Sean Nash's Blog (23)

Off The Grid

We’re off once again. Trying to contact me, or one of my little band of students, in the coming week will be next to impossible. We’ll be completely off the grid. We’ll be far from the pace that guides us in this country today. We’ll be far from conducting “school” in…

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Added by Sean Nash on April 23, 2012 at 1:30pm — No Comments

Online Learning Networks in Science - An Interview

In keeping with the concept of using my blog as not only a synthesis of what I think, but also of what I do, I add this post. Last week I recorded a telephone interview with the folks at natureEDUCATION on the topic of online learning… Continue

Added by Sean Nash on October 15, 2010 at 4:21pm — No Comments

The Synapse Builds Partnership

A couple of years ago a few of my digital friends and I brought this space to life: The Synapse. A week later I wrote about it here. The site derives its origin directly from a frustrating discussion in the Twittersphere between biology instructors of many… Continue

Added by Sean Nash on October 2, 2010 at 10:30pm — No Comments

She Might Be Jackson Pollock

Prepare for awesome. Whatever it is you do for that… do it. I have no idea what you may have thought of They Might Be Giants prior to this post. If you are unfamiliar, prepare for awesome. You are hereby twice warned.

What does the scribble drawing above have in common with the video below? Today's post is a closeup look at a toddler's handheld digital learning experience. This experience is a fun little mashup of content from TMBG… Continue

Added by Sean Nash on March 28, 2010 at 11:13am — 2 Comments

It's not the 18 minutes

Passion

I implore you to take a few minutes of your day to check out a rather passionate professional, Princeton Professor of Molecular Biology, Dr. Bonnie Bassler Ph.D. Dr. Basler's 2009 TED talk is worth watching. If you are a biology teacher, the content is crucial. Even if you just happen to be interested in the world around you- then this talk is for you. It… Continue

Added by Sean Nash on March 22, 2010 at 3:00pm — 1 Comment

The Extended Value of Classroom Networks

Connected

An interesting thing happened on the way home from Educon 2.2 last Sunday night. Walking through the terminal and against my exhaustion, I reflexively checked my mail. Lazy eyes lifted open, I flicked my thumb scrolling… trolling for a demand of action. I’m hyper-connected. I pay for it. And yet, I’m a better teacher and leader because of it. Cutting to the chase, here is the simple, yet interesting email I…

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Added by Sean Nash on February 5, 2010 at 3:30pm — No Comments

Is This a Sluggish Strategy?

The following verse was created in response to and in reflection on the following mass-media story: Sea Slug Surprise: It’s half-plant, half-animal. Overall, this post starts with a bit of participation and play, continues with the story of how the “Sci-Po” fun began, how I gave it a shot in the classroom, and why this sort of thinking matters. It then ends with a few specific resources for biology teachers. Before you read it... (assuming you can choke it down) you're going to ask: "Why on… Continue

Added by Sean Nash on January 20, 2010 at 10:07pm — No Comments

The End of The Line

The problem

According to NOAA, over half of the population of the United States lives within 50 miles of the coastline. This trend holds up over the vast majority of the world, and… Continue

Added by Sean Nash on October 2, 2009 at 12:00pm — No Comments

From Day One: Information Literacy In The Biology Classroom

I believe information literacy is the responsibility of all content teachers. The following piece is a bit about how I tend to kick off a new year, and how to easily aim at info literacy from very early on.

As I have spewed onto the blog before, I do not like to go shy into the new school year. Our students are learning from us every second of every day. The real question then is what are they learning. As the lead learners in the… Continue

Added by Sean Nash on September 3, 2009 at 3:00pm — No Comments

Spheres of Influence

How fun is this?

Three years ago I moved into a position of instructional coach for my building. The majority of my days are now spent as a content-generalist coach focused on helping teachers improve pedagogical skills. Our opt-in model keeps the conversation focused on one thing: pedagogy as opposed to content. This is a very smart model for honing in on the “P” sphere of Mishra & Koehler’s TPACK framework. However,… Continue

Added by Sean Nash on July 5, 2009 at 10:38pm — 3 Comments

Get your students involved in this... name a new jelly!

Perhaps this is a good "final week" mini-lesson? =>

Toss in your two cents to the official naming contest for the Bonaire Box Jellyfish. Come on, you know you love Latin.

