By Ed Pierce
Even in the middle of the pandemic, some RSU 14 educators are
still striving to be innovative while teaching remotely and creating memorable
and innovative lessons for their students. A great example of that is Pamela
Mallard, Windham Middle School math and science teacher.
With her eighth-grade students in the classroom twice a week
and having to learn remotely on Fridays, Mallard teamed up with Chemistry
Professor Dr. Emily Lesher at Saint Joseph’s College to conduct a series of engaging
experiments online this fall for eighth-graders led by college chemistry
students. In past years, Saint Joseph’s have sat in on some of Mallard’s
classes in person, but the pandemic resulted in a change of plans with
all-virtual experiments that students can perform on their own at home.
“It has made it possible to overcome a barrier that has been
difficult,” Mallard said. “Last year Emily brought her science students
into my classroom and did engaging experiments. Our goal was for my Middle
School students to see how Science could be fun and lead to a career. This year
with the restrictions due to the pandemic, visitors were not going to be allowed
to come and present.”
Skyler Conant, an eighth grtader at
Windham Middle School, shows an
experiment he worked on virtually
this fall with chemistry students
attending Saint Joseph's College.
In the experiment, Conant
demonstrated a chemical reaction by
mixing baking soda and vinegar
causing a gas that blew up the balloon.
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Mallard said that Professor Lesher reached out to her to
devise a plan about how to implement the same program but in a different
way.
“She devised with her students to come into my class by Google
Meets. College students then led the middle school students in experiments and
learning adventures,” Mallard said.
Supplies needed for the special labs and experiments would be
delivered by Dr. Lesher so that the eighth-grade students would have what they
needed to perform the experiments at home each Friday.
Skyler Conant, an eighth grader in Pamela Mallard’s science
class at Windham Middle School shows an experiment he worked on virtually this
fall with chemistry students attending Saint Joseph’s College. In the
experiment, Conant demonstrated a chemical reaction by mixing baking soda and
vinegar causing a gas that blew up the balloon. SUBMITTED PHOTO
“My students couldn’t wait to see what the package held,”
Mallard said. “The surprise brought such excitement to my students. I would
like to express my gratitude to Dr. Lesher and her students. This year has been very difficult for
students and this outreach allowed them to have something to look forward to.”
According to Mallard, each of Mallard’s 40 students were given
a virtual lesson and experiment, split up into 10 at a time.
“At this age, my kids don’t always see the importance of
science,” she said. “But these college students were able to connect science to
careers they were preparing to enter such as a medical biologist or a game
warden. This allowed excitement to happen again for my students and they could
see the crossover to the future plans for these college students and opened
meaningful dialogue about it.”
Adding to the relevance for the eighth-grader students were
that three or four of the Saint Joseph’s College chemistry students helping
lead the experiments were graduates of Windham High School, Mallard said.
“This allowed my students to see local kids who are attending
a local college and gave them an opportunity to think about what they might
want to study at that level too,” she said.
Participation among the Windham Middle School eighth graders
was 90 to 95 percent for the Friday experiments, which spanned a range of
topics from chemistry to physical sciences.
“They gave them everything they needed to do the experiments
at home and that was met with real enthusiasm by my students,” Mallard said.
“They were able to relate to the college kids and the entire program was
extremely worthwhile because it helped promote math and science and they could
come in to class the next week and share what they learned.”
The final day for the fall experiments for Saint Joseph’s
College students interacting virtually with Windham Middle School math and
science students was Nov. 16.
Mallard said because of the success of the program this fall, she hopes to continue it in January with Lesher’s new class at Saint Joseph’s College. <
