Where to Begin

Lesson Plan Tab
Let's start by going to the Lesson Plan Tab. You will see a Create Lesson Plan Box on the left. Choose a date and whether you want to use the daily lesson planner or the subject (weekly) lesson planner. For training purposes, first choose daily. Once you are comfortable using the daily lesson planner, you will easily be able to create lessons by subject if that is the lesson plan you prefer. Right now, you will ignore the option about templates until you have some templates made.

Lesson Plan Library
Using the Lesson Plan Library allows you to find Lesson Plans that other teachers are sharing. It's a great way for you to get a head start planning your lessons. Simply click on "Visit The Library" to go to the lesson plans available.

To preview the lesson, click on the left small yellow box. To add the lesson to your lesson plans, click on the box with the + inside, and choose the date where you want to copy the lesson plan, and the lesson from the library will appear as your own lesson plan. This is a great way to get started as a new user, or to share lesson plans with other teachers.

Starting From Scratch
You can create templates and lesson plans by creating one block of time at a time. Many teachers prefer this method, once they are comfortable using My Lesson Planner. but if you find what you are looking for already created for you, you will only be using this option to add additional lesson blocks, if needed.

When you first begin, you have a blank lesson plan. Instead of choosing the options of going to the Lesson Plan Library, you will click on the Create Lesson Block icon at the top of the page to build your lesson plan, block by block. Lesson Blocks are the meat of your lesson plans. To begin, click on the Add Lesson Block icon, and a blank lesson block will open.

Creating Lesson Blocks
Giving your lesson plan a title is optional. If you teach with units, you will certainly want a title on your lesson plans. If you create multiple lesson plans for one day, you will want to title your lesson plans (i.e. Civics, World History). However, if you teach one group of students and use the daily lesson planner like a schedule, your date is most likely all you need for a title. When you are making templates from lessons, you will use the title field to identify your templates. You can leave the title blank, and it won't affect your lesson plan, so suit your own needs with the Title option. After you type something into the Title space, you will click ENTER to get the Save. If you just click away from the box, it will not save.

Choose the classroom (which s a lesson block descriptor) from the drop down menu (from the list you created) for this lesson. If you want to indicate Groups, choose the Grouping for this lesson. The drop down menu will show whole group, small group, and individual, as well as the groups you may have created. Type the Start and End time for this lesson.

Objectives
Type your objective directly in the box. If your district has pre-aligned objectives that match your standards, the curriculum mapping option allows for the objectives to be preset with the standards so that the objective will come with the standard once the standard is chosen. This option is only available for school or district accounts.

Lesson Plan Components

Choose the components to the left that you want to indicate on this this lesson by clicking on the word, and the choices will drop down. When you want to hide them, just click on the word again. Most of the lesson plan components are optional, so if you don't see something you want to see, go to Preferences on the Manage Tabs to indicate you what you do and don't want to see. The Lesson Plan components are designed to help you with documentation in your lesson plans.

Vocabulary
The Vocabulary component will put the definition of your vocabulary words right in your lesson plans. Type the word and click the green arrow, and the definition will appear. Only type in one word at a time. If you don't see the definition you were wanting, try another form of the word (i.e. add--addition). The definitions are subject to the dictionary and are not customizable. If the definition you want isn't there, you will have to enter that vocabulary word in the body of your lesson plan notes.

Adding Standards
To add standards to your lesson plans, look just below the lesson notes box. You can choose standards by looking at them in the Tree View or in the Key Word Search. The search option you choose in your preferences will always be the first you see, but the other is always available.

My Lesson Planner will remember the standards you have taught and put a check-mark by them if you choose that option in My Preferences.

This is the Tree View:

This is the Keyword Search:

Once you find the standard you want, click on the standard, and scroll up to see the standards begin to add to the lesson plan in the box under the lesson plan notes box.:

If you would like to see the standard wording, simply mouse over the standard. If you would like to delete standards you have already clicked to add, just click on the red X.

Lesson Plan Notes
After you have chosen your standards, write your notes that go with this lesson. This is the section where you would put anything you would have written in the small square of your old paper lesson planner book. Notes can include anything you want them to include, for example:

instructions for teaching the lesson
teacher materials/resources
differentiated instruction notes regarding specific students
intervention documentation
group lists or rules
essential questions
big question/idea
enduring understanding
word study/spelling lists
materials needed for the day

Formatting is completely customizable so you can show your creative side or just make something stand out. You can highlight, bold, italicize, change the font, link to the web, add pictures, and add smiley faces to your heart's content. (Rich Text Formatting is the option that allows you to edit font attributes, so make sure it is turned on in your Preferences)

Save
When you have finished, click Save. When you click save, you will be brought to your complete lesson plan page, and you will see your lesson plan building block by block.

Information Blocks
Information blocks are your own creation for your own needs. Think of them as Sticky Notes in your lesson plan book. Things you might want to include in your information blocks would be:

materials needed for the day
duty schedule
reflection
lunch procedures
bathroom breaks
pullout student instructions and schedules
assembly procedures
student groups
bus riders

Information blocks are perfect because you can put them anywhere in your lesson plans and type any information you would like.

Click the 'Add New Information Block' icon at the top.

There are 2 types of information blocks. Choose the type of information block--Inline that line up with lesson blocks, or the Vertical which always appear at the bottom of your lesson plans. In-Line Information Blocks can be moved up and down between lesson blocks in a schedule type order. Vertical Information Blocks are always positioned at the bottom of your lesson plans. Give your Information Block a heading, and then type your information and format as you please, and then click Save. Information Blocks will appear similar to this within your lesson plans.

Continue adding lesson blocks and information blocks as needed for the day's lesson plans. When you have finished adding your lesson and information blocks, and your lesson plan is complete you have the option of making the lesson into a template, making it public, putting it in the Library for others to see, changing the date or copying it to another date, or making it public for a substitute teacher or your parents. The icons for each of these options are at the top of your lesson plan, and there is a tutorial for each of the features.

New Calendar Features
You can now move a lesson plan to a new date and copy to a new date right from your calendar. Click on the calendar icon at the top of the page on the right.

You can create a lesson plan from the calendar by clicking the lesson plan icon above the calendar,

or clicking on any date on the calendar. Using either of these options will bring you to the Create Lesson Plan Box just like the one on the Lesson Plan tab where you can build a lesson from scratch, or choose a template to start your lesson.

To change the date of a lesson plan, simply click and drag the lesson plan to the a new date. If you would like to copy and paste it to a new date, you will use ctrl-click-and drag.