Techno Teacher

It’s early in your teaching career and you’re looking for the most efficient ways to communicate with your students – and not just information about field trips and class events. Yes, Microsoft Word is the ideal application to create a class newsletter, but have you considered all of the other tasks you could accomplish easily using Office Tools, including delivering instruction?

Q: I only use Word to type documents. What else can I do with this program?

A: There are many ways you can use Word to help prepare classroom documents and make designing them easier. With the 2007 version, there are even new tabs and toolbars that make the process extremely simple. Highlight important text, change headings and styles, and adjust color themes. And, very useful for the classroom – insert charts and graphics into your worksheets or documents to add interest, especially for visual learners. Also remember that graphic organizers are very effective for helping students organize and remember information, and these can easily be put into any presentation or paper using Word.

Q: My school district only provides an older version of this software. Is it still worth using it?

A: It is definitely worthwhile to continue using an older version of Office. Not every school has the funding to have the latest software, and older versions can still be effective for preparing the materials you need to. While you won’t have all of the toolbars or special features, there are still several options available to you, and you can still use Office to make your life easier.

Q: What is an example of a student project using Office Tools?

A: Recently, a local sixth grade language arts class used Microsoft to publish their personal brochures with a professional look. They spent multiple sessions in the school computer lab, perfecting their layout, organizing columns and adding images and graphics. Many students changed the look of their brochure by altering their fonts and colors, and each final product was highly unique. There are many similar projects that can help students achieve curriculum goals while expanding their technology skills.

Q: How can using Office Tools make my instruction more appealing to students with varying learning styles?

A: By inserting graphics, charts, and organizers into your instruction, all learners will be aided by seeing a visual connection to the information you are presenting. For visual learners, this addition can be even more useful, as they can begin to understand the curriculum better through these additional features. Whether you’re using Publisher or Word to create a class document, Excel in a math lesson, or a PowerPoint presentation in social studies, Office Tools can make your instruction appealing to students with a wide variety of learning styles.

Q: What are some ways I could incorporate PowerPoint into my classroom?

A: PowerPoint presentations in your classroom are a highly effective way of presenting information in an interesting and interactive format. Visit our tutorial on this page for information on inserting sound, video, and links into your PowerPoint document. Insert varied text styles and graphics to add visual interest. Try PowerPoint presentations in areas across the curriculum, but don’t do it every day – keep it interesting for the students! Let older students (individually or in groups) create their own PowerPoint to present to the class.

Q: Excel seems complicated to me. Are there resources available to help me figure out how to use this – and why would I want to anyway?

A: Excel is the Office component that most teachers express having less experience with, and information that helps educators specifically explore its features is not found so much as highly complex tutorials. Please visit our tutorial on this page for an example on calculating averages between class grades to compare data; many of the steps will also help you learn the basics of inserting data into a spreadsheet. Excel can be useful to you as a teacher in a variety of ways – to use in math lessons and for your personal use in keeping records and calculating grades.

The truth is, whether you’re a new teacher or a seasoned veteran, there are many ways you can incorporate use of Microsoft Tools into your instruction and teaching tasks, saving you time, the commodity with the highest value in this profession.