I participated for a few years in the daily thankfulness posts on social media, during the November months.
Then, I read A People's History of The United States.
Now, I would probably skip Thanksgiving, all together, if it wouldn't upset certain members of our family so much. Still, every time Columbus Day rolls around, I can't stop from joining John Oliver in asking, “How is this still a thing?“.
Nevertheless, I'm writing today's words of thanks about people I'm grateful are on Twitter. These individuals regularly challenge my ways of thinking and contribute to my ongoing learning.
In no particular order, I'm thankful for:
Maha Bali – who shares about diversity and intercultural learning. She's also the co-founder of Virtually Connecting, one way of getting to be at a conference you otherwise couldn't be at…
Kevin Gannon – a history professor and faculty development professional who regularly speaks out against injustice. He is a self-professed “talking head” on the documentary 13th (as in the 13th amendment).
Kris Shaffer – is on the amazing team of faculty developers at the University of Mary Washington. He tweets about indy edtech, politics, music, and data science.
Jesse Stommel – leads faculty development at the University of Mary Washington. He wants us to be courageously kind to our students and frequently causes me to look words that are new to me up in the dictionary. He's a generous teacher and never leaves any of us behind, though.
Audrey Watters – is often referred to as “edtech's Cassandra.” She wants us to be vigilant about asking critical questions about the technology we attempt to use in teaching and learning. She's a magnificent speaker and a brilliant writer. Her blog is also a must-read.
Tressie McMillan Cottom – advocates for those who have been victims of for-profit higher ed. She is a sociology professor at Virginia Commonwealth University and wants us to know about the $20 principle.
James Lang – has been a part of the Teaching in Higher Ed community since his first guest interview on episode #19 about his book, Cheating Lessons. He is a fantastic curator on Twitter and regularly shares what he's learning as he researches for future writing projects and for his role in leading faculty development at Assumption College. Check out his pinned tweet about his amazing book: Small Teaching.
Ken Bauer – is an expert in connected learning and the flipped classroom. He's a generous educator and is well worth following, if not just for all the people he will connect you with on Twitter.
Josh Eyler – leads the Center for Teaching Excellence at Rice University. He fights against ableism, strives to help us see the nuance in perspectives on teaching effectiveness, and passes on insightful political posts.
Rachel Held Evans – is a “doubt-filled believer, author of Searching for Sunday, A Year of Biblical Womanhood, and Faith Unraveled.” She's a grace-filled writer who is challenging the Christian church in important ways.
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Who are you following on Twitter who is challenging you to think differently about your teaching and your values?
