Writing Your Lesson Plans*

Lesson Plans written in OnCourse can be simple plain text, or enhanced with standards, pictures, hyperlinks, references, and more. This guide will demonstrate the basic steps of writing plans and linking standards.

Note: This guide assumes that you have already set up a Lesson Plan template. If you have not please use this guide, "Creating Your Lesson Plan Template".

1. Choosing a Week to Plan

1. Click on the My Planner tab.

2. OnCourse will open a blank plan grid for the current week, as identified by the dated tab.

3. Plans must ALWAYS be written into the tab that corresponds to the week in which they will be taught.

4. To choose a different week to work in, use the calendar in the top-left corner.

5. The selected week will appear in a new tab in the lesson plan grid.

2. Loading a Template

1. Use the Load Template drop-down menu (see arrow, below) to select a template.

2. This template will load into the blank week and set up classes and a basic plan framework.

For information on creating a template, visit the OnCourse
Learning Center.

3. Writing the Plan

1. Click in any plan block to open the Lesson Plan Editor.

2. Type plans in the large box marked “Enter Lesson Plan Here”
(see green box, Figure 1).

In the example below, the teacher has clicked the Monday
Language Arts section, and has started entering plans.

4. The Formatting Toolbar

1. This toolbar is used for changing font, size, orientation, and color of text.

2. There are also tools for indenting and creating lists.

3. Most functions are similar to a typical Word program.

5. Inserting an Image into a Lesson Plan

1. Open the Lesson Plan, and click the Insert/Edit Image button on the toolbar (see image). 

2. You can insert an image two ways: inserting an image URL or clicking the browse button. See examples

3. Click on the Browse button. You can choose a file that you've previously uploaded to OnCourse or Add new.

4. Click the Upload button. (It could take a minute to upload it.)

5. Click on the image that appears in the "Browse Files" tab window, and click Insert.

6. Now you can click on the image in your lesson plan and resize or move it.

6. Copying and Pasting Text Within the Editor

1. Information from Word, or other sites can be copied into your plans.

2. Copy the information from the outside source.

3. Use 1 of the 3 pasting options: Regular, Word, Plain Text.

4. Regular Paste - this option is best for pasting directly from OnCourse, or small text passages.

5. Paste from Word - this option attempts to preserve formatting from Microsoft, and avoids extra characters.

6. Paste as Plain Text - this options removes all formatting and paste the basic text.

7. Undo/Redo and Spellcheck

1. Undo - roll back changes

2. Redo - roll changes forward

3. ABC - run spellcheck on your plans

8. Assigning Homework

1. Homework is entered in the bottom section of the editor.

2. Include the Class or Subject, if your school is not using the
Class Linking feature.

3. Save & Close the Editor.

9. Homework Posting

1. Once the lesson plan is saved, a house icon will appear.

2. Homework will post at 2pm EST on the day of the
assignment. (This may vary per district.)

3. Assignments can be changed at anytime and will update
automatically in real-time.

10. Homework on the Calendar

1. Homework can be viewed from the Calendar tab.

2. Click the button View Public Calendar.

3. This will allow you to proof the homework available to
students/parents.

11 Posting Completed Lesson Plans

• When your lesson plans are complete you will Post Plans for
administrative review.

• Simply check the box to post and uncheck the box to revoke
access.