The Algebra Teacher Powers to B.I.

 Do you need to bring data from multiple files into one table because the column structures, data types, etc. are similar?  Learn how to quickly do this in the video below.   In this video, I showcase how to bring in two different data sources that contain similar data and append/combine them into one table. This is useful to the user so you don’t have to go to the original data source and duplicate data to get what you need all in one table. Also, addressed is the scenario of what if I have different names for my columns or extra columns in one dataset compared to the other. I use some play educational data, but hopefully, you will see how to apply this to your business scenario. 👍   If you enjoy this video and are interested in formal training on Power BI, Power Apps, Azure, or other Microsoft products you can use my code "Matt20" at check out when purchasing our On-Demand Learning classes to get an extra 20% off - https://pragmaticworks.com/pricing/

  If you have geographical data in your data source, using a map visual at some point in your Power BI report is almost a given.   Sometimes, however, the map doesn’t produce the results you were looking for.   For example, Fort Wainwright, Alaska might show up in India or not show up at all.   If you have ever had trouble with your maps not displaying what you know is right let me give you a few tips and tricks.  1)        When you use a map you will have to change the category settings of your column in order for Power BI to know what kind of geography this column represents.   Is it a zip code, a city, a city and a state, etc.? 2)        If you use abbreviations for your states, countries, territories, etc. make sure Power BI doesn’t have to guess what part of the world is using that abbreviation.   To avoid confusion, you want to have in your data source the full name of your state, country, territory,...

While doing Power Apps training with Pragmatic Works, I usually have a common request after students learn that they can delete records.  Someone will usually state they like the usability of the delete function, but are scared to put a delete button on the screen.  Their concern is someone will hit it by mistake and then the record will be gone forever.   There are a few ways to fix this issue.    I did a blog/video several weeks ago that shows how to make a pop-up screen to have your end-user click twice before the record is really deleted.  You can check it out here Deleting Is Scary .  In this week's blog/video, I will show you how you can delete a record from the original source, but then back it up in another data source. To achieve our solution today we will need to meet the following objectives: *   Have two separate data sources that will contain a table/list with the same number of columns, column headers, data types, etc. * Dis...

Since joining Pragmatic Works in March, starting over in a new career after devoting 15 years to teaching middle school,  I've done something each week that I had never done before. Something scary and something brand new: I blogged. Sitting down to write is not something that comes naturally to this former Algebra teacher. However, as my journey through Microsoft's Power Platform has taught me, what may seem foreign one day can soon turn familiar, especially if you feel supported. I've shared my journey with you from the beginning, tips and tricks, and monthly Power BI updates. But today, as I sit down once again to write, it's not data or power queries that are on my mind. It's gratefulness; yes, even in the midst of a global pandemic- the true power of support can cut through all the fears of trying something new.  Oh, how I have been blessed to have been hired by Pragmatic Works, where the POWER of support is truly the heart and soul of the company.   Not onl...

  As always Power BI keeps you on your toes.  It can be hard to stay in the know and keep track of what the newest features are month to month.   Devin and I hope this helps you along your Power BI journey. This month has quite a few updates.   Some as simple as just saving time when selecting data points on a line chart and others way more visually advanced when considering the ArcGIS map visual.   Oh yeah and most important of all Q & A is now featured for three main direct query sources.      If you are like me and don’t always have the time to digest the article that comes out from Microsoft about the updates, check out this monthly digest video  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pu9pFU6mmw .  I hope it can save you some time and help you learn what is new!  

  Who doesn’t want updates to technology? This guy.   I mean, I love them- they are great – I work for a tech company! Haha. But honestly, sometimes updates can induce a feeling of dread as often an “update” is just a euphemism for “something new to learn.”   And don’t these updates seem to come out JUST when you finally feel comfortable with the *last* version that came out?   That’s what happened a month ago with the July Power BI Desktop update.   The Power BI team put out a fantastic new visual Azure Maps visual.   I was excited to start using it but then realized very soon that my data set would not work.   Why?   I didn’t have the latitude and longitude coordinates for my geography table.   This was an easy fix though because I know I could do a merging of queries as long as I could find a good data source of latitude and longitude.   If you are looking for a free resource that has a numerous amount of US latitude and longit...

