At its core, the ICU list is simply a document that is shared among all teachers and administrators in the school listing all missing assignments for all students. Any type of document that all teachers can edit and view will serve the purpose. However, we have found that there are two methods that seem to work well: a basic spreadsheet ICU list and an online ICU list.

Basic Spreadsheet (Excel)

• Pros—A lot of people are already comfortable with Excel-type programs
• Cons—multiple users can’t make changes at the same time without over-writing data; potential cost of software; necessity of a shared network folder everyone in your school can use to access the file.

How to Start an Excel-style ICU list: download the attachment and customize, customize, customize. Don't worry about messing up any settings because you can always download it again. The goal is to take this base and customize it to fit your school's particular needs. When it's time to test your list, save it in a directory that everyone in your school has access to. Some schools refer to this as a "Shared Folder" or "IntraShare." Whatever the name, save the final product in a directory all teachers have access to so it can be updated regularly with students and missing assignments.

Online Spreadsheet (Google Docs)

• Pros—free; multiple users can make changes at the same time; can be accessed from any internet computer
• Cons—you must have internet; takes a little bit of coordination to get everyone signed up and linked to it

How to Start an online ICU list:

1. Everyone needs to sign-up for a google account or a gmail account. If you have a gmail account, that’s all you need. If not, you can sign up for a google account using your current email address by visiting www.google.com/accounts
2. Choose someone to be the administrator. This person will create the list by going to the “Documents” section of their account.
3. In Documents, go to “New” and then “Spreadsheet”
4. After creating the spreadsheet to your specifications, share it with everyone in your school. This is the tricky part. You will need the gmail address or google account address for each person you want to share with, and you’ll have to put that info in manually. To do that, click on the blue “Share” button in the upper right hand corner and then click on invite people. This will be the window you put addresses in. Once the document is "Shared," Google Docs will automatically send an email invitation to the listed addresses with instructions for how to access the file.