Tech of The Week: Save Time by Linking Data

I use Google Sheets to keep track of a lot of data in my classes. This data has a tendency to become tedious because I gamify my classroom. This means that I have sheets that I use to keep up with XP (experience points students earn each day), another sheet that communicates that information to a Leaderboard, and another that communicates the information to a badge tracker. (Want to learn about gamification? Check out this post!)

To clarify, each time you create a Google Sheet Doc, it’s called a Workbook. You can create different Sheets within a single Workbook, and it’s simple to have them communicate with each other.

I could just use one Workbook and have separate sheets within that workbook. It’s easy to link data that way and you don’t have to worry about linking separate workbooks. The problem is, I use Flippity Templates for the Leaderboard and Badge Tracker, so they have to be in separate Workbooks. I show you how to use Flippity HERE.

Here’s what the workbook looks like:

Here’s how Flippity makes it look online:

My goal is to only have to put the points into the XP Tracking Workbook every week, have it add up the total for me, and then automatically communicate that information to the Leaderboard Workbook so that I don’t even have to open that one.

Here’s what I do (be sure to grab the free cheat sheet for reference):

1. Open the Workbooks I want to link.
2. Be sure the final column on the XP Tracker is set to auto add the total of each of the weekly rows.
3. Grab the URL from the top of the XP Tracker Workbook.
4. Go to the Leaderboard Workbook. Click on the desired cell (in this case, I’ll be doing it for each cell in column C).

Type:
=IMPORTRANGE(“paste URL delete back to edit” , “Sheet1!column letter row number”)

Sample:
=IMPORTRANGE(“https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XkDkH86zahrmy3tpuXMIP9SkCuECyl3v2gXElMPPqoQ/edit”, “Sheet1!AL2”)

5. Copy that information from the first cell and paste it into every other cell you will be using in that column.
6. Go back through and edit each cell to reflect the column letter and row number you want it linked to. (You will probably only be changing row numbers and probably in numerical order straight down.) This part is tedious, but there is a SHORTCUT:
-Click the first cell you entered the information into.
-Place the cursor on the lower right corner of the cell.
-Drag it down to all of the other cells you want to populate.
-Go back and check–sheets should have auto updated for you AND changed the linked cells in order (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7…).

Now when you enter your weekly data, your Leaderboard will automatically update!

Print This for Reference When You Try It!

And don’t forget to check out last week’s Tech of The Week: Make The Internet Your Classroom with Insert Learning.