Spreadsheets and Databases Week 2

One website I enjoyed this week was, http://www.teach-nology.com/tutorials/databases/ . On this website, we read why and how databases were being used in the classroom. There was a great example of a Social Studies class using databases to determine the horror of war. Students were to research information, and then compile it into a database. Another example I liked of students using databases, was having students keep track of their own grades. This way they could visually see how they were doing, and where they were struggling most. I believe this gives students more of an ownership to their grade. No, they didn't give themselves the grade. However, they are constantly reviewing their efforts.

Before my reading this week, I had never thought of using spreadsheets in my teaching of elementary students! I did not learn anything about spreadsheets until my college classes three years ago! Therefore, the thought of teaching elementary students to use them never crossed my mind. My reading this week, has definately changed my point of view! While looking over the teach-nology website, I found a lesson plan I would like to use in the future. It is for Grades 3-5, and it is about teaching students to do a webquest on Amazing Americans. In the lesson plan, students visit the Library of Congress to explore biographies of amazing Americans. Then they answer questions such as: How many men/women? What years were they born? This information could be compiled into a spreadsheet and graphed. This lesson plan also had daily activity suggestions, a rubric, and suggested time period for each lesson. I found this website very beneficial in my future lesson planning!

I do not have a classroom yet of my own, nor had I thought of using spreadsheets with my third graders during my student teaching. I have no experiences of using them with students. I have had students use search engines for my lessons, but that is as far as it went. I have used spreadsheets and databases during college classes to track imaginary grades and graph progress, and to keep a list of imaginary students and their personal info. These classes were spread out and all used different softwares, so each time it was like starting all over. When using these spreadsheets, I was amazed at how much easier it was to track and analyze data. I plan to use spreadsheets and databases when I have my own classroom.