Need some tips and suggestions for making your Microsoft Office lesson plans the best they can be for you and your students?
Presenting activities from PowerPoint on Mac 2:28 Learn how to install the Mac Poll Everywhere PowerPoint app. Insert activities into your deck, and present them directly from PowerPoint to get live audience feedback.
On this page we're share the best ideas for these areas:
- Microsoft Word lesson plans
- Microsoft Excel lesson plans
- Microsoft PowerPoint lesson plans
- Microsoft Access lesson plans
- Microsoft Publisher lesson plans
- Microsoft Office certification prep
Check out this video to learn whether these lesson plans are right for you!
Now, before we dive into the good stuff, keep these things on top of your mind when creating or updating your lesson plans:
Keep It Engaging
Computer applications lessons aren’t always the most engaging for students. So how can you improve?
In an article, entitled Kids Speak Out on Student Engagement on Edutopia, Heather Wolpert-Gawron interviewed her 8th graders to see what exactly they found engaging in the classroom.
Keep It In Context
No matter how amazing you think that new lesson or activity is, it better be in a good context for your students. Let’s face it, without context, content can often miss its mark, or at least miss making a lasting mark on your students.
If your students have ever asked “Why am I learning this?” or “How is this going to help me in the real world?” you know how important making a connection is. This post has a couple of tips that you might want check out.
Now that you’re thinking about engagement and context, take a look at these articles and ideas to really make the most of your Microsoft Office lesson plans.
1. Microsoft Word Lesson Plans
If you’re like most educators searching for Microsoft Office lesson plans, the first place to start is with Word.
Rather than spend hours creating your own Microsoft Word lesson plans and activities, wouldn’t you like some that you can just integrate into your existing curriculum?
That’s where this post can help: Microsoft Word Lesson Plans to Wow Your Students
It’s got a number of resources that you can use to teach Word 2010 or Word 2013 to your students.
Want more than just lesson plans?
Business&ITCenter21 has lessons, quizzes, and projects to teach your students all about Microsoft Word.
It starts off with Microsoft Word Fundamentals, giving your students the basics of the application.
Once they have mastered the basics, your students can move onto the Skills Project which puts their skills to the test, requiring them to start from scratch and fully create a document.
If you want to take it one step further, you can assign the Microsoft Word Business Project, which requires the students to create a Job Description booklet using more advanced skills.
2. Microsoft Excel Lesson Plans
Let’s face it — Excel isn’t the most exciting Microsoft application out there. So what can you do to spice up your Microsoft Excel lesson plans? Make them relevant to your students!
If your students understand how they can use Excel in everyday life, they’re much more likely to pay attention. For example, the first part of our Microsoft Excel Fundamentals module introduces your students to formulas and cell references when editing a pancake recipe.
You can learn more about the module, and where to find other Microsoft Excel lesson plans and resources here.
For even more resources and lessons for Excel, read this Quick Guide to Excel Lesson Plans.
3. Microsoft PowerPoint Lesson Plans
PowerPoint is sometimes considered to be overused in schools, both by instructors and students. Because of this, it’s important that your Microsoft PowerPoint lesson plans are right on par (or above and beyond!)
Your PowerPoint lessons should be more than just a How-To. You must make sure that your students understand how a presentation can effectively (and ineffectively) be used. Don’t put them down that path of 20 tiny bullets on each slide!
In the Microsoft PowerPoint Fundamentals module we have a full lesson on Effective Presentations. You can learn more about the module, and where to find other PowerPoint lessons here.
For other PowerPoint lessons and resources, check out this post: Spice Up Your PowerPoint Lesson Plans
4. Microsoft Access Lesson Plans
Microsoft Access can be a challenging subject for middle school and high school students. So it’s no surprise that Microsoft Access lesson plans are a challenge for computer applications teachers.
What are you doing to teach your students about databases? A big part of it is making the lesson plans interesting. Remember, it doesn’t matter how great you think they are if they’re not relevant to your students!
To make databases and data science interesting to your students, you should go beyond the normal explanations.
We have a full module on Microsoft Access as part of Business&ITCenter21. You can read through our lesson plans and projects here. You might be able to use these ideas in your classroom!
5. Microsoft Publisher Lesson Plans
Do you give Microsoft Publisher its fair share of attention? Many computer applications educators fail to include Microsoft Publisher lesson plans in their curriculum. Maybe they don’t teach their students about Publisher because they don’t know where to find good lessons.
Read this article to learn where you can find some lessons to teach your students about desktop publishing.
![Students Students](https://www.freepptbackgrounds.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Sweet-Cartoon-Frame-PPT-Backgrounds.jpg)
6. Microsoft Office Certification Prep
We know that many instructors searching for Microsoft Office lesson plans are also interested in preparing their students for the Microsoft Office Specialist certification. To help your students prepare for certification, you most likely need more than just a lesson or two. It might be beneficial to also include test prep material to help your students prepare.
![Students Students](http://royal-dogs.com/gallery/microsoft-for-mac-student.jpg)
For some tips on how to best prepare your students for certification, check out these articles:
Start Teaching Microsoft Office Skills
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