Online Documentation

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Welcome to Teach-ER.com version 2.0
Release date: 11.5.2002
Teach-ER.com version 2.0

Table of Contents
General Information
  • Contact Information
Installation
  • Automatic Installation
  • Manual Installation
Screens
  • Setup Screen
  • Main Menu
  • Standards Editor
  • Statistics Screen
  • Lesson Plan Editor
Functional Points
  • Creating a New Lesson Plan
  • Opening a Saved Lesson Plan
  • Editing a Lesson Plan
  • Saving a Lesson Plan
  • Printing a Lesson Plan
  • Custom Standard Sets - Edit
  • Custom Standard Sets - New
  • Create Statistics Report
Suggestions from Author
  • Standards Editor
  • Saving Lesson Plans
  • Lesson Plan Template
New to this Version
What's to come?
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General Information

Teach-ER is a program designed to aid educational professionals with lesson plans. As with any work-in-progress, certain features may not be completely compatible with your particular needs. Please let us know how we can make our product better by emailing Support@Teach-ER.com or by visiting our website: http://www.Teach-ER.com.

In order to meet the needs of all teachers, we are dedicated to making the lesson plan writing experience as simple and quick as possible. If your school uses a different format for printing out the lesson plans, please let us know via our website through user feedback.

Teach-ER utilizes multiple file types in order to access the state standards, saved lesson plans, registration information, statistics information, and program parameters. Two directories will be produced under the program's root directory ('Lessons' and 'Data'). **Tampering with the data within these directories is not recommended. These folders and files are necessary for the successful running of the program.**

In order to better serve our customers, certain information is necessary. This information we ONLY be used for our benefit in making a better, more adaptable product. Please refer to our Privacy Policy at www.Teach-ER.com for a full explanation.

Teach-ER does not offer any warranty of any kind, whether expressed or implied. By installing Teach-ER, the user is fully responsible for all terms and conditions expressly written. Failure to meet these requirements might constitute punishment under state and federal copyright laws. The Terms and Conditions associated with the program can be found at www.Teach-ER.com.

Contact Information
Website: http://www.Teach-ER.com
Email: Support@Teach-ER.com
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Installation
The installation of Teach-ER is available in two forms: automatic installation and manual installation. Both of these files are located at www.Teach-ER.com on the download page.

Three directories (folders) will be created during either installation:

  • Teach-ER -- the program's root directory
  • Teach-ER/lessons - saved lesson plans location
  • Teach-ER/data - standards and program spec. files location

Automatic Installation
The automatic installation file uses a menu-driven setup. This process can take up to three minutes to install and may ask for a re-boot in order to configure Windows properly for use.

Steps for Automatic Installation

  1. Download automatic installation file from www.Teach-ER.com
  2. Extract downloaded file into temporary directory.
  3. Double-click file named 'setup.exe' in order to begin installation.
  4. Setup will ask for directory location of installation, default settings are recommend. However, advanced users may prefer to customize the directory structure of the program.
  5. Once setup has completed, start menu program icons will be added in your start menu.
  6. To start the program, go to the start menu, select Teach-ER.

Manual Installation
The manual installation method is available due to irregularities with certain Windows operating systems. Certain setup failures with the automatic installation method have been attributed to inconsistencies with the system's registry. The manual installation method bi-passes all registry entries, and allows Teach-ER to store it's own .dll and configuration files.

Steps for Manual Installation

  1. Download automatic installation file from www.Teach-ER.com
  2. Extract downloaded file into temporary directory.
  3. Double-click file named 'install.bat' in order to begin installation.
  4. The setup will create all directories and copy all necessary files.
  5. Once setup has completed, a program shortcut icon will be added to the desktop.
  6. To start the program, double-click the desktop Teach-ER.com icon.
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Screens
There are several different screens you may see while using Teach-ER. Each screen is designed to give all necessary functionality to the situation at hand. Below is a summary of each screen and a brief explanation of each component. A more detailed explanation of each function is available under the detailed contexts.

Setup Screen
The setup screen allows the user to enter their registration information. Teach-ER must be registered in order to save, open, or completely print the lesson plans. The school name and teacher name supplied on this screen are both used in all printing aspects of the program.