To slice or to bookmark? Oh, the quandaries of data analysis.  Slicers are cool, but bookmarks might be better- at least in some instances.   Slicers are excellent when you want to dissect your data down to finer detail.   Are slicers complicated to use?   Not really.   Can we give our end users a more web-like feel using bookmarks?   You bet! In this demo , I am going to show you how we can create bookmarks using the selection, filter, and bookmarks pane.   We will not have a slicer visible to our end-user, but the images or buttons we use for our bookmarks will give our end-user the same desired results with a more web-like feel. The most important thing I have found when making bookmarks is to rename all of your images, visuals, and any other object you add to a report page in the selection pane.   This will help avoid confusion throughout the bookmaking process.    

You're probably wondering about that title, huh? Just stay with me.  We all edit our interactions with the people we meet, right? Or sometimes WISH we could go back and edit some of our past interactions! And not just with people we first meet, but people we have known all our lives. There are so many exchanges I wish I could rewind to, filter out an unfortunate reaction or 2 of mine, and then hit “play” again. But I guess that comes with age - - that realization that certain exchanges or unsolicited advice should be taken with a grain of salt, but others should be cared for and cherished because they are more precious than gold.   My mother-in-law calls those “Rocking Chair Memories” -- experiences and visuals in our minds that we can close our eyes and return to once our bodies are not quite as spry as they once were. I am learning to edit my life… I want to make sure I have enough of those memories saved up for my rocking years. Cue Dolly Parton’s “Rockin’Years” classi...

If there is anything constant in the world at this time, it is that you will get an update to your Power BI desktop once a month.  If you are running low on time and want a quick video summary of June’s updates, then you are in the right spot. This video covers all the new updates, but one of my favorite features is being able to add the visual data points to a line chart.   Yeah, I know that might not be the most exciting thing, but coming from a math background and teaching my kids how to graph line charts -- I missed the absence of the dots.  I mean really, how else could we make a line chart before computers without the dots? I hope you enjoy it.

Last week in my blog and video I discussed how Power BI could have made my life as a teacher much easier.  It is not that Power BI can do things that I could not on my own.  It is the fact that Power BI could have saved me so much time.   This led me to some thoughts and questions.   How could I have impacted the students more in the classroom with this extra time?  Would teachers who were not analyzing student data due to time constraints now start?  How can I make the data tell my students a story that gives them an accurate picture of their progress?   That last question is what leads to this week’s blog.   Many times the metrics (which is just a fancy word for "numbers") of what we want to show are easy to do by hand with a basic math background.  Although easy, it can be very time consuming when dealing with different groups of data: like 6 periods of students instead of 1 period. When we want to do these calculations quickl...

If I knew then what I know now is a timeless adage that is most certainly universal. It is one that keeps popping up in my head the more and more I learn about Power BI's capabilities. I can't help but think back to my 15+ years of teaching as my context.  I have two main goals for this week’s blog and demo.   Goal #1 is to show you how I created a report using Power BI with fairly minimal effort. Goal #2 is to walk you through the process of publishing to the service. I wish I knew the basics of Power BI when I was in the teaching profession.   I spent countless hours analyzing my student’s data.   Sure, the district supplied us with some data analysis programs, but those only related to the mandated state and county tests forced upon the students.   I wanted to analyze my students’ performance on my assignments and assessments.   So the long process would begin  downloading the grade book files from our school program into Excel, and then I would...

