Using Spreadsheets in the Classroom For Fun and Learning

OH HOW I LOVE SPREADSHEETS!! Due to my obsessive love with spreadsheets I feel that people of all ages should love them with me! Even young children can have fun with spreadsheets. With the use of an electronic whiteboard, I can enlarge the image on the screen so the entire class can see the spreadsheet fill in. We can create a spreadsheet to graph the favorite colors in the class, the various eye colors in the class, the number of siblings the students have. The topics we can graph are limitless and by graphing them we are effectively bring statistics to life for (even) preschoolers. The letter of the week is T. Wonderful. How many students in here have last names beginning with T? We are getting Language Arts, Mathematics, and maybe even some Social Studies in. The advantages are that the students are exploring and researching information even if it is only through asking each other questions and they are then using this information to reach a higher level of thinking. For instance, from this graph we can answer questions to help us make certain assumptions about the population represented in our classroom. I just cannot see a disadvantage to this. Well, except that it is sometimes difficult to keep the children focused on the topics we are supposed to be graphing. For instance, Kevin has two sisters but his mom refers to his dog as his brother so can he graph that? Or is that supposed to go on the pet graph? This sounds like a silly example but it is my job to make this fun and easy for the young students to comprehend. They have the lovable, unique ability to break down any lesson until it’s shredded into itty bitty pieces and ask a question about each piece. One has to repeatedly remind the students what we are focusing on and what our goal for the spreadsheet is supposed to ultimately be. Communication and collaboration is fundamental for making this fun! The kids want to work together and laugh together to build a spreadsheet. This is using technology to organize research in its most basic form. The children are able to explore the NET-S by critically thinking and problem-solving in how they interpret the information we gather on the spreadsheet. Students who are given the chance to input information on the spreadsheet themselves are really receiving the opportunity to learn about Technology Operations and Concepts and they don’t really have to feel like they are “learning” about the computer.