The K-12 school year usually starts with a frenzy. Between meeting parents, new teachers and classrooms full of students, time can get away from us pretty fast. It can be easy to put off professional development “until things settle down” but often we find that things never really settle down at all. There’s always a big test or a holiday coming up and educators scramble to find time to enrich their practice.

The good news is that with twitter, your professional development can happen right in the comfort of your living room. Every night of the week there are different groups of educators clustering around hashtags and sharing valuable insights into their practice. With so many different chats it can be hard to decide which one is best for you, so we decided to share some info about the ones we like to join from time to time.

Here are 5 chats you may not know about, but should:

1.** #MTedchat** Tuesday 8:00 pm MT

Montana’s EdChat is a vibrant group of educators who talk about broad issues in education. You don’t need to be from Montana to join. Here’s a description from one of the moderators of the chat:

#MTedchat is a statewide Twitter chat developed to strengthen Montana’s network of innovative and connected educators. Great timing and enthusiastic participants from across the region has made our chat a huge success drawing Montana’s highest education leaders and professionals from far beyond our state lines.

Moderators: @cristama and @triscicurious

To learn more about #MTedchat visit their resource hub: https://sites.google.com/site/mtedchat/

2.** #flipclass** Monday 8:00 pm ET

So many people are interested in the flipped class model, but they aren’t sure where to start or how to overcome some of the obstacles with this approach. If you’re one of those people, the #flipclass chat is for you. You’ll find a terrific group of educators with experience and ideas to help you flip your class every Monday at 8:00.

Moderators: @guster4lovers and@thomasson_engl

3.** #whatisschool** Thursday 7:00 pm ET

This is a truly global chat, originating from NY author and education speaker Laura Hill and the active, kiwi-mind of New Zealand native turned Singapore educator Craig Kemp. From the moderators:

The goals of #whatisschool are simple, to get educators thinking about the big picture of education as it changes along with a rapidly growing technology sector in order to best educate students for a workforce and jobs that don’t yet exist.  Conversations about how technology and methodology are influencing education, setting up a global classroom, bringing your PLN to your students and getting the most out of technology and pedagogy, along with insights from special guest experts have inspired educators to make #whatisschool one of the most talked about chats on Twitter.

Moderators: @mrkempnz and @candylandcaper

4. #STEMChat Wednesday 9:00 pm ET

Are you excited to introduce STEM ideas into your lessons, but don’t know where to start? This chat might be worth checking out:

Monthly ~~#~~STEMchats bring together parents, educators + STEM professionals to share resources and ideas to raise STEM-loving kids.

Moderator: @kimmoldofsky (note: sign up for the newsletter as dates may vary)

5. #MusEdChat Monday 8:00 pm ET

This is a great chat for music educators who are ready to dive into the deep end of the pool. There are so many professionals sharing ideas and connecting, it is truly a pleasure to be part of the action.

From the moderator:

#musedchat happens every Monday night at 8PM Eastern, covering a wide range of music-related topics. It is the most active music ed chat on twitter.

Moderator: @jguarr