Thing+3

=Welcome to Thing 3!=

You will be learning
 * how to create an event/meeting
 * how to use the task list
 * how to send and accept event invitations
 * how to share your calendar with others
 * print a hard copy of your calendar, either with appointments or blank

Overview
Time is precious. We only have so many hours in a day and none of us want to spend those hours fruitlessly searching for scraps of papers with our most important meetings, events, and reminders of things to do. You are already using Outlook daily for your email messages. The Calendar and Task features within Outlook can add to your productivity by helping to keep you organized. The calendar in Outlook can be created in either the web version of Anderson District One's email or through the desktop version on your computer. You can schedule appointments, create a to do list, invite others to attend meetings or events, and can print a hard copy of your calendar. The task list is a handy place for not only writing a to-do list, but also for leaving notes about the task, scheduling a completion date, and setting reminders. You can share your calendar with almost anyone.

Note: Many of the Outlook calendar functions are not available when you are using the web access. If you did not already do this in Thing 2, create a shortcut on your computer desktop to Outlook and use the full program.

Ideas for the Classroom

 * Use the calendar to keep track of parent conferences, IEP meetings, and team meetings. Share your calendar with your administrator and PLC for their planning purposes.
 * Enter student birthdays and reminders so you remember to acknowledge them on their special day.
 * Use the task function to create to-do lists and to keep track of your completion progress.
 * Email parents an event invitation when scheduling conferences.

Your Task
Your task will be to create a calendar for the next few days. Include those items that you would normally leave on sticky notes surrounding your computer. Set up a task for items with a planned date of completion and check them off as you finish them. Share your calendar with someone in your PLC. Leave a comment in Edmodo about how you could use Outlook calendar and task functions to organize your time.

Extra Credit
You can color code your appointments to help you quickly identify what type of appointments you have scheduled during a day. If you are a Google Calendar user, it is possible to sync Google Calendar with Outlook Calendar so your appointments will be visible in both places. If you tend to store emails forever because they are how you remind yourself of things to do, use the task list to clean up your inbox.

- Monique German