Noelia's Blog
My high school students just finished working with Microsoft Excel this past trimester and it was a surprising and encouraging experience for all of us. At first I was hesitating about doing a project with this software because I really wasn't so convinced that they would like it and even though I knew they could benefit from it not all students liked working with numbers and charts. So I started thinking what kind of project they could work with in order to make it more appealing and in order to integrate it with other resources so the process wouldn't become boring for them. I then thought about allowing them to think about having their small business in partnership with a classmate. I told them they had to brainstorm with another student (which was chosen randomly) about the kind of business they would like to have, what kind of products will they sale and how would they name their store. They also had to think about the amount of the loan they would borrow from me in order to start their business. I asked them to prepare an expense report using the formulas they had learn in class to calculate the amount they will spent to establish their business, the products in which they spent the most and the amount they will owe or have leftover. The report had to include the products image, description, quantity, the distributor(the website where they bought it), the total amount of the item and the total percentage. Along with the report students had to turn in a paragraph describing their business, the products they were going to sell, the targeted customers, the location and if they were going to buy the local or rent it. Through the process I could actually see them working in teams even if they were not in the same team and asking for feedback to make their reports look better and in the hallways I could hear them asking each other what kind of store you chose? What's the name of your store? The best of all is that I got them working with formulas and calculating with the application instead of using a calculator. They really saw the difference of having to prepare a spreadsheet instead of just writing information in a word processor. I was excited to see them excited and to see them exchanging ideas and helping each other to finish their business. They enjoyed the process because they got engaged by looking for products that they use and like in their real life (skateboards, clothes, technological equipment, music, instruments, video games, etc). Overall I am pleased with the results and the learning experience they got from it.
My Response
What an awesome idea! How creative! I'm glad this great lessons went well… Seems like they really saw the use and purpose of using a spreadsheet which is skill set they can use in life. Also the teamwork component is great! So often we have to work with our colleagues and this definitely prepares them for that. Nice idea to randomly chose their partners!!
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