I will admit, I do not use Microsoft Excel a whole lot in the classroom. I use it once a month to calculate my mileage that I have driven for work. However, I know a ton of people, especially my roommate from college who spend the majority of their day looking at Excel spread sheets and picking out a specific chunks of data. He knows the ins and outs of Excel.
However, I do know a few capabilities of Excel. For instance you could create a timeline with multiple visuals. This is a huge benefit as I like to put visuals with almost any handout that I create. Also, I will occasionally use Excel to create a chart or a graph for a
research paper that I am working on for grad class. I find this experience stress free because the charts are clearly labeled and easy to manipulate. Additionally, Excel can be used to keep a grade book, if your district doesn't have an alternative software. Other then the rare opportunity to use Excel, I fully neglect this powerful program.
Microsoft Excel is a great tool to have in your tool bag. This program
not only benefits people in education but also people in all walks of
life such as business. Excel is great for compiling data and sorting
through it in a quick and efficient manner. As time goes forward I would like to increase my skills in Excel because it can make tasks more efficient and less frustrating if I was to use another program.
I completely agree about not using excel that much within the classroom setting. I find myself creating tables in word before I use excel. This week I forced myself to use excel to create my parent teacher conference sign up sheet and it turned out awesome! It was a lot cleaner than using Microsoft Word. You could also create a chart or a graph with the students if you were taking a poll on a topic. Lastly, I really like that you acknowledged that Excel benefits a wide range of professions not just educators.
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