Week Two

Going into this week, I was unsure of how databases and spreadsheets would apply to me as a kindergarten teacher.  These concepts seemed like something that would be way to difficult for my students.  As I did some research on how spreadsheets and databases can be used in the classroom, I quickly realized that these tools are not only intended for the "older" kids, but for all grades.  I was very surprised at the many ways people use spreadsheets in their classrooms. 
In kindergarten, we do a lot of simple graphs (how we get to school, our favorite foods, the number of letters in our names, etc.)  My students all have a magnet with their name on it, and a lot of times, we'll do a quick graph on the board where they put their name under the appropriate column.  We then talk about what we notice about the graph through questioning.  However, one website I found, http://www.alicechristie.org/edtech/ss/, talked about letting your students create a graph, and then transferring the data into a spreadsheet using a program like Excel so that they can see the information electronically.  I've never thought about doing this, but what a great idea!  The cool thing about transferring their data into Excel is that we normally create bar graphs in class, but if we input our data, my students will be able to see the same information in the form of not only a bar graph, but also pie graphs and pictographs.  What a neat idea!!  This would also be a great opportunity for me to introduce my students to programs like Excel and teach them to use it to chart information. 
As I read more about spreadsheets in the classroom, I found it very interesting to learn that you can use programs like Excel to create various graphic organizers such as Venn Diagrams, timelines, and concept webs.  I had no idea that you could do things like this using a spreadsheet program.  This will be very useful to me in my kindergarten classroom.
I realize now that I knew very little about using spreadsheets before this week.  At home, I have used spreadsheets to keep a budget and track expenses.  At school, I have used them to do things like track behavior and keep grades.  I have also used them at the beginning of the year to make a checklist of different papers my students needed to turn in, as well as at the end of the year to track inventory in my classroom.  I thought that was just about the extent of it.  After this week, I am very excited about integrating this type of technology into my own classroom!