Somewhere, walking in a hallway right now, a student feels like a ghost.

They walk past the trophy cases and the lockers, but they don’t feel like they "fit" at school.  They sit in the back of assemblies, their name is rarely called unless for a missing assignment, and they know that if they don’t show up tomorrow, no one will care to mention it.

As school leaders, this keeps us up at night.  We didn't enter education to analyze database records; we entered it to change lives.  But when actionable data is buried in clunky Student Information Systems, it’s difficult to see the child behind the data.

At Spreadsheets for Schools, we believe that the right tools shouldn’t just organize data - they should illuminate students’ stories.  Here are three humanizing tools to help teachers and staffs bridge the gap between "numbers in a database" and "students in a community".

1. Who I Am

The Who I Am application uses a student questionnaire to gather personal insights at the start of the year.  Using automation running in the background, the system ensures that a personalized automated email is sent to the teacher's inbox each morning with one student’s bio and a specific question to ask each student each day.

Outcome: Within the first 30-40 days of school, teachers will have initiated a personal conversation with every student about something each student cares about.  This tool utilizes data to drive positive interactions with students in the most formative early days of the school year.

2. Two Truths and a Lie

This next-level Two Truths and a Lie application adapts the classic lie-detector game for the classroom, focusing on classmates learning conversation starters for each other.  The custom code also generates fun metrics like the best and worst liars (who writes convincing lies), the best and worst lie detectors (who detects others’ truths well), and instances of “voter fraud”.  

Outcome: Within the first month, students learn relatable details for their peers that can inform their choices in elbow partners in seating charts, group partners for projects, and conversation starters around common interests.  

3. Student Involvement

A crucial sign of student belonging is extracurricular engagement.  This application systematically tracks student involvement by making it easy to take and track attendance at every club meeting, sporting event, and other campus activities.  

Outcome: Effective leaders know which specific students lack an extracurricular connection to their school. This knowledge allows leaders to proactively target at-risk students for involvement opportunities through staff mentors, peer buddies, and get-involved initiatives. 

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At Spreadsheets for Schools, we build the technological bridges that allow you to stop deep dives into databases and start looking into the eyes of your students.  We take the "busy work" of data entry and turn it into the "heart work" of building a community where every student knows they belong.