Oh Excel we meet again...

Activity Reflection #2

I approached this week like I do all others… I read the module first (gives you a good overview and resources), I then read the chapter assigned to us in our textbook (again, informative, but not too much info. I didn’t know before), then I opened the PDF for the activity.  I then swallowed a cry, my nemesis has reared its head again… that’s right people, I do not get along with Excel!  You might say we have a hate – hate relationship, permanently.  The darn formulas never work right for me, even with all the helpful tutorials…

Ok, deep breath; I figure I should at least read the instructions before I go into full panic mode and have to sequester myself in a room and cry before I can do my homework. 

Ok, I can do step 1, I’m comfortable editing the context on just about any document format.  Step 2, no problem, I can insert columns, rows, cells… shoot I could have done a dancing dragon insert, that’s not my problem.  Ah… steps 3, 4, and 5 is where I have a small heart attack.  As I mentioned I can create a column and name it whatever you want it, but the formulas and I are so NOT on the same page.  So I asked the ‘help’ feature for help… didn’t like it.  I looked at the neat resources on our module, helpful, but again, not quite making sense to my non-Excel friendly brain. 

So what is one to do?  Easy, do it the hard way.  Therefore the first cell of each column had the ‘average’ function placed into it and after making sure the correct cells were selected and the end result (the product for the math teachers out there) was confirmed to be correct by my trusty cell phone calculator, I copy and special pasted the formula only onto the remaining 30 cells for that column.  Repeat process for the next two rows (obviously changing which values were to be averaged).  Grand total 30 minutes of messing with the Excel spreadsheet. 

Steps 6-8 were easy enough to do (I can sort no problem, I can highlight and bold and I can sure as hell copy and paste my way out of any pesky issues like names!).  Was this the most effective way to do our homework?  Probably not.  Was it the most effective way for me? YES!  What happened to step 9?  Answer: step 9 is the reason I don’t have an accounting degree, even with the hint it have me a head ache.

I know what Kelvin will most likely say.  Mrs. Stewart, you need to know how to use these tools to be able to effectively judge your students and to have numerical data to back up your results (the parents/principals like that sort of concrete data).  I know this, I need to play with Excel some more.  I admit, due to my lack of success with all previous attempts at it, I have not been a fan and therefore avoid it like the plague.  But I know what challenges are ahead and how important Excel type programs are in education.  I’ll have to sit through a few more tutorials and play with it some more.  Although I will say that Brevard County uses a similarish program but it’s not Excel (you can add columns and stuff on it too), so I can’t run away from it.  Maybe next semester when I see it every day during my internship I’ll feel better about it.  Until then I cringe at the thought of Excel formulas in my future.

So what did I learn regarding this week’s homework?  I learned that if need be I can actually do an Excel assignment without a mental break down.  I learned that I can’t run away from something just because I don’t like it (this lesson keeps coming around more and more as a grown up, irritating really).  I learned there are good resources out there, I might just have to be more patient with them (bookmarked said resources will go back to them later on to play with Excel).  I also learned that the students in the spreadsheet while not superb where doing ok (as per the graph chart I later made out of the results). And hopefully from your comments I will learn that I am not alone in my fear of Excel.