As most of you know, I'm a big advocate of teachers joining the Twitterverse and connecting with other professionals.  I find that so many valuable discussions happen (whether formal through #edchat or informal at your leisure), and TONS of teachers use this medium to get ideas, share frustrations, garner support and just reach out to like-minded individuals.

If you ARE already on Twitter, then you've probably seen the hashtag "#TeacherTuesday" pop up in tweets roughly...every week...on Tuesday.  This is generally a way to show pride in the teaching profession, either by acknowledging the hard work these folks do day-in and day-out, or by recognizing individual teachers who are making a difference in their children's lives.

You may also know that many ideas that show up on blogs are not necessarily the original brainchild of the poster, but rather an adapted version of something someone else posted.  That is the case with my post today.  Last week, @USCTeacher posted a blog on Thursday entitled Thank A Teacher Thursday, then proceeded to list mini-bios on educators on Twitter to give them some exposure.  I've decided to borrow steal adapt this idea and create a series of blog posts for Teacher Tuesday, basically giving exposure to some of the wonderful people I follow and learn from on Twitter.

What better place to start than with those in my own backyard? Some of the following I've had the pleasure of meeting in person; others are only known to me via the virtual realm, but I truly admire and respect their efforts in education.

In Alphabetical Order (lest I get called out for playing favourites!):

James Aitchison is currently the Director of Educational Technology for Foothills School Division just south of Calgary.  He is an energetic and enthusiastic educator with a passion for implementing technology in the classroom.  I've had the great pleasure of knowing James for the past 7-ish years and have marvelled in his forward-thinking-ness (if that's even a word!)  James was dreaming up ways to use cell phones and iPods in the classroom while the rest of the world was hellbent on punishing students for showing such devices in schools.  Follow him on his blog or on Twitter @kjamesa to get lots of great tech ideas (and a few fitness centered tweets too!

Melina Akins is a fantastic teacher and a lovely woman.  I have had the pleasure of getting to know her at various conferences in and around Calgary, where we continually gush about how wonderful Twitter is for building a professional network (and stalking celebrities, but that's a whole other story!)  Melina is a HUGE advocate of sharing tech tips for the classroom and demonstrates her passion for education on both Twitter and her blog found here.  Follow her at @MelinaAkins for great conversation and wonderful ideas.

Derek Keenan is a High School English teacher in Airdrie.  Known as @MrKeenan on Twitter, he is passionate about the use of mobile learning technologies (ie: iPads in the classroom).  His tweets are extremely useful for anyone interested in venturing down this path and I highly recommend taking a look at his blog if you have time.  Not only does it put the rest of ours to shame with its professionalism, but there are lots of truly thought-provoking posts that are sure to spark a conversation in your staff room.

Kirk Linton pops up on my Twitter feed from time to time (@krlinton), and while I've never met him personally, I can say that he is a valuable member of my Twitter PLN.  He is an assistant principal in Cochrane, and was previously a band teacher prior to this new gig.  Kirk's tweets are often centered around kids, technology, education and conferences, so I highly encourage you to check him out.  If you want to see more of the wonderful things that he has to share, head on over to his blog here.

Greg Woitas is another member of my PLN on Twitter (@gwoitas) whom I haven't met in "real life", but whom I value his insights and information sharing. I don't know that much about Greg, other than I'm pretty sure he used to be a Math teacher and is currently an Ed Tech Consultant for Calgary Catholic.  What I DO know is that I see lots of his tweets centered around technology in education and am certain that any educator interested in technology in the classroom would be wise to follow him.

These are just 5 of the amazing educators found in and around Calgary (and on Twitter).  I'll be featuring more over the next weeks and months as I continue with Teacher Tuesdays on a semi-regular basis!

Vanessa