“Build relationships with a spreadsheet”

Jennifer Gonzalez

Cult of Pedagogy Source: https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/spreadsheet-relationships

In her insightful article, “Build Relationships with a Spreadsheet,” educator Jennifer Gonzalez shares a practical and transformative strategy for fostering stronger connections with students: using a spreadsheet to track and remember personal information gathered through student surveys. While many teachers begin the year with “getting to know you” questionnaires, Gonzalez reflects on a common pitfall—reading those surveys once and then forgetting them.

Initially, Gonzalez loved the tradition of having students share favorite books, interests, or important personal notes at the start of each school year. However, the responses often went underutilized, left in a file that she seldom revisited. This resulted in missed opportunities to acknowledge and connect with students in more meaningful, personalized ways.

The breakthrough came when she created a comprehensive spreadsheet. Each student’s name was listed in the leftmost column, with each survey question across the top as headers. She then manually entered all 120+ students’ responses into the grid. The result was a dynamic, year-round tool that became a relational goldmine. If she wanted to remember which student loved Twix, had a new puppy, or was a huge Stranger Things fan, she could find it instantly.

More than just a reference tool, the spreadsheet evolved into a living document. Gonzalez added new columns as students shared personal updates throughout the year—such as family illnesses or new hobbies—capturing those important moments in students' lives. This allowed her to follow up later with sincerity and consistency, reinforcing trust and care.

Another unexpected benefit was that the spreadsheet visually highlighted relational gaps. Students with many blank fields in their rows were often those who were quieter or more reserved—students who might otherwise fly under the radar. The spreadsheet offered a concrete way to spot these patterns and prompted Gonzalez to take intentional steps to better know those students, rather than focusing attention only on the naturally outgoing ones.

In today’s classroom, technology makes this process even easier. Teachers can collect survey responses using a Google Form, which automatically populates a spreadsheet. This eliminates the need for time-consuming manual entry and provides an efficient, scalable solution for teachers working with large student rosters.

Gonzalez emphasizes that while most educators already gather student input at the beginning of the year, the key is to make that information actionable and accessible. By revisiting and updating a centralized spreadsheet regularly, teachers can build deeper, more equitable relationships with all students—not just the most vocal or visible.

The takeaway is simple but powerful: Relationships grow through intentional attention. A well-maintained spreadsheet serves as a relational compass, helping teachers track student stories, notice who's been overlooked, and show students they matter in personalized, ongoing ways.

Gonzalez’s strategy is not about adding one more task to an already full plate—it’s about making the tools we already use work harder and smarter for us and our students.

Original Article

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Prepared with the assistance of AI software

OpenAI. (2025). ChatGPT (4) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com