Productivity Tools Continued

PRIOR TO CLASS
Please sign the attendance sheet as you enter class this morning. This sheet will be placed on the table each day. It is your responsibility to make sure you sign it. Remember that attendance is part of your final grade.

PART ONE: Creating seating charts with PowerPoint

MS PowerPoint is a dynamic software tool that allows you to create presentations. PowerPoint provides you with the opportunity to list information, display graphics (including animations), concept maps, and tables. Short movies, hyperlinks, and music may also be embedded in PowerPoint presentations. We will spend more class time learning about PowerPoint later in the semester.

For this part of the Productivity Tools project you will learn to use the drawing tools in PowerPoint to create a seating chart. Don't forget that these same drawing tools can be used in all Office applications (Word, Excel, etc.) Here are some sites which provide more information about PowerPoint:
PowerPoint in the Classroom
Integrating PowerPoint
Using PowerPoint in the Classroom

Tomorrow you'll have a short seminar on creating Excel spreadsheets, locating worksheets online, and tips for writing your portfolio reflection. With these sessions, you'll have all of the tools and resources you need to complete your task by Thursday, June 15.

PART TWO: FINDING A WORKSHEET
Now that you are familiar with locating and customizing templates to create newsletters, hall passes, business cards, etc., your remaining tasks for the Productivity Tools Project are to create a pictograph in Excel, create an attendance/grade book record, create a worksheet, and write a reflection on productivity tools in teaching and learning.

To find a worksheet to customize, there are two useful websites: Discovery School Teaching Tools and Education World. Another interesting place to find a "worksheet" is at Vicki Blackwell's website.

PART THREE: CREATING DOCUMENTS IN EXCEL:
MS Excel is the final tool we will take a look at in the MS Office Suite of applications. Excel is a spreadsheet application that is used by accountants, office managers, and small businesses. It allows you to create tabular data, work with numbers and charts in a variety of manners.

As educators, there are number of ways we can use excel: as a record keeping tool (attendance), grades, gather and display data (graphs and charts), etc.

Classroom Excel Resources

To Excel in the Classroom

MS Excel Modules

Today I will walk you through how to create a pictograph in Excel for one of your assignments in the productivity tools project. You'll use a handout to create the attendance/grade book record.

For Wednesday:
1. Continue working on your Productivity Tools Project. It is due at the beginning of class on Thursday, June 15.
2. Contact Maggie Hu if you are interested in participating in her research study on electronic portfolios. You will earn an extra late pass if you participate in her study. Her email address is: maggiehu.china@gmail.com