Outlook for Organisation
Until very recently all I had ever used Outlook for was to send and receive emails. However now I have used the calendar feature to include my timetable of classes, assemblies, chapel, meetings for work as well as family commitments. I have found it very useful as it gives me a 5 minute reminder that the lesson is about to end and also reminds me of meetings and family events. Below is a video and outline of how I did this and how useful I have found it to be.
Video Showing my setting up of Appointments.
Note: the public version of this site has had videos and images removed that would compromise privacy including on this page.
Relevance & use of Outlook for organisation.
The use of Outlook in the organisation of a teacher is very useful and relevant. Organising emails to go into specified 'inboxes' in different categories reduces the bulk of emails that need to be trawled through when only one inbox is present. This makes it less likely for an email to be missed and improves efficiency.
Also, the use of the calendar feature in Outlook is extremely useful. Putting your timetable and meetings into an Outlook calendar means that meetings are less likely to be missed or clashes dealt with ahead of time as it is a very visual medium where reminders can be set. For example, 5 minute reminders can be set with a chime going off so the teacher and students know to wrap up the lesson/learning. Also, students or staff can be invited to an appointment so reminders are sent at a specified time before the appointment. This is very useful to avoid non-attendance due to forgetting the appointment.
Also, the use of the calendar feature in Outlook is extremely useful. Putting your timetable and meetings into an Outlook calendar means that meetings are less likely to be missed or clashes dealt with ahead of time as it is a very visual medium where reminders can be set. For example, 5 minute reminders can be set with a chime going off so the teacher and students know to wrap up the lesson/learning. Also, students or staff can be invited to an appointment so reminders are sent at a specified time before the appointment. This is very useful to avoid non-attendance due to forgetting the appointment.
Outline of how I set up email inbox folders in Outlook.
Note: the public version of this site has had videos and images removed that would compromise privacy including on this page.
On the 'home' tab I clicked on 'rules' and chose my 'inbox', created rules that included keywords including 'udemy'; 'PD'; 'Professional Development'; 'inservice'; etc, and named the folders, such as 'professional development'. This can be seen below.
On the 'home' tab I clicked on 'rules' and chose my 'inbox', created rules that included keywords including 'udemy'; 'PD'; 'Professional Development'; 'inservice'; etc, and named the folders, such as 'professional development'. This can be seen below.
I also got Outlook to detect past emails with these subjects and got them put into the ‘Professional Development’ folder.
Here is a screenshot showing the conditions of the rule and the keywords in the email subject.
Outline of how I set up my timetable using 'appointments' in Outlook.
Below are screenshots showing the development of appointments in setting up a calendar in Outlook. The beginning of Term 3, 2014, I set up a recurring appointment called ‘space to grow’ in which I set a 15 minute reminder and invited students who are members of this group.
The reason I did this was during our 2 week cycle we have two meetings per week, however on week A the meetings are on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s but on week B the meetings are on Thursday’s and Friday’s. Without this reminder I am sure I, as well as the students, would forget if a meeting was on. Using Outlook this way has meant we have not forgotten.
The reason I did this was during our 2 week cycle we have two meetings per week, however on week A the meetings are on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s but on week B the meetings are on Thursday’s and Friday’s. Without this reminder I am sure I, as well as the students, would forget if a meeting was on. Using Outlook this way has meant we have not forgotten.
Below is the process of creating an appointment. Here I am setting up a lesson in my timetable and because we work on a 2 week cycle I set it up recurring every fortnight.
Each of our periods are 50 minutes as can be seen set up below. I set the recurrence as ‘weekly’ and changed the ‘1’ to a ‘2’ where is says ‘recur every…’. Also to set a colour code for each of my classes and duties I clicked on ‘categorize’ and selected a colour.
Below the reminder is set at 15minutes before but I decided to set it at 5 minutes before to warn me of the end of my lesson. I have found this very useful and even some of my students noticed this finding it useful themselves. The students picked up on this without me even mentioning it to them.
Below the reminder is set at 15minutes before but I decided to set it at 5 minutes before to warn me of the end of my lesson. I have found this very useful and even some of my students noticed this finding it useful themselves. The students picked up on this without me even mentioning it to them.
Below is my completed timetable with colour coding. I will be using this form now on in future.
Outlook Syncing with iPad
An unexpected but very welcome benefit of using Outlook in the way shown above is how Outlook calendar syncs with the iPad! I look at my iPad often and as such it is an excellent tool to use as a reminder.
To the left is an image of my outlook calendar and how it has synced on my iPad. This is very handy as the iPad bots up almost instantly (unlike my laptop) so I can quickly see my schedule for the day).
Also the red line shows exactly where on the schedule I am at the time. To get this screen up on the iPad I just touch the top on the screen and ‘flick’ down.
To the left is an image of my outlook calendar and how it has synced on my iPad. This is very handy as the iPad bots up almost instantly (unlike my laptop) so I can quickly see my schedule for the day).
Also the red line shows exactly where on the schedule I am at the time. To get this screen up on the iPad I just touch the top on the screen and ‘flick’ down.
Tapping on the screen shown above brings up the screen to the right where there is more detail. In this case I have ‘day’ selected so I can glance at my schedule for the day. Touching and ‘flicking’ the screen to the left or right bringing up the following or previous week. Tapping on a particular appointment brings up more information as shown below (see the dark green appointment and the box to the right of it). |
‘Week’ or ‘Month’ or ‘Year’ can also be selected, below ‘week’ is shown which brings my timetable up for the whole week. Touching and ‘flicking’ the screen to the left or right bringing up the following or previous day.