Excel

Excel or google spreadsheet is a tool that allow us to organize and manipulate data using, for example, arithmetic operations. In this case we used it to calculate the average grade of our fictional classroom.

In my case I had already worked with excel previously and I already knew how to use the mathematical formulas. The only thing I learned is to use the condition that if a grade was lower than "x" it would automatically turn red.

Here you can find my excel file

If we do the calculations by hand, it is a very time consuming process and we can make a mistake at some point and we may not realize it. However with excel it is as simple as adding all the grades to an excel file and write the necessary calculations for one student and the rest will be automatically done. I think it is really important to learn as future teachers how use this tool as we can turn the process of calculating grades from a slow a tedious work to something easy, fast and automated.

However, it is true that learning how excel works can be hard for some people or you can make a mistake and do not realize where is it or why is it not working. Nevertheless, I think once you get used to it and learn how it works it is a really useful tool.

Not only is it useful for teachers, but I think that we can also teach our students how to use it and keep track of their own grades. As it may be challenging to learn for young students, I think it is perfect to start teaching them in 5-6 grade of primary education. We can start by showing them basic things as how to create a chart with their grades and how to change the color, size, shape, etc. and then start with the calculations of their average grade and other thing they may want to learn.