I've always placed a huge emphasis on not only interpreting data in my class, but also the importance of students organizing and presenting their own data in a professional manner. Over the past few years I have moved away from having my students make pen and paper graphs (a skill have already covered in elementary school) and have required them to create digital graphs in Google Sheets. These graphs can easily be inserted into Slides and Docs, giving student presentations and lab reports a more polished, professional look.
I made this switch for two main reasons:
When first introducing this to students I share a Sheet template on Classroom. I give students the handout below. I prefer to give them a paper copy of these directions rather than sharing it on classroom to prevent students from feeling overwhelmed switching between different tabs when learning a new skill. I've found that my students also do better with following multistep directions when they are printed out rather than on a screen. After the activity, the students keep these steps in their binder to refer to for future activities.
This activity only takes one period. For students that finish early I ask them to start experimenting with changing the background color, text color, font, and text size on their graphs. Students that excel in digital graphing can place their names on our class Geek Squad board. Students that are having difficulty can go to the board and find a classmate with any graphing questions they may have.
You can make a copy of the directions in Google Docs by clicking here.
- I believe that digital graphing is an important skill that will be required of my students in college and possibly their future careers.
- My students preferred it to traditional graph paper data presentations they have done in the past. Note: When teaching a freshman class how to make digital graphs one student yelled out "This is raw!" which I believe is the highest compliment you can receive about your instruction from a fifteen year old.
When first introducing this to students I share a Sheet template on Classroom. I give students the handout below. I prefer to give them a paper copy of these directions rather than sharing it on classroom to prevent students from feeling overwhelmed switching between different tabs when learning a new skill. I've found that my students also do better with following multistep directions when they are printed out rather than on a screen. After the activity, the students keep these steps in their binder to refer to for future activities.
This activity only takes one period. For students that finish early I ask them to start experimenting with changing the background color, text color, font, and text size on their graphs. Students that excel in digital graphing can place their names on our class Geek Squad board. Students that are having difficulty can go to the board and find a classmate with any graphing questions they may have.
You can make a copy of the directions in Google Docs by clicking here.