Module 3 - Week 2

This week I wanted to explore using the charts that Excel could offer.  I found there were many different options for displaying data.  It also was easy to change the charts once one was selected.  I could pick one chart to see how it looked, then just as easily pick a different chart.  I also liked how the charts could be edited, such as the number scale and colors.  That was something I did not know about until I began to practice.  I also practiced copying the charts into other documents.  I have used charts for newsletters before, so I was happy to see how easy it was to navigate the charts into new documents.  Hopefully I will be able to provide charts for parents to see their child's progress now.   

Module 3- Week 1

This week I wanted to practice using Excel spreadsheet.  This is a tool that I do not use on regular basis.  In the past I viewed Excel as a tool that was overwhelming with all the options.  I was intimidated by the formulas and charts.  With time and practice I feel more comfortable using Excel.  I found the more I used it, I saw how user-friendly it was.  I would like to start using it to present student results to parents.  I think the use of the charts and graphs would be helpful for parents to see their child's progress.  While practicing and working with Excel this week, I focused on using the formula option on a spreadsheet.  I then began to explore adding graphs as a visual for the averages found.  I plan to practice more with the charts and graphs option in the future.    

Module 2- Week 2

For the second week in Module 2, I wanted to work on Mail Merge.  I had never done a Mail Merge before this past summer.  I attempted a Mail Merge in preparation for this course.  I will admit it was quite a challenge.  At the time the documents were not merging correctly for an unknown reason.  This frustration led me to not be able to work past the second step of the process.  This recent attempt on the other hand was less frustrating.  I did a search for tutorials on Google and came across a few helpful resources.  This made the processes more comfortable and less confusing.  As working on a Mail Merge document, I considered when I would use this in the classroom.  I put labels on my students' supplies at the beginning of each year.  I found this could be helpful to speed up that process.

Here is the video showing my Mail Merge work.

Also in Module 2, I decided to practice using the track changes and comment options.  These were options I was familiar with, however I have never used it myself.  I know of other teachers who use it when their students are writing papers.  I have never had that opportunity with my second grade students because most of the papers written are done in class and are hand written.  If I did teach a class where students were creating written work using Word, I would uses those tools because it would be helpful for both the teacher and the student. I did like the option of adding comment when making worksheets to reminder students the steps of writing.

The final thing that I practiced was the Style options.  I have never used this before.  I realized this tool gives the user more options to editing their document.  Some of the editing options I explored made changes that I found useful to creating the needed look for a document.  I do think that it is still something that is an additional option to make chances but, in my opinion, using the other options such as the toolbox to edit is a simpler option.     

Module 2- Week 1

For Module 2 I set a goal for myself to become more comfortable using Word.  I normally use iWork Pages.  Some of the skills specifically I wanted to work on for week 1 were alignment, indents, and the use of columns.

Each week I make a newsletter for my students.  I thought I would make a version of my newsletter in Word this week.  I recorded my screen to show my progress.  My newsletters can tend to take some time to make, because of this I only recorded the first minutes of making the newsletter.  In the recording, I first practice and work on navigating through Word Art to create my title.  Then I practice adding and making changes to four text boxes.  Next I work on adding a text box where the text uses two columns.  This was something that I could get to work easily in this video.  I after some trials without using the screen recording, I came up with a solution to create the look I wanted.  I edited the newsletter by keeping the text in columns, but without the text box around it.  Then I practiced adding a table into the newsletter for a homework schedule.  I wanted to fill the title boxes only with color.  Also not in the video I added more rows and columns to the table and a Word Art title for the homework schedule.