Uhhhhhh Technology 1, Darleen 0- Activity Reflection #2

Wow! Is about all I can say about this assignment. For this week’s activity in my Technology for Educators class, we had to make adjustments on a sample grade book. No problem is what I thought, boy was I wrong! What an eye opener, I had not really used Microsoft Excel in a long time, I had forgotten everything. I mean the last time I even opened that program was in a basic computer class I took at Valencia a million years ago.  I have to laugh at myself because it took me three hours to do that assignment. I went over all the websites provided in this week’s module to help me through the program. The resources were very helpful especially http://www.microsoft.com/education/IOCTutorials.mspx and http://www.microsoft.com/education/pil/IT_home.aspx  both had how to sections and videos to watch to help demonstrate some of the tasks I had to fulfill. I would not have been able to do this assignment with out the how to guides.

For the sample grade book activity we had to average homework and test grades as well as final grades. Then sort them from lowest to highest final grades, and highlight who was in danger of failing. Although I had a hard time going through each task, I found it amazing how you could keep everything organized. In reading our text book, Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom, I found out that many schools have their own grading software and can also keep track on student’s attendance. Many of the programs allow teachers to weight scores and apply grading curves automatically. (Gunter, 164) I found that there are several grade book programs like MicroGrade, QuickGrade, WebGrader, and so on. I find it amazing how far technology has come, now instead of hand writing in a grade book you have the ability to use programs like Microsoft Excel to create your own personalized grade book. I will definitely be using this program to help me keep track of my student’s grades when I become a teacher. 

This assignment really opened my eyes, I thought I had a firm grasp on software programs like Excel but I was wrong. Even after completing the assignment there is still much more I don’t understand how to do with that particular program. I now know that there is much I need to learn. I am happy that I have the opportunity to learn and understand how to use all these resources now. I feel that class activities like this will make me a better teacher in the future.

Reference:

Teachers Discovering Computers: Integrating Technology and Digital Media in the Classroom, 6th Ed., Shelly, Cashman, Gunter, and Gunter. Course Technology - Thompson Publishing (2010)