There are roughly 300 students in my school. We have approximately 80 laptops – or Chromebooks to be more specific. And according to SES measurables (standards that measure income and…let me stop there), we are one of the top, or bottom, schools. Because of that, we are a priority within our board, a quote-unquote “Model School”. The school board I work in created measurables that rank schools based on their needs. Or to be more contextually accurate, rankings that indicate which students in what communities are most underserved. I do side with the recent change in terminology – these students are not needy but rather underserved. The students – scrap that, the children in these communities have been underserved. Done so by a litany of victimizers. 

But, where I come from, we have words for people who say they are “‘bout” one thing but then move otherwise – fakes, frauds, scams, snakes, or simply, people who aren’t “‘bout that life.” 

I took that day off because I was fed up, because I realized the game I am playing is run by a bunch of those…

If I teach in a school where the majority of the student body doesn’t have little more but a dime to their family name and a nice pair of sneakers on their feet, then why am I the teacher working in that school who is struggling to “book” laptops? I look to the district to the east of me and notice that every 7th grader on up has their own personal laptop. Is it wrong for me to ask “soooo, why not us, too?” 

Every now and then, I go outside in the morning and chat with a friend who also teaches with me. We talk about the shame we have for not being able to provide for these underserved students. And then we go to meetings amongst educated adults and they glibly slap around the same buzz words to us: “not underachievers, they are underserved – we need to change our language around how we speak about our youth in impoverished communities.” And then another one gets a battery in her back and mentions, “We are teaching students born in the 21st century. We need to meet them on their plane.” Round of applause. We all go home inspired. 

And I try to book a class set of laptops so my kids can continue typing their short stories but they’ve already been booked for the week. We have a lot of teachers and a lot more kids, and a limited number of technology. So, I’d rather take the day off then disappoint them. 

Because, they right – equity and technology are keys to our future. And sure, my kids will be able to pick up where we left off maybe next week. That’s if I’m fast enough on my school-shared Google calendar to book them. Equity Tequity. These school boards ain’t “‘bout it ‘bout it”. 

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1. Christopher Emdin @chrisemdin

Dr. Emdin is an associate professor in the department of Math, Science, and Technology at Teachers College, Columbia University. He started his journey in educational leadership as a high school teacher in New York City and has been growing his unique style of infusing youth culture into teaching ever since. A few years back, he developed his hastag, #HipHopEd, and branded a pedagogy of teaching our most marginalized youth by including aspects of hip-hop culture into curriculum. He recently published a book, For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood…And the Rest of Y’all Too, which quickly became a New York Times best-seller. Struggling to connect with your students? Want to infuse their culture into your practice? Dr. Emdin is your go-to man!

2. Kyle Schwartz @kylemschwartz

Ms. Schwartz is a third-grade teacher who practices in Colorado. She is passionate about the children she teaches and is active on Twitter, two pieces vital to becoming a rockstar teacher. She had her students complete a simple prompt, titled “I Wish My Teacher Knew,” in an attempt to get to know her students better, and did she ever. Students shared personal struggles with poverty and family issues. The hashtag #IWishMyTeacherKnew went viral and Kyle garnered attention from the likes of CNN and The New York Times. Teaching rockstardom hasn’t slowed Kyle down. She is still active on many Twitter chats concerning education that range in topics from technology to race. Kyle is definitely a teacher passionate about the process of closing the gap between teacher and parent and her ideas are vital to the growing understanding of how we can better connect with our students.

3. Dwayne Reed @TeachMrReed

Dwayne Reed grew up in the inner-city of Chicago. He now also teaches in the city. Right now, he is in his first year of teaching. So in an attempt to engage his elementary students and get them excited to learn, he created a rap song called “Welcome to the 4^th Grade”. Obviously, I know about this because it too, went viral (within the circles of education at least). Either way, it is motivating to see a first-year teacher start their career by being innovative and taking chances. Because of that, I have a feeling that he will continue to be inspiring.

4. Angela Maiers ‪@AngelaMaiers‪

Maiers is one of our educators who is a thought leader in infusing technology with education. She has taught, spoken about, and even written on 21^st century skills and, in particular, how educators and students can best use social media as a tool to learn and engage in education. Angela is an excellent source if you are looking to stay current in those fields.

5. Dr. Sean Cianfarano @Sean_Cianfarano

Dr. Cianfarano is a former educator, principal and superintendent. He now spends most of his time researching in the field of education and being an overall superstar in the field of public intellectuals. His Twitter account is a bevy of information regarding all things education. He is a man who practices what he preaches, constantly observing classrooms and sharing best practices.

I have used these 5 rockstar educators to inform my practice over the last year. Hopefully, they can help you. If you can think of any other educators that you think should be on this list, please comment, or better yet, tweet me @callmemrmorris. Let’s keep the conversation going and grow from each other!

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A few months ago, I decided to join Twitter, not in the hopes of hearing the latest thoughts from my favorite celebrities, but for building my professional knowledge by following educators and those concerned with the plight of education. I wanted to see teachers using Twitter. I was, at first, pessimistic as I thought to myself, who would be on Twitter speaking on education that is saying things I don’t already hear when I go to PLN meetings in my area? And if there were people, I thought that the pool of teachers, educators and those concerned with education would probably be so small that I would rarely learn anything new. I thought it would be a waste of my time. I have never been so wrong in my life.

Social media, specifically platforms like Twitter, have not only increased my awareness about certain movements in the educational world, but they have opened my eyes and ears to people who are changing the very profession that I work in. From Twitter, I’ve learned about new teaching techniques and strategies for classroom management. I’ve questioned my own practices due to educational chats that occur on a nightly basis. One hour of engaging in a chat on education feeds me more than a month’s worth of in-face meetings put on by my school board.

The reason in large part is due to the fact that these virtual platforms and meeting sites are 100 percent voluntary. The people chiming in are those educators that want to improve the practice in every way possible. Instead of following an endless amount of television programs from the time they get off work until bed time, they commit part of their free time to investing back into the profession that pays their bills. This is the reason why there is so much (more) to be learned from our new professional learning networks.

These platforms not only increase the breadth of available professional learning that one can accomplish, they explode it. There is no subject off limits, no one particular thing that a teacher cannot find when surfing the channels of Twitter. Educational initiatives of tomorrow are being discussed, improved, and put into action in “the cloud” today. The cyber soldiers of education are consistent and diligent in their growth in order to ensure that we serve our students better.

Without Twitter, sites like edutopia and the synapse, we would be stuck in the mud with our wheels spinning. The educational world is too integral to continue to hinge it to traditional modes of communication. Staff meetings, TLNs, local meetings, and the such, are all integral to improving educational practice. But social platforms, places where I can connect to a teacher that works in the same city as me, another that works in Idaho, and another one that works in Australia, take it to another level. The ability to connect in such a vast manner, so we can all dialogue, share ideas, question each other and come together, is a move that only benefits teachers, educational practice and inevitably our students.

During the summer, aside from taking an additional professional course or reading a book on education, there is little to no learning going on for teachers. Yet we subconsciously expect our students to come back from their summer breaks better and smarter students. If you are not on Twitter yet, get with it. Engage with others who are invested in the same interests. Use these platforms as other tools to improve on your own skill. They won’t fail you. You can still follow your favorite celebrities if you’d like as well!

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