Lesson Two

This week I've been spending a lot of time researching spreadsheets and databases and how they can be used in a classroom. Before I started looking, I had a very limited idea of what spreadsheets could be used for. In my past experience I had only used them to budget spending on a mock restaurant for an Economics class in High School, and to keep track of spelling scores while student teaching. My experience on what I thought was involved in a spreadsheet was limited. What I discovered is that I use spreadsheets far more often than I realized, it is only that I usually make them with pen and paper, instead of computer programs like Excell.

I spent the better part of this weekend looking at sites online of how to use spreadsheets in the classroom, in particular the elementary classroom. Dr. Alice Christie, of Arizona State University, has a site that I have found particularly inspiring in ways spreadsheets can be used. Her site is: http://www.alicechristie.org/edtech/ss/.  It has links to various websites to record data to make graphs. Some create them on the computer, while others require the user to print off a recording sheet. Some links give ideas of graphing activities to be used by teachers, but many can be used directly by the students to gather and record data.

One link from this site that I was very excited to find was the "global grocery list". This had a section to record what various grocery items, gas and housing prices are in your region of the world. Olders students could record this information and then make a spreadsheet of how prices varied from city to city, state to state, or nation to nation from 1995 to the present. This could even be used for special education students as part of real-world experience in finding the costs of specific items in a paper and making a list online. I was surprised that one website link could be adapted to meet so many academic levels and needs.

Though I am not currently a teacher (except to infants and toddlers), and have had limited experience in applying spreadsheets and databases I plan to use them often in my teaching career. I want to work with students who have learning disabilities and spreadsheets are a wonderful tool in to help both the students construct their own learning, and me, as their teacher, to keep records of progress.

The video we watched titled: Authentic Learning, embraced my core beliefs as an educator. This video focuses on Constructivist principles of education, namely that the students need choice in their learning. As a former participant in the special education department of Public Schools I recognize a need for higher level expectations for students within the Special Education spectrum, especially those with learning disabilities. Electronic graphic organizers give students power to analyze and categorize information in their own words so that they are no longer dependant on rote memorization, but instead to process information in a way that makes sense to them.