Lesson 2 - Productivity Software: Using Spreadsheets in the Classroom

Utilizing productivity software, such as spreadsheets and databases, in the classroom can be beneficial but also challenging, especially for teachers and students with no previous experience with this type of software.  However, once it is learned, I feel that the productivity software usage in the classroom can be very effective and can be used in various ways.  Spreadsheets can be used for record keeping, inventory of classroom materials, creating charts and graphs, creating calendars, timelines, and other tasks that can be utilized in the classroom setting.

www.microsoft.com/education/createtimeline.aspx

The above URL is one of the many websites I located that discusses spreadsheet utilization in the classroom.  I was really surprised to see that spreadsheets can be used to create timelines.  Students in a social studies classroom can generate a spreadsheet timeline regarding the history of a particular person, past events such as wars, and even presidents of the past.  Students in a science classroom can create a spreadsheet to show when different elements were discovered, when famous scientists performed their work, etc.  The possibilities of utilizing spreadsheets in the classroom are endless.  Microsoft demonstrates on its website how to create timelines using spreadsheets.  I thought the timelines were very interesting.  Using these can be modified to accustom students of all ages.  Even primary students can use spreadsheets.  For instance, these students can create a spreadsheet timeline regarding their school day and insert pictures to show what they do at particular times.

I have not used spreadsheets very often in the past.  As a matter of fact, I was not introduced to the software until the eighth grade.  During this time our teacher assigned us a simple task to create a spreadsheet of a contact list.  This list consisted of our friends, phone numbers, and addresses (optional).  We were then allowed to insert clip art and word art to spice up our spreadsheet.

Although I haven’t assigned any tasks to my computer lab classes, I have introduced the concept of utilizing spreadsheets.  I do plan to use spreadsheets and give the students assignments.  I will have them create their own monthly calendar in which they will format their cells by changing their sizes, background colors, fonts, etc.  I will have students insert borders, clip art and/or word art for special occasions. I will allow students to complete this assignment monthly in order to gain more knowledge of how spreadsheets work.  Each month I will assign an additional task to their calendar assignment.  The repetition of creating the spreadsheet calendars monthly for the students will allow them to comprehend the effectiveness of the productivity software and it will be easier for them to use with more difficult tasks in the future.