I received a message about this a day or so ago on a marine science listserv. Go here to check out the details of the contest. And of course... you'll want… Continue

Added by Sean Nash on May 18, 2009 at 9:00am — No Comments

Compare & Contrast: With regard to what?

Student comparison diagram of the anatomy, physiology and inferred behavioral characteristics of both a crayfish and a grasshopper.

Here's one that will make sense to a biology instructor of any flavor. Since structure & function is such a huge vein through what we all do, the examination of similarities and differences is foundational in our world. I hope you can get something out of this one...

This strategic look at comparisons is an adaptation of an academic paper I wrote this past year. I dampened it a bit, but… Continue

Added by Sean Nash on May 18, 2009 at 8:29am — No Comments

Ready To Set Sail!

Just in time... guest bloggers!

We are less than a day away from our Marine Biology class field study on Andros Island in the Bahamas. I am still waiting for students to come in to weigh their gear. I still need to pick up a few last-minute items. I still need to prepare to be perfectly (and wonderfully) off the grid for an entire… Continue

Added by Sean Nash on April 2, 2009 at 5:30pm — No Comments

Tree-Dwelling Octopuses Prompt Media Literacy Discussion

What do the concepts of biology, media literacy, and April Fool's Day have in common? Potentially... quite a bit, in fact. Actually, it seems cephalopods of all sorts have been getting my attention as of late.

Today's lesson in Principles of Biology was essentially: pay attention.

Students were directed to a teacher-led discussion prompt and associated website on the "… Continue

Added by Sean Nash on April 1, 2009 at 2:48pm — 1 Comment

A Synthesis Blogging Whitman

Dare I say, "trust me?" You'll have to visit this one to see how the topic of "evolution" mentioned within the text of Whitman's Leaves of Grass led me to post this article here. Evolution & Literature, yum.......

Back in September I… Continue

Added by Sean Nash on March 23, 2009 at 10:40am — No Comments

The Octopus Gets Due Respect

My last post was a highlight of a train wreck of a children's book. If you know me, you know that I don't like to dwell long on things negative. And thus- this post was published.

Regardless of your take on The Septapus, I have felt the need for a review of a really super piece of children’s literature since publishing that post. I guess I just feel the need for some positivity to balance out the force. In reality, I am not a… Continue

Added by Sean Nash on March 21, 2009 at 7:38pm — No Comments

Attack of the Septapus -or- Why are you doing this to my kid?

Fuel

(I thought that perhaps a few of the bio geeks here would get a kick out of this one.)

Lately, my students and I have been studying not only the effectiveness of biological illustrations, but also the efficacy of their own illustrations to personally enhance the knowledge of abstract concepts. As well, I have been engaged in some short but interesting discussions with Dr. Mishra at MSU concerning the validity of… Continue

Added by Sean Nash on March 9, 2009 at 12:21am — 3 Comments

The Power of Visualization?

I think the TPACK framework is one of the most influential things I have learned about/grappled with this past year. As an instructional coach in the middle of an educational technology implementation, this is one piece I have relied on heavily for personal focus and planning.

One thing I worry about with concepts of this depth (that possess a graphic illustration so perfectly simple) is that the real idea gets misinterpreted by any… Continue

Added by Sean Nash on March 5, 2009 at 4:00pm — No Comments

TROLLING MY PLN FOR EDTECH VISION

Calling all brains

This site has been a significant part of my PLN since January. I’m asking for your help. If you could pick anyone, anything, or anyplace, What books would you read? What conferences, workshops, or meetings would you attend? Who would you travel to meet with? Who would you fly in to sit at the table with you? Who would you pick to help you in your strategic brainstorming or planning? Who could help inject… Continue

Added by Sean Nash on February 16, 2009 at 4:30pm — No Comments

Working Toward Classroom Relevance With Video

Until recently, I saw Animoto as little more than slick little marketing tool for education. The fast-paced and pretty videos work really well to show off something that has already happened.

With a few new features, Stacy Baker's leadoff triple, and a switch in thought from marketing to motivation, I am now seeing Animoto in a very positive light for classroom use.

Click here for the… Continue

Added by Sean Nash on January 19, 2009 at 1:09pm — No Comments