Databases and Spreadsheets

I agree with Emily that chapter 7 offered many more beneficial ideas for the classroom. However, I still believe that knowing how to use databases and spreadsheets are important skills to have. As I read chapter 11, I realized that I was not exposed to many of these skills until high school. I have always thought that databases such as library records and web search engines are very helpful and I agree that they should be incorporated into elementary level learning and research. I also thought that the acrostic poem idea was creative and a great way for younger students to become familiar with using spreadsheets.

I thought the most effective idea presented in this chapter was using spreadsheets to learn about income and expenses. This is a very important skill for students to develop, so why not introduce managing money using spreadsheets in elementary school. As students mature and eventually start working, they will already possess skills to carefully manage and keep track of their money.

This week, I was surprised by the many uses of excel spreadsheets. I was always somewhat intimidated of working with spreadsheet because I wasn't confident in my ability. After this week, I am much more comfortable using spreadsheet and I even am aware of tools I didn't know existed. I am now able to create interactive quizzes that give immediate feedback. These skills will be very helpful in the future because I will be able to present my students with various methods of learning and testing.  I will also be able to expose my students to technology starting at the elementary school level so they can begin to develop their own technological skills.

Databases and Spreadsheets

Chapter 11

I agree with Emily that chapter 7 was much more informative, but that there were many good ideas in this chapter. When I was in elementary school, I did not use databases or spreadsheets, so I had not even thought of the possibility of using these tools in the elementary classroom.

One of the ideas that I thought would be beneficial for elementary students was using spreadsheets to teach money management. I think it is a wonderful idea to teach this to students at this age, and spreadsheets are a really creative and convenient way to do this.

Spreadsheets are also really good for making graphs. I remember making graphs by hand in elementary school, and I think using spreadsheets makes it easier for students to be organized and accurate when making graphs. It also gives them an opportunity to be more creative.

Another thing that I appreciated about this article was the "resources" box on page 147. I know that those websites will come in handy.