Thing #18: Dig the Data

I hate spreadsheets. Ever since I was in middle school, I could not stand creating spreadsheets. It’s not that I couldn’t do it, but that I found the task daunting and frustrating. I used to use Microsoft Excel, but found it to be very confusing, even overwhelming. However, with Google Sheets, creating and manipulating spreadsheets does not seems nearly as awful as I remember.

I found the overall design and layout of Google Sheets to be extremely clean and clear. I was able to easily find what I needed in order to sort the document in a number of ways.

Practice Your Skills: Manipulate Data, Part 1

I absolutely love every Google product that I have used so far, and Google Sheets is no different. For me, Google Sheets is much more intuitive than Microsoft Excel. Immediately, I felt more comfortable and at ease using Google Sheets than with my previous experiences using other programs.

As I was making changes to the spreadsheet, I felt confident and comfortable with my skills and ability to do so. Below are some examples of the different ways that I sorted the data.

Practice Your Skills: Formatting and Applying Formulas, Part 2

In the past, I’ve succeeded in figuring out how to use formulas in spreadsheets. Honestly, I think it was pure luck most of the time. After watching the tutorial video and practicing the skill myself, I feel much more confident formatting and applying formulas in spreadsheets. I think part of my problem was that I was never given a formal explanation or hands-on opportunity to apply formulas. Thinking about myself as a learner, this makes sense, as I know that I am a very kinesthetic learner.

Practice Your Skills: Graphs and Charts, Part 3

After all of my positive experiences with Google platforms, I was bound to find one that I did not like. Let me express my complete frustration with trying to insert a chart into Google Sheets. My Google Sheets looked nothing like the one being used in the tutorial. Perhaps it has been updated, I’m not sure, but I hated this activity. While I was able to create a chart using data from the spreadsheet, I never figured out how to add titles to the x-axis/y-axis.

Applying the Skills I Learned

I compiled the data from a Google Form that I used to assess student understanding of some of the key concepts that we have learned so far. Here’s my original spreadsheet:

Then, I tried to sort the data based on number of Questions Answered Correctly:

Then, I applied some formulas to find the averages for number of questions answered, number of questions answered correctly, and number of questions answered incorrectly.

Finally, I created a chart showing the results of the Grammar Review:

Future Applications

Based on what I have learned (and done) in this Thing, I believe that using spreadsheets and charts would be an excellent way of representing student growth and learning. I think that gathering data regularly is an important part of teaching, but then doing something with that data is something I think often gets overlooked. Using tools like Google Forms and Google Sheets makes it really easy to create data for any kind of information that you can imagine. When I’m back in a position where I will be able to do this with my students, I plan on using this data to celebrate our learning together, as well as to identify more challenging areas.

ISTE and CITW 9 Standards:

1. Setting Objectives/Providing Feedback: This is an extremely easy way to check student understanding and learning, as well as to provide almost immediate feedback.
2. Reinforcing Effort/Providing Recognition: Being able to sort data in a number of ways allows us to find different types of successes to celebrate.
3. Assigning Homework/Providing Feedback: Creating a quick Google Form is a great way to provide students with some extra practice (as well as to check their understanding).
4. Design and Develop Digital Age Learning Experiences and Assessments: Utilizing the digital resources currently available to us is an excellent way of providing students with authentic learning opportunities.