To setup, enter the given Teacher Name, School Name, and Registration Key and click the Save Registration information button. The program will access the encrypted key at several points throughout the program to verify this registration, but will prompt you if an error has occurred. If an error does occur, please double check that you have entered your registration key correctly and that your Teacher Name is precisely as you registered.

Setup Screen

Main Menu
The main menu is the central area of navigation for Teach-ER. Only registered users with their information properly entered in the setup screen will see all options.

From the main menu, you may begin a new lesson plan by selecting which standard set(s) to use and then by clicking 'New Plan'. Open a saved plan, enter the Standards Editor, Statistics Screen, Setup Screen, Get Help, or Exit the Program completely. A more thorough explanation of these steps will be covered in their respective context headings.

Main Menu

Standards Editor
The standards editor screen allows the user to add/ delete/ modify their own sets of standards. This is useful if a school system requires the use of their own standard sets, or a teacher would prefer different headings/titles for each of the standards.
There are three steps involved with building a new set of standards. Step 1: Select from the available list of standard sets the set to incorporate in the custom set. Step 2: Select the individual standards from the selected sets to be added to the custom set. Step 3: Add/ Modify/ Delete standards as needed for the standard set. At the end of this three-step process, a name will be required for the new set, which will be used to identify this custom set in the future. Standards Editor
Custom standard sets are proprietary to Teach-ER, meaning they must be imported/exported to and from the program. This is done to insure proper formatting for use and printing of each of the standards. The export feature will become active once a user has selected an open custom set.

Statistics Screen
The statistics screen allows the user to create reports used to track standard usage. The standard report issued with version 2.0 automatically shows all standards associated with every lesson plan selected, the planned date for each standard, and the completed date of each standard. The completion date is automatically set to the same as the planned date when the report is generated.

Three sets are required in the statistics report generation. Step 1: Select the lesson plans to use in the report. Step 2: Select which standard sets to show on the report (note: all standards will automatically be listed for each standard set added to the report. However, these can be deleted or modified once the report has been generated). Step 3: The report generation screen displays all information pulled from the selected lesson plans and standard sets.

Statistics Screen

Lesson Plan Editor
The lesson plan editor screen is the main function point of Teach-ER. This screen allows the user to enter, edit, add, delete, print, and save their lesson plans. The screen is situated from top to bottom with input field for: course/class, date/week, topic, time, strategies/activities, assignments, assessments, and standards.

Each session/group is designed to allow the user a chance to enter different information in any number of ways. Common usage allows the user to set up block scheduling lesson plans, either daily or weekly.

Lesson Plan Editor
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Functional Points
Teach-ER was designed to make teacher's lesson plan building quick and easy. There are several function points that have been added in version 2.0 to help with this pledge including the standards editor and statistics screens.

Creating a New Lesson Plan
Main Menu
  1. Select all of the standard sets you would like to use in the lesson plan. These standard sets will be saved in the lesson plan for future reference. Standard sets cannot be added once the lesson plan has been started.
  2. Click the button 'New Lesson Plan' or select 'New Lesson Plan' from the file menu.

Lesson Plan Editor

  1. Enter the course/class, date/week, topic, and time in the appropriate fields.
  2. Choose the correct radio button for Strategy/Activity, Assignment, or Assessments.
  3. Click the 'Add' button to add a new SAA.
  4. Select each of the standards that correspond to the entered SAAs.
  5. To begin a new session/group, click the 'New Session/Group' button.
  6. Repeat steps 1-5 as needed.
  7. Save the lesson plan by clicking the 'Save Lesson Plan' button.
  8. Print the lesson plan by clicking the 'Print Lesson Plan' button.

Opening a Saved Lesson Plan
Main Menu
  1. Click the 'Open Lesson Plan' button.
  2. Select the proper directory and file of the saved lesson plan. The default directory for saved lesson plans is Teach-ER/lessons.
  3. Click open on the Open Saved Lesson Plan dialogue window.

Lesson Plan Editor

  1. Make necessary changes to the saved lesson plans.
  2. Standards sets may NOT be changed or added at this point. A new lesson plan would have to be created if this is needed.

