Spreadsheet Reflection

Alma Wolf
9/13/16
Skill A: Write formulas to make calculations
In my opinion, I have mastered the skill of using the spreadsheet to write formulas and perform
calculations. In Stages II and III, I practiced it many times by making calculators for different
formulas and operations. I set up calculators for speed, distance, time, area of a circle, area of a
square, area of a triangle, volume of a cube, and circumference of a circle. There is a
screenshot of my Stage III spreadsheet below. If a problem arose where I needed to perform a
simple calculation multiple times, I would definitely enter the data into a spreadsheet and write a
formula to do the work for me.

Skill B: Use formatting tools to make spreadsheets visually pleasing and easy to
understand
I also feel that I have mastered this skill. As you can see in the screenshot below, I used
conditional formatting to color some cells in Stage II in an alternating pattern. I also color coded
the columns in Stage III so that it would be easier to distinguish between different values and
formulas. Conditional formating was a function of the spreadsheet that I had not used until this
workshop, and I think it is very cool and useful. I definitely plan on using this feature in future
projects. I also mastered the skills of merging cells, changing the colors and borders, and

wrapping text. Some of these features I had used before in spreadsheets, but it was good to
have my memory refreshed.

Skill C: Drag cells to progress patterns

This is another skill that I feel I have mastered. I used the dragging function in spreadsheets
before this workshop, and I used it again for Stages I, III, and IV. In Stage I, I entered a few
times (e.g. 8:00, 9:00, 10:00) and then dragged down to fill in the list of times. In Stage III, I
entered each formula for my simple calculators once, then dragged down to repeat the formula
in the next row. In Stage IV, I wrote equations and found a table of values by dragging the first
row. In the screenshot below, you can see the second row that has the formula that was
dragged from the first row.

Skill D: Create dropdown menus

I am still struggling with this skill. For the spreadsheet workshop, it was my goal to finish all ten
stages. However, I found that it took me more time than anticipated on each stage. Admittedly,
there were some days where I was distracted in class and didnt work as much as I should
have. So, I did not get to a stage where I used dropdown menus. I have not used this function
before, so I am still not sure how to do it.

Skill E: Write conditional formulas

Unfortunately, this is also a skill that I am struggling with. I did not get to the stage that requires
use of conditional formulas. I would still really like to learn how to do this, but I did not achieve it
during the spreadsheet workshop.

Skill F: Layout adjustable parameters for repeated calculations

Regrettably, I am also unsure on how to perform this skill.

Skill G: Calculate averages and totals

In this skill, I would say I am highly proficient. I have used these functions of a spreadsheet
before, so I have an idea of how to do them. In Stage II, I added some cells together and then
used conditional formatting to color them. You can see this in the image below. I also noticed
that if you highlight a row of cells, the total of their values will appear in the bottom right corner
of the sheet. I decided that I am only proficient at this skill because I am not exactly sure how to
calculate an average. I know if you type in AVG, the average function will appear, but I did not
use this in the workshop.

Skill H: Graph sets of data

I feel that I have mastered this skill. I have used the graphing function of spreadsheets many
times before, for a plethora of different projects. I used it multiple times in Stage I and Stage IV.
Each time, I adjusted the advanced settings of my graphs, changing the title and axis titles of
my graph. In Stage I, I used multiple different types of graphs to compare different
representations of data. It was not difficult for me to discern which graphs were relevant, and
which had no meaning with the data set. You can see some of these graphs below. I feel very
comfortable with graphing all kinds of data using this function of a spreadsheet.

Skill I: Graph equations

I also feel that I have mastered the skill of graphing equations. I mostly did this task in Stage IV,
and I chose to also do the challenges. I wrote different types of equations, then I used the
equation to find a table of values for the graph. I wrote the equation in the first row, then
dragged the cells to progress the pattern and come up with a list. This did not require any
computation from me. I made a linear graph, an absolute value graph, and a quadratic graph.
Below, you can see a screenshot of a these advanced graphs. Now that I know how to graph
equations in a spreadsheet, I fully intend on doing this in my other math classes.

Skill J: Search for and apply advanced functions

Unfortunately, this is also a skill that I feel I am struggling with. I did not get to the stage of the
workshop where this was required of me. I think I have an idea of how to search for advanced
functions, but I have not yet played with them or applied any.