Excel Lesson Plan Reflection

Before the creation of this lesson plan I have only used Excel spreadsheets in regards to budgets and graphs. Now I am able to see that those are not the only things which are useful when it comes to spreadsheets. I was able to utilize the application in order to create a timeline which was much easier to design in Excel than it would have been in a Word document. The ability to merge cells and wrap the text is much easier than hassling with a text box. This ability to use Excel in new ways opens many doors when it comes to assignments for students.

The interactive spreadsheets were also interesting to learn about. I knew formula could be used in order to perform mathematics equations, but never had any idea they could be altered to show if answers were correct or not. This is a very useful tool when one is trying to integrate technology in the class room. It not only allows the students to become more familiar with Excel, but it also teaches them not to be afraid of it.

I know in many of my classes in high school the teachers seemed to be afraid of Excel, expect for the use of their gradebooks. I think with the teachers becoming more enlightened with its uses and abilities it will only cause increasing interest in the program. It is a very useful tool which will become part of my lesson plans in the future, not only for graphs but for it's interactive purposes as well.