Do you have a backup plan?

Have you ever wondered what would happen to everyone’s grades that are stored in a central database, if it were to malfunction or shut down? Well the answer is simple, if the teacher of the students didn’t have a backup file stored somewhere, then the grades would simply be lost, and the process to rerecord those grades would involve into a long strenuous process. Don’t think it could happen? Well it has happened, and is more than likely to happen again. The best solution to this is to have a backup file that is stored on a hard drive, or other type of resource that will be available to you, the teacher that way if the central database were to crash or be down at a “bad” time, you would have a backup, and would save yourself all of the hassle of tracking down the grades earned by individual students.

So exactly, how would you go about storing the student’s data in a safe and reliable source? Well the best way that I believe to do this is to use the Microsoft Excel Application to store the information on. With the use of this application you can set up every student with their grades for individual activities, quizzes, papers, tests, and more on. With this application not only will you have a backup when needed, but you will be able to figure out the class, and total points received with just a few formulas typed into the application.

But that’s not all you can do with the Excel program. The Excel program also allows the teacher to put important data that needs to be compared, in order to help the overall progress of the class. It does this by allowing you to put what ever data you chose into charts and tables that allow you to see trends in the data easily. Along with building upon the viewing of the data within the Excel program, is the way to demonstrate the data to the parents/guardians of the students. With the Excel program you are able to hide all of the student’s grades except for the one(s) that need to be shown to the parent/guardian when parent/teacher conferences need to be addressed.

All in all the Excel program can be considered a life saver to those teachers that find they need a backup plan, or need to display student data in a clean cut professional way, that is quick and easy.