Week 2

In researching spreadsheets and databases, it was hard to come by many sites that explained, in detail, how to implement these tools into the classroom.  However, I have found that there are many college classes that are starting to be formed around using spreadsheets and databases.  There are so many possibilities with these tools that entire college classes still cannot cover all of the information necessary to fully understand these programs.  

One website I found is: http://www.primaryresources.co.uk/ict/ict2.htm  This website does not really explain how to use the programs, rather it more shows different ways to explain these programs to primary age students.  For me, this website is beneficial to to create ways for students to become more familiar with using these programs.  If I have the opportunity to incorporate spreadsheets into my everyday routine, and teach the students about these programs, they might be more likely to be inspired to use these programs themselves.  Students tend to "pick up" what their teachers do, so the more I use spreadsheets, the more they will become accustomed to it.

One thing I did not realize about spreadsheets is that the information can be organized and exported directly into a website.  Therefore, it is not necessary to duplicate information.  This would make it very easy to have a class website and easily share the information with the students and the parents.  Also, since I am not yet "website savvy", but I am more knowledgeable with spreadsheets and I can easily navigate them, I would be able to "cheat" and create my website.

Personally, I have used spreadsheets in our home on a regular basis.  I have used them to organize our shopping trips to our household budgets.  As a student, I have created checklists for myself to help keep me organized in all of my classes to insure I have all of my assignments completed on time.  In the classroom, I have used spreadsheets to help collect necessary information from my students, keep track of my classroom budget, and organize and display my students' grades.  In my classroom I have implemented a program that helps my students visually see their grades on a regular basis.  The Excel spreadsheet tracks their progress.  Every week they will be able to see where their grade was last week and how it has changed this week.  In each cell, it will be color coded to help the high and low points stand out.  If a student's grade has improved, the score will be highlighted in yellow, however if their score has gone down the score will be highlighted in red.