Editing a Lesson Plan
Lesson Plan Editor
  1. Click the 'Previous Session/Group' or 'Next Session/Group' button to select the session or group that needs to be edited.
  2. Click the 'Change Session/Group' button to unlock the lesson plan fields.
  3. A new, red button will appear ('Save Changes').
  4. Make necessary changes to the lesson plan fields.
  5. Click the 'Save Changes' button when finished.
  6. Repeat steps 1-5 for each session group that requires editing.

Saving a Lesson Plan
Lesson Plan Editor
  1. At anytime during the lesson plan building (except for when the red 'Save Changes' button is viewable), click the 'Save Lesson Plan' button.
  2. A dialogue window will appear asking for the location and file name for the lesson to be saved as.
  3. The default location is 'Teach-ER/lessons', but several teachers also use floppy disks for saving lesson plans.
  4. Saving to a disk: change the drive letter on the drive drop down box, enter a name, select save.
  5. Teach-ER lesson plans are saved with the default ".tdb" extension. This is done to give a commonality among all saved lesson plans for easy retrieval.
  6. All printed lesson plans are saved temporarily as "temp.tdb" in the program's root directory before printing in case of printer failure.

Printing a Lesson Plan
Lesson Plan Editor
  1. At anytime during the lesson plan building (except for when the red 'Save Changes' button is viewable), click the 'Print Lesson Plan' button.
  2. The print window will appear with three lesson plan printing formats.
  3. Select the lesson plan printing format desired.
    1. Format 1: Horizontal (landscape) printing orientation. Each session/group uses it's own page. The standard number and description is printed for each standard. This is recommended for teachers with block scheduling that are required to write out the entire standard definition.
    2. Format 2: Vertical (portrait) printing orientation. All sessions/groups are given their own heading. Only standard numbers are printed, not the description. This is recommended for teachers that have the same course/class all day, and divide their lesson plans by topics rather than courses. This is the biggest paper saving option.
    3. Format 3: Vertical (portrait) printing orientation. All courses/classes are given their own heading. Both the standard number and description are printed. This is recommended for teachers that may or may not have different classes listed on their lesson plan, but require the standard description listed as well.

Custom Standard Sets - Edit
Standards Editor
  1. Press the 'New Custom Set' button to begin.
  2. Select the standard sets you would like incorporated in the new custom set.
    1. '>>' - Add all
    2. '>' - Add selected
    3. '<' - Remove selected
    4. '<<' - Remove all
  3. Press the continue button once you have all standard sets you would like added to the custom list.
  4. Select each standard you would like to incorporate into the custom set.
  5. Press the continue button once you have all of the standards you would like added to the custom list.
  6. Use the 'Prev Standard' or 'Next Standard' buttons to edit added standards.
  7. The 'Insert Standard' button will add a new standard before the shown standard.
  8. The 'Delete Standard' button will delete the shown standard.
  9. Press the 'Finish' button once all changes have been completed.
  10. A dialogue box will come up asking for the name of the new custom set. Teach-ER custom sets are given the extension '.tdb' automatically for ease of use.

Custom Standard Sets - New
Standards Editor
  1. Press the 'New Custom Set' button to begin.
  2. Do not add any standard sets to the custom set list--press continue.
  3. An information box will come up telling you that no standard sets have been selected; select 'Ok' to continue.
  4. Enter the name and description of each standard you would like to have added.
  5. Use the 'Prev Standard' or 'Next Standard' buttons to edit added standards.
  6. The 'Insert Standard' button will add a new standard before the shown standard.
  7. The 'Delete Standard' button will delete the shown standard.
  8. Press the 'Finish' button once all changes have been completed.
  9. A dialogue box will come up asking for the name of the new custom set. Teach-ER custom sets are given the extension '.tdb' automatically for ease of use.

