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Session 3. Slides, Spreadsheets and Forms: Small Tools for Real Jobs
Objective. Make one clear slide, one small spreadsheet with a total and an average, and one short form for a real classroom job, each with a paper version.
Slides, spreadsheets and forms are three of the simplest tools a teacher can use, and each is easy to misuse. A slide can bury the idea under text, a spreadsheet can quietly hold a wrong total, and a form can collect answers that nobody uses. This page goes a little deeper into two habits that make these tools worth the effort: letting formulas count, and asking only questions that lead to a decision.
Key ideas
One tool, one job
- A slide helps you show. A spreadsheet helps you count and keep track. A form helps you collect answers from many people in one place.
- Start with the job and the lesson goal, then pick the tool. If the board, a ruled grid or a slip of paper does the job as well, use that.
- The skills are the same in every program. Names of menus differ, so learn the idea, not the buttons.
One clear slide
- One idea per slide. Few words, large letters, strong contrast and one clear picture or diagram. Detail goes on the handout.
- Write the pupil's task on the slide as a verb: 'Compare 3/8 and 5/8', not 'Fractions'. Use the same layout and colours on every slide.
- Test it: can a pupil in the back row tell in a few seconds what to do? Keep the paper copy ready for the same slide.
A small spreadsheet
- Rows are pupils, columns are tasks, and each box is a cell with a name such as B2. Write clear headings and the maximum mark above each column.
- Let the formula count: =SUM(B2:E2) for a pupil's total and =AVERAGE(B2:B7) for a task average. Do not type totals by hand; a typed number cannot warn you when a mark changes.
- Check one row by hand. Keep a copy before big changes. If the file is shared, use pupil numbers instead of full names.
A short form that you will really use
- Three to five questions. Each one checks the lesson objective or asks what to do next. Use a mix: one choice, one short answer, one confidence scale.
- Ask only what you need. Do not collect phone numbers, addresses, photos or other personal data from pupils or parents.
- Write the form on paper first. A slip handed out and collected is a form too. Count the answers, then decide: re-teach, regroup or move on.
Three tools, three jobs
Slide
Show
- One idea, large letters
- Check: read it from the back row
- Paper twin: printed copy or board
Spreadsheet
Count
- Formulas, not typed totals
- Check: add one row by hand
- Paper twin: ruled grid
Form
Collect
- Three to five questions
- Check: can I act on the answers?
- Paper twin: slip and tally
Why a formula beats a typed total
A formula such as =SUM(B2:E2) refers to cells, so when you change a mark the total changes with it. A number typed by hand does not know that anything changed. Write the formula once, then copy it down the column so every row is calculated in the same way, and keep the original marks as plain numbers.
Small habits protect the sheet. Put a clear heading above each column and the maximum mark beside it. Leave an absent pupil's cell empty or use a separate column for notes, because text such as 'absent' in a number cell can disturb a calculation. Check one row by hand every time you build or change the sheet. If you share the file, use pupil numbers instead of full names.
Questions that lead to a decision
A form is useful only if the answers change what you do next. Before you write a question, finish the sentence 'If most pupils answer this way, I will...'. If you cannot, delete the question. Three to five questions are enough: one that checks the objective, one that asks pupils to explain in a few words, and one that asks how sure they feel.
Good wrong answers make a choice question informative. If you offer 3/8 as a wrong answer to 'Which is larger, 3/8 or 5/8?', the pupils who choose it show you a specific confusion. A tally on paper tells you the same thing as a screen, so start with a slip of paper and move to a screen only when you have so many answers that counting becomes slow.
Examples from the classroom
A markbook that does the adding
Scene. Malika teaches Grade 6 in Fergana and has 30 pupils with four marks each. She builds a sheet with the pupils in rows and the tasks in columns and writes =SUM(B2:E2) once, then copies it down. When she corrects one mark of 6 to 7, the total changes at once. At the end of the term she checks one row by hand and finds no error. She saves an evening of rechecking.
Insight. Formulas keep totals honest when marks change, and one hand check gives confidence.
A wrong answer worth having
Scene. Aziz teaches Grade 5 in Tashkent and ends a lesson on comparing fractions with a paper slip: 'Which is larger, 3/8 or 5/8?' Of 30 pupils, 21 write 5/8, five write 3/8 and four say they are equal. He tallies the slips in two minutes. The five pupils who chose 3/8 become the target of a five-minute number-line mini-lesson at the start of the next class.
Insight. A chosen wrong answer pointed to one specific confusion and told Aziz what to do next.
One idea on the slide
Scene. Dilnoza teaches Grade 4 Uzbek language in Samarkand. Her slide shows a photo of a bazaar and one line in large letters: 'Find three adjectives that describe the bazaar.' She checks it from the last row and prints the same slide on A4. When the projector bulb fails, she holds up the sheet and the lesson goes on with only one minute lost.
Insight. One idea, a verb for the pupils to act on and a paper twin made the slide robust.
Common pitfalls
- Typing totals by hand and trusting them without any check.
- Putting words such as 'absent' or '9/10' into cells that formulas will add.
- Writing a form with ten questions and then reading none of the answers.
- Asking for pupils' phone numbers, addresses or photos when the lesson needs only an answer.
Paper Slide, Paper Markbook, Paper Form
- Paper slide (10 min): on an A5 sheet, draw one slide for a topic from your next lesson with a marker: a task verb, one picture, very few words. Hold it at the front and let a partner judge from the back row.
- Paper markbook (10 min): in pairs, work on the marks table in the kit. Calculate each total and each task average by hand, write the formula for row 2 and for task 1, and find the typed totals that are wrong.
- Paper form (10 min): write a four-question exit ticket for a lesson you teach soon, mark each question type, and cross out any question that asks for personal data. Swap and answer your partner's form.
- Read the results (5 min): use the sample tally in the kit (30 answers). Say what you learn and what you do in the next 5 minutes of that lesson.
Your facilitator will guide you through this activity in the session.
Questions to discuss
- What did you remove from your paper slide to make it readable?
- Why is a formula safer than a total typed by hand? Where could a typed error hurt a pupil?
- What decision did your form's results let you make, and how fast?
Reflect
- Which task of yours could a small spreadsheet take over this month?
- What was the last slide you made that had too many words? What would you cut?
- Which question would you stop asking pupils because you never use the answer?
Try it tomorrow
- Build a six-row markbook on paper this week and write the formulas for one row and one column.
- End one lesson with a slip of paper with a single choice question, and plan your next five minutes from the tally.
- Take your busiest slide and split it into two, each with one idea and one task verb.
Further reading and links
Pick the tool for the job, keep slides to one idea, let formulas do the counting, and ask forms only for what you will use.