Excel Ideas

I'll be posting this week's blog in two entries. I'm recovering from some sort of awful flu and missed class last week, so I'll have to figure out what I missed about social bookmarking. Meanwhile, here are my thoughts on Excel! As I mentioned, I missed our second class on Excel, but I can relate to the hypothetical scenario described in our assignment (school training on excel). Today, my school had an Excel training session! Lucky for me! I was placed in the "beginners group" so we just covered the basics. In that session, we learned how to input data and do the various functions (add, average, etc.). This is helpful for teachers for obvious reasons. It's a great way to keep a class list, enter grades, and calculate grades for report cards. Teachers can also alphabetize their students, put students in order of highest grades received using the student's averages or one specific test to see who needs help with what topic. It allows teachers to really analyze data. On a higher scale, PSSA data can be assessed. Schools can see how many students ranked "below basic," "basic," "proficient," or "advanced," on that test, and see how many students they need to move up a level. They can also organize the data by filtering to see which teachers or "teams" (groups of teachers who have the same students)are doing the best in which subjects and can encourage those teachers to share suggestions for improvement. Students can also participate with excel. They can learn to input data, create graphs, and organize information for research or class projects. This can put a new spin on learning for them, and help them in future careers! I wish I'd learned it in school! My school principal also uses excel to give teachers schedules/assignments for class coverages, assembly schedules/seating charts, and to share discipline data (number of absences, detentions, suspensions, etc.). I'm sure there are many more ways to use excel, and I suggested follow-up training on the topic. I don't think an hour is quite enough to master the use of any form of technology and it would only real improve our school if teachers really understand how to utilize it.