Reflection # 9: Spreadsheets are very useful for teachers

In an article entitled "Language Arts Lesson Plan," Melissa Johnston emphasizes the many ways in which spreadsheets could be used in the classroom. Johnston states that "although it's not always the easiest to learn, the benefits are well worth the time speant mastering the spreadsheets." Some useful ways teachers can use them in the classroom are things such as: caluculating student averages as well as chart their progress, create activities simultaneously keeping track of materials and supplies, and many more...

For my purposes as an English/ ESL teacher, Johnston explains in detail how to incorporate the spreadsheet into a language arts lesson. For example, one activity she describes is "Explain it!" This activity involves students listing adjectives to describe nouns. They type out the adjectives on a computer, more specifically in a spreadsheet to stay organized. Once they've done this, they can print out their list of adjectives and keep them for review in an organized manner. This activity gets the kids working with technology while simultaneously learning the functionality and characteristics of the langauge. I found this activity very influential and interesting.