Spreadsheets/Databases in the Classroom

http://www.sabine.k12.la.us/class/excel_resources.htm#Elementary%20School

The above website is a valuable resource for teachers who plan to be instructing in a P-5 classroom.  It has links to a variety of sites with great ideas for how to utilize spreadsheets like Excel in real lessons.  From timelines to graphs to keeping track of survey results, Excel can be integrated into a wealth of common lessons.

I have done a lot of work with Excel and the Microsoft Office Suite throughout my studies, as it was a major focus in the Business School at the University of Louisville and an area in which I tutored others for years.  However, while there are obvious advantages to Excel, like organizing student information and keeping track of grades, I had underestimated how valuable it could be to teach younger children.  While the majority of my focus was on high-level Excel functions, spreadsheet productivity software can be quickly mastered and utilized by elementary school students.

I had never considered how much time and energy can be saved with a well-thought out spreadsheet activity.  If the teacher prepares a template worksheet in advance, learning time will not be wasted with such tedious tasks as data entry.  Rather than asking students to color or draw graphics, they can work more efficiently and create a more professional looking end product by using programs like Excel to graph results and visually represent relationships among variables.

I was also surprised at how quickly young students can pick up computer programs like Excel.  I would have thought that third grade students could do very little with this software, but technology is such a huge part of daily life now.  Young children are not only good at using spreadsheets and other computer programs, but they are extremely interested in learning about them in most cases.  I thought the spelling test idea was very creative, and it's a perfect example of how spreadsheets can be applied in unconventional ways beyond the typical math and economics lessons that initially come to mind.

In the past, I have used spreadsheets to create homework assignments for college students in Excel.  I have organized my grade book in Excel, as well as curved grades and experimented with different assignment weights before posting grades.  I have kept track of survey results and used market analysis software to study the results.  These are all things that will translate well to my future classes, even though I have yet to actually begin teaching.

It will be challenging to alter my way of thinking to allow younger students to utilize Excel, but I think my past experiences will serve me well in the classroom.  I am planning to start volunteering at a local elementary school next month, and it will be exciting to spend more time with younger kids to better determine how much they are capable of.  I expect to seek advice from more experienced teachers and listen to student feedback to find just the right ways to effectively introduce databases and spreadsheets into my classroom.