happens."
• Tom Murray @thomascmurray 
  "Simply digitizing past practice serves little instructional purpose and ultimately leads to low levels of learning."
• Joy Kirr @JoyKirr 
  "Coloring hair is NOT crazy. It will grow out in no time. Trying new things in the classroom that might benefit our students is NOT crazy. Some people even use the word 'innovative.'"
• Aaron Hogan @aaron_hogan 
  "Because so much is changing so often, educators have a choice to make: change or be changed. I, for one, prefer to take an active role (as much as is possible) in that process."
• Richard Byrne @rmbyrne 
  "With a few keystrokes and a click, students can discover new information and challenge more old information."
• Andy Fekete @FeketeEDU 
  "We have found great value in student perspective on redesign."
• Dave Burgess @burgessdave 
  “It’s not supposed to be easy—it’s supposed to be worth it.”
• Josh Harris @EdTechSpec 
  "In education, no one’s crater is deeper than the classroom teacher’s crater. Their impact is profound and personal."
• Katie Siemer @Katie_M_Ritter 
  "As tech coaches and integration specialists, it is our responsibility to act as change agents in schools and to bring teachers along on that journey with us."
• Carrie Baughcum @HeckAwesome 
  "Your skills and your style are your skills and your style, own them. Be proud of them."
• Dr Justin Tarte @justintarte 
  "When the student becomes the teacher, there are no limits to what s(he) can learn ..."
• Coach Ben @cogswell_ben 
  "Curiosity is a great driver. I try to build some up providing interesting content with guiding questions."
• Jen Giffen @VirtualGiff 
  "The passion for learning fades because we choose the curriculum content over passion."
• Adam Welcome @awelcome 
  "Talk and talk and talk and talk - and build the relationships, there is no other way!"
• Will Richardson @willrich45 
  “Teaching is learning, and learning is the teaching.”
• Tom Whitby @tomwhitby 
  "Teaching kids HOW to learn becomes more important than teaching them WHAT to learn when the goal is life long learning."
• Eric Curts @ericcurts 
  "During any professional development training it is important to break things up, add some variety, and most importantly have some fun and laugh."
• Eric Sheninger @E_Sheninger 
  “I don't find the time to learn and get better. I make the time to learn and get better.”
• Joe Sanfelippo @Joesanfelippofc 
  "Bad professional development initiatives are tied to a leader. When they leave, so does the momentum. Good professional development is participant driven and owned."
• Trevor MacKenzie @trev_mackenzie 
  "Content isn't the starting point of inquiry, the question is."
• Jaime Casap @jcasap 
  “Don't ask kids what they want to be when they grow up but what problems do they want to solve. This changes the conversation from who do I want to work for, to what do I need to learn to be able to do that.”
• Jeffrey Bradbury @TeacherCast 
  "I don’t believe in children.  I also don’t believe in adults.  What I do believe is that we are all amazing human beings and have the power of doing great things."

Here are a few more lists, if my 25 were not enough. 

• 15 Top Educators to Follow on Twitter in 2017
• 36 Twitter Accounts Teachers Should Follow
• 14 trailblazing educations you should follow on Twitter

Who am I missing from your PLN?

Next week I will share some of my favorite Educational Organizations on Twitter.