Spreadsheets

Mrs. Barnhart's Gradebook (Link to my spreadsheet)

The spreadsheet was not as complicated as I thought it was going to be.  It is very similar to Excel.  I use Excel a lot at my place of work (Accounting for my family's Hospitality Company) and found it not extremely difficult.  Most of the functions and formulas were the same.  Like Excel, you are also able to insert a formula, and then drag ur curser down so it fills in the same formula for other lines you want to have matching formulas.  I found it easy to fill in my information, and then insert the formula to match the answer I was needing.  Everything stayed neat and organized.

I could definitely see myself using this as a gradebook as a teacher.  If you already had the spreadsheet made, all a teacher would have to do is input numbers.  One could even have the formulas already inserted as well.  This makes for a fast and productive way to organize grades.  Being able to save it on the computer is also great for me so I don't have to worry about bringing it with me or losing it.  I can access it anywhere I have internet.

The easiest part of the spreadsheet I thought was the actual formulas.  Most of the formulas were the same so I did not have to look up new ones and learn them.  It is so easy to insert the formula and then just click or click and drag the numbers you want inputted into that formula.  I love how it does all the math for me, so there is less of a chance of a mistake (if all of the numbers and formulas are inputted correctly.)  The one thing that is still not clear to me is wrapping text.  On my grade scale, I wanted to wrap the text so that the text "Grade Scale" was all in one box rather than two.  I had trouble with the "wrapping text" function even in Excel.

Spreadsheets could be used to address CCSS in many different ways.  As a whole, the teacher could use a spreadsheet on the board to show the class average for a quiz or grade.  This shows assessment and if students understand what they are being taught.  Some ways for students to use spreadsheets would be to collect data and input that into a spreadsheet.  They can then use that date to make different charts and scales to show their findings.  Ch. 9 talks about how Mathematical Practice is perfect for spreadsheets and allows students to use critical thinking in their work with spreadsheets (Graham, pg. 93)

I enjoyed using Spreadsheets and can continue to see myself use this in my future teaching career not only as a gradebook, but incorporating it in my teaching as well.  The more I use spreadsheets, the more familiar I will become with it, which will allow me to use it for even more things!