WOODLAND, Wash. — Remember how tough chemistry class can be? It’s extra challenging for some students trying to master the concepts from a distance.
But a teacher at Woodland High School has found a formula for success. Stephanie Marshall has found a way to make the difficult subject easier to understand and a whole lot more engaging. She said to try to keep her high school students engaged, she’s relied on visually captivating science experiments.
“My go-to is always, ‘Can I light something on fire today,’ and that’s what I go for," said Marshall. "Or, something that changes color. Those are my two big ones.”
She tries to do interesting experiments in her labs, which typically have small groups of students logging in online.
“Naturally, I know what’s going to happen but my students never know, is it gonna be a big flame? Is the flame going to go out? What are we going to see?” Marshall explained.
She reinforces concepts the class as a whole is working on and uses the opportunity to meet with small groups of students during lab to check for understanding and get students curious.
“These visuals give me buy-in. I say, ‘Hey come look at this cool thing. I’m doing something super awesome in this class,'” Marshall said.
“I boiled every lab I could think of down to its basics. Making observations, can they tell me why something happened? Can they tell me what’s happening?” she said.
For her 10th grade students, the visual component is helpful. We spoke with three students, all of which said distance learning has been a struggle.
“These labs have made it a lot more fun to do the distance learning, especially the ones with the fire and stuff,” said Derek Fechtner, a 10th grade student at Woodland High School.
“It’s really made distance learning a great experience,” Addison Holler said. Like Fechtner, she is also in 10th grade.
Fellow sophomore, Raeann Perry said the labs have been crucial to her success.
“Without those videos with the labs and everything, I would be totally lost because I’m a visual learner,” said Perry.
This visual application of concepts is really paying off for some students and for Marshall.
“It’s been difficult to say the least, but also rewarding,” Marshall said.