Create Statistics Report
Statistics
  1. Add each of the saved lesson plans you would like incorporated into the statistics report to the right window.
    1. '>>' - Add all shown lesson plans
    2. '>' - Add selected lesson plans
    3. '<' - Remove selected lesson plans
    4. '<<' - Remove all lesson plans
  2. Teach-ER lesson plans are saved with the default ".tdb" file extension for ease. You can continue to add as many lessons from as many disks/directories as needed. Only the lesson plans listed will be incorporated in the report.
  3. Press the 'Continue' button when finished adding all lesson plans.
  4. Add which standard sets you would like the report to contain. Some school systems require separate reports for each discipline. Several reports would be needed in this case. Simply select one at a time per report.
  5. Press the 'Continue' button when all needed standard sets are added.
  6. This process takes several minutes depending on the number of standard sets that have been selected. Please be patient.
  7. The report window will appear with all of the standards from each of the request standard sets listed under their appropriate heading. Each standard that has been used will have the date used listed next to the appropriate standard. If a standard has been used more than once in the selected lesson plans, multiple lines will be used for that standard with each date listed separately. The completion date is automatically set to the same date as the planned date, but may be changed as needed.
  8. The 'Insert Row' button will insert a row directly about the highlighted row.
  9. The 'Deleted Row(s)' button will delete every row highlighted.
  10. Statistic reports may be saved/printed as needed.
  11. Saved reports only offer the report window for editing. No 'Back' button is available because of the complexity of these reports.
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Suggestions from Author
Teach-ER was designed to give teachers a quick, professional, and easy way to create and manage their lesson plans. The background of Teach-ER has always been to meet this goal head-on with user input driving the development of the program. Listed below are several concepts that offer quick and reliable use of the program.

Standards Editor
  • Use the standards editor to customize your most widely used set of standards.
  • Saved lesson plans will only utilize the standards selected when the lesson plan was first started, so incorporate all standards from the beginning.

Saving Lesson Plans
  • Save ALL lesson plans. These lesson plans can be organized in different directories for each school semester or year and reused in the future.
  • You have put all of this work into designing lesson plans for a year, reuse them next year by changing dates, retrieving wording, standards used, etc.
  • The Statistics Report only works with saved lesson plans. So if your school system will be ever asking for which standards you have used and when, it will be a snap with Teach-ER.
  • Saved lesson plans also offer a valuable tool for lesson plan submission, whether by disk, network connection, or email. Forgetting faxing your lesson plans or driving into school on a sick day, email them. What a concept.

Lesson Plan Template
  • Most teachers use the same systematic format for their lesson plans. Go through and only enter the pertinent information that never changes from day to day, week to week and save the lesson plan.
  • Then simply open this blank template each time for your new lesson plans, rather than starting from scratch.
  • Several users already use this approach and have reported tremendous timesavings.
  • Having a template also helps for memory recall and can offer a structure to make all of your lesson plans match aesthetically.
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New to this Version
Version 2.0 has offered up many new benefits. The graphical advancements are obvious, listed below are the functionality points that have been added.
  • 'Edit SAA' button on lesson plan editor window.
    • Allows user to edit rather than delete entered SAAs.
  • 'Standards Editor' added.
    • Allows users the option to add/modify/delete custom sets of standards.
  • 'Statistics' added.
    • Allows users the option to produce reports of standards usage based off of saved lesson plan files.
  • Menu Bars added.
    • Allows users hot key and mouse short cuts to several of the program's main function points.
  • Printing fonts changed.
    • Several users experienced problems with printing fonts; all fonts are pre-set within the program now for the default printer attached to the computer being used.
  • Teach-ER file name extensions
    • .tdb files are for standards files and saved lesson plans.
    • .tcs files are for customs standard sets.
      • Used for import/export function
    • .tsf files are for saved statistic reports.
  • Icon Button Bars
    • Added to main menu and several other screens for room-saving, graphical approach.
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What's to come?
  • Printing functions expanded
    • Print control dialogue boxes to allow multiple copies, print page ranges, select printer control, paper orientation, paper size, etc.
    • Print preview functions for statistics and lesson plans.
  • Customizable statistics views
    • Allowing users to select which fields will be incorporated into the statistics reports.
    • Advanced cut/paste/copy methods added to the report window
  • Lesson Plan Editor
    • Major changes to the layout and graphical approach
    • Cut/paste/copy methods added to all fields
    • History quick-typing for all fields
    • Lesson plan look-up options
Please keep the ideas coming... the website grows with good ideas!
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