Q+A with Tim Nash, Early Educator Fellowship Alumnus
Tim Nash wasn’t always a teacher, but finding a career in the classroom almost seemed to be destiny. Coming from a family of educators, including his mother and aunt, life in the corporate world always left an undefined, unmistakable void.
Six years ago, Tim changed careers and found renewed passion as an educator. As a teacher, Tim has seen his impact on students grow, and has found ways to improve his craft every day. As a participant in our Early Educator Fellowship, Tim explored ways to connect human-centered design thinking with his classroom while collaborating with a cohort of like minded educators eager to create innovative and engaging classrooms.
Tim sat down with us to discuss his journey to education, how design thinking and opportunities to take part in authentic professional development have helped him create engaging experiences for his students, and what advice he has for teachers who are looking for ways to grow and try new things.
Tim and his partner present their fellowship project
Why did you become a teacher?
Tim: I think there were definitely many factors. I wanted to do business in my undergrad, so I began in corporate America, in a cubicle, kind of tied to a phone. And while I really enjoyed that experience, long term, it wasn’t aligning with my goals and where I saw myself.
I do think that career uniquely prepared me for education and gave me a lot of varied experiences that helped me adapt, learn how to understand different communities, and the way organizations think.
And I think all of that has really come together and helped give me a really amazing foundation and a new level of patience, because no vocation is perfect. Hard work takes time and I think it's just given me that persistence to stick to it, to really want to be successful in the classroom, but put in the hard work.
While in corporate America what made you say “I really want to be a teacher?”
Tim: My mom was a teacher and a lot of my family, like my aunts and several cousins, teach in different states. Just listening to their conversations, I saw teaching as a unique way to invest in students’ lives that maybe some other vocations didn't have the opportunity to do. I think any day I get to show up to the classroom, it's an awesome opportunity that I get to show up. And I'm saying, “Look, I'm here to support you. I want to see you grow. I want to support your family.” I think when I start to see that excitement from students bubble over in terms of what I can help them discover, I think that's why I teach.
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What is your favorite thing about teaching?
Tim: I think my favorite thing about teaching is the challenge. Knowing that no day looks the same, and every day has a different set of students with varying grade levels, with different standards you're applying. I love the opportunity to be a problem solver because I'm trying in so many ways to help put this puzzle together that might not always be easy to identify or put together. I think the opportunity to step into the classroom and not just tell students but kind of model is just incredible and that's what I love about teaching. I feel like it'll never get old.
Can you tell us a little bit about your history with design thinking? How were you introduced to it?
Tim: I think when you’re a new teacher, you're focusing on what teaching is, because it’s an art on so many levels that can be hard to explain to other people given the required amount of time to become proficient in a career. I first started at another school in the district and loved the amount of growth and support I experienced, especially with science which gave me an appreciation for methodology and following the scientific inquiry process. From there, I had the opportunity to go to space camp and learn alongside other educators in the area through Honeywell. I remember thinking, “wait a minute, maybe there's something to putting these fields together in the classroom, including science, technology, engineering, arts and math” and began exploring ways to grow further into the fields of STEM.
That experience then led me to teaching summer school in the district focusing solely on STEM that I hadn't done previously leading me to my current role. I then quickly applied for Startland’s Early Educator Fellowship. One thing I really appreciate is that I've always been surrounded by people who help me think of how I can continue to grow and be challenged. It was my director, Ericka Mabion at the time that said there was this amazing fellowship coming up and suggested I apply.
The Early Educator Fellowship with Starland helped me grow into a teacher that can now think more like a design thinker. It seems like this process can be nonlinear, so even though we're building as we go, it allows for on-going questions that provide guardrails for greater student efficacy and exploration.
What does your classroom look like? How do you integrate design thinking and how does that affect your students?
Tim I love design thinking. It helps me think outside the box and I think, as a teacher, if I can be doing that, I feel like the students already do that. So, it's almost like I'm tapping into their energy because so many students now are so curious and open to trying new things. They're also such quick learners and I want to keep up, right? But I think design thinking leads me to an understanding that learning can happen anywhere at any time, especially in today's environment.
This year, I have second, fourth, fifth, sixth, and eighth grades, so it's an amazing opportunity to use some of these tools within the design thinking process, but even see different ways they can be differentiated. For example, I'll start a lesson with an empathy map and the students will group into pairs. In the second grade class, we might use that map as a follow-up to a design build with magnets or LEGOS to kick off the lesson, and do activities like that in short sprints. It's a tactile experience, and that connection gets them sitting up or standing up out of their chairs. I'm all about letting students move around kinesthetically because I feel like that's what keeps a flow of ideas and energy in place.
I think I've done that kind of design thinking activity for kindergarten, first, and second grade classes, which was kind of a big emphasis for my fellowship. So, it tied in so nicely when I brought back some of those skills into the classroom for the students and began leading them through that process and defining what it looks like when we try to understand what a problem is.
I think DT provides so many cool opportunities to allow the learning to go in so many different directions and levels. Especially given the transdisciplinary approach with such varied subject areas. This year there’s beena big emphasis on the integration of arts. It’s always trying to help students have a sense of discovery in the classroom. Knowing that I’m just creating some space and letting students drive their learning.
It’s student accountability that comes up with additional depth of knowledge questions, our inquiry emphasis and being an International Baccalaureate program. There’s just so many nice things that go together. It’s amazing to see and it keeps me very motivated to teach every day.
What is one or two “aha” moments you’ve seen in your students?
The 3D printer in Tim’s classroom.
Tim: One thing that kind of came out of my fellowship was considering what additional offerings as electives we could provide. So we were able to sit down and sketch out an opportunity to start a new course on virtual exploration, which tied directly with my fellowship. There’s been several students in particular that have identified new strategies and ways for integrating technology in this course. The students have brainstormed in terms of helping find materials for the class, as well as, jumping in and learning how to use this new technology that is providing new understanding that would not normally be available without these tools in place. Their level of excitement in trying new things is only going to continue to help the course pick up momentum with upcoming semesters and students signing up. It’s amazing to teach when the course provides so many opportunities to integrate the design thinking process, for example, building prototypes in 3d platforms, 3d printing or virtual spaces to name a few. The students understand it takes a lot of small things that add up to allow big things to happen. That’s why putting the time in is so worth the effort when striving for solutions.
What would you say to new teachers who might be interested in trying something new, but are still hesitant?
Tim: Don't be afraid to try new things - just jump in. You may not know what something is going to look like the first time, and the students might take your lesson in a totally different direction. I like to encourage new teachers to leave space for that, because I think when you start getting into ideas or trying to ask students to think at a higher level, there's a productive struggle there. Even for me as an adult and teacher going through my fellowship, it took my partner and I time to decide on the focus for our pitch. It's that same mentality. If a student is trying something for the first time, they need an opportunity to think about it and have that wait time to maybe sit on something and come back the next day with an idea. It's that opportunity for students to become problem solvers and wow you with the number of solutions and ideas they can come up with.
To learn more about Tim’s cohort read our blog post recapping their projects!
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