Reflecting on What I Know pg. 204.

Spreadsheets can be a lot of fun, because you can put so much into them to do basically whatever you want! There are so many formulas and numerical data to put in them for many different outcomes. As it stated in our texts, they are "very versatile tools!" I could not agree more! You could have students collect currency, or dates, or even time and percentages for a lesson to put into spreadsheets and manipulate them however you need them to fit the lesson. In a spreadsheet you can sort and select by adding columns to your table. The thing is you always have to make sure you have the right formula to have the correct outcome or answer in the spreadsheet. Sometimes a spreadsheet could have hard to understand for some students, and even some adults! As the educator it could be a difficult task to teach. The best way to have the student grasp this concept is to possibly have them create several different spreadsheets. This is an excellent tool for problem solving and discovery. This is a great way for the student the manipulate a graph to FIND the answer, so this could be used in Math and Science in a FUN and engaging way. Especially for those students who may not grasp those subjects so well to begin with! Spreadsheets are an essence an easy tool once taught and learned... You can create a simulation and teach it that way as well. You as the educator  can create a template with formulas and graphs that allows your students to simply input the data and they can analyze the results and begin to see the relationships and learn it easier if they are having problems. The results are shown immediately as the values, and changes to graph or chart. As always, make sure you have an up to date lesson plan for a great day or week technology review so that each student can learn to his or her full potential!

Reflecting on what I Know, pg 173

I truly never believe you are a master of anything, no matter how long you stay at it! That includes technology, so why would word processing be "too easy" for our students. In our readings this week, it referred to word processing as an extension of texting for some students, so this way of technology may be fun for some students and great way to tie in learning and technology in the classroom. I think we as educators can always use new ideas to make our classroom more intriguing for students of all ages! Word processing may be a "basic function" for some, but hey we have to start somewhere don't we? If we don't get the basics down how to you move on to the harder stuff, right? Entering and editing text, Organizing information and inserting objects with hyperlinks is part of word processing and its important for ALL to learn! We can use this information and how it relates to texting to engage those higher-level thinking students! This will be the most commonly used application in your classroom for your students more than likely, so the best way to get them to learn it, the better. For high school students and beyond you could definitely challenge them with specific activities when this technology is used.  Working in groups or pairs, have them challenge each other, or one work on the project to make sure they know their skills the other check the others work and vice versa. Always have a specific lesson plan when working with older students and word processing. I believe that as an educator a students individual needs are met every time we meet on a daily basis if we follow our lesson plan. However, when we use technology, you need to make sure that each students grasps the concepts of each thing you are doing. When you are working in a classroom you know that each student will have different levels of needs and some may even have disabilities. You will have to overcome this, and work with each of them to assure they attain the lesson you are teaching on the computer. The use of word processing, because it is basic, is a great way to do this! Students really have a chance to show their creativity and demonstrate that, they get to research and use that information. They will also use their critical thinking and problem solving and decision making skills and lastly get to use their technology operation skills!