Power BI is listening.  Not in a creepy way. But in a comforting, "I hear you and am willing to change" way.  Sounds like the perfect significant other, doesn't it!?! Each month Power BI updates its program based on users' comments and input. While this is a phenomenal trait, it does mean that things are changing frequently.  No worries, though. Here's a quick rundown on the latest updates.  APRIL's UPDATE |  Just Watch This MAY'S UPDATE  |  And Then Watch This

DEMO BELOW The power of "what if" has been debated, discussed, deployed, and dreamed about for centuries. It's woven into the fabric of human nature and technology is a product of its power.  Does the IF function have a lot of power in Power BI? Sure .  But where does the power of IF have more power than in the house or in the classroom.  Mr. Peterson, IF I do the extra credit this weekend how much will my grade go up? Mr. Peterson, IF I don’t have any more missing homework assignments for the rest of the quarter will my grade improve? Mr. Peterson, IF we learn all this Algebra you are teaching how will it help me in the real world? "Dad, IF I don’t miss any more chores this week can I pick where we go out to eat tonight” My response, "IF you don’t miss any more chores, THEN you get to pick where we eat Saturday, ELSE mom and I get to pick where we eat." You see IF statements not only get the brain exploring endless possibilities, but they generate a logi...

Up-Up-Down-Down-Left-Right-Left-Right-B-A Up-Up-Down-Down-Left-Right-Left-Right-B-A This was a series of commands, a holy "code" that I whispered to myself over and over again on the walk home from school until it was etched in my 6th-grade brain.  Earlier that day was the first time "the code" was mentioned-- whispered about at the lunch table because my buddy Rick's older brother told him it was "technically a cheat code" and we could all go to jail or worse if we told people we knew.  It was dangerous. It was alluring. And I was eleven walking home to beat Contra for the first time. Twenty-five plus years later and cheat-codes still seem a bit enticing.

Data, especially in the time of quarantine, can make you look REALLY good on paper. Or, on the screen I should say-- or in this case in a table. And if I am being honest- putting all my cards on the table (you're welcome for that pun)- I've definitely tried to use data in building a defense when my wife has called me out on something. Unfortunately for me, she knows how a cherry-picked data table can tell many different stories. Nevertheless, I persist! In this post I discuss: *DAX function CALENDARAUTO *why I broke-up with function CALENDAR *link to a demo I create *how I attempt to use a Date Table to make myself look better to my wife 😁 I’ve really loved learning about DAX functions lately during my deep dive into the world of Power BI.   As you know I have a math teaching background so it is fascinating to see how I can manipulate simple calculations to use time intelligence, override specific filters, and cross reference other tables.   One of the...

I miss sports. In particular, I miss baseball. Between learning more Power BI functions and the ins-and-outs of DAX, I've turned to Netflix to fill the deep caverns left in my soul since baseball season has been postponed. And as a result, I've thought more about tigers and big cats more than I ever have in my life. I know ALL about Carol Baskins and am fully on board for a spin-off centering on locating her lost husband. I've googled "is it really legal to own a tiger in a residential area?" Without baseball in April, I am barely hanging in there (kinda like Joe Exotic's eyebrow ring). So, I am filling the sports-sized hole by using baseball stats in Power BI to demonstrate pulling data from multiple tables and consolidating it into one table.  Some of the data we want to consolidate also has to have some aggregations (which is fancy for "calculations") performed on it.  In this demo I will attempt to break down what is really going on ...

I got a chance in the 2 nd  week of work to help out with  a video  that my company usually likes to post once a month about all the updates that are in the Power BI Desktop.  What’s great about Power BI is that they are constantly asking for user feedback and trying to implement changes the end-user wants.   On the learning side, this can again be  a little overwhelming  because as a newbie, it seems there is always more and more to learn.  As a former teacher though,  I love the learning process and was excited to get a chance to help. Below are some of the things I thought were the most interesting and useful for those of us who are new to the game.  To see all of them in action check out the video.  This was my first time recording so don’t be too critical just yet of my on-air presence.   😉 So, after doing all my online learning and prepping with Power BI I was shocked when I came into the offic...