Setup Options, Decorators, and Checklists

Planner Options Tab

Open the Planner Options Tab to define the Lesson Plan Default Template for your district. Use the simple text editor to enter the template text as you want it to appear in all district lesson planners. Select Save when the planner is set. This template will appear in all planners for courses with standards across the district. The planner can be customized by teachers in individual lesson planners.                      

Activity Options Tab

• Activity Publishing Method - Choose whether activities will need curriculum administrator approval or can be automatically approved and published to the district scope and sequence.
• Display Related Activities - Check to display any and all activities and/or standard clarifications connected to a learning standard. If checked, a state standard has a standard clarification connected to it in one group folder, the clarification will also display for the same state standard in another group folder. 
• Anonymous Publishing - Choose whether activities should be published anonymously. If not, teachers' names will be listed at the top of the activity they create.

Standard Decorators Tab

Learning standard decorators enable the district to provide teachers with a visual indicator for district-defined standards meaning. There are five separate colors (green, blue, red, gray, and yellow) that can be set to a learning standard. These decorators are district-wide and can be used in all courses. To enable a decorator, select the color choice then check the Active box. Give the decorator a name and a description (optional). The name and description will appear to the teachers if they hover the mouse over the decorator within their lesson plans. 

Lesson Checklists Tab

Checklists give districts the ability to provide a trackable items for teachers to check off when creating lessons. Multiple checklists can be created to track things like technology used, instructional strategies, that may be used, lesson structure, or other items used in the lesson. Both teachers and administrators can run reports on these checklists to determine what is being used often, what is being overlooked, etc.

To manage checklists, go to the Forethought Options interface. Check Enable Lesson Checklists to activate the feature.

Create Checklist Groups

1. Type in the name of the desired group in the top text box.
2. Click the Add Group button.
3. Use the Edit Group button to change the name of an existing group.
4. Move Up and Move Down to reorganize existing groups.
5. Click Remove Group to remove unwanted groups.

Create Checklist Items

1. Select a checklist group.
2. Type in the new item in the text box below.
3. Click Add Item.
4. Repeat the process for additional items.

As with groups, you can use Edit Item, Move Up, Move Down, and Remove Item to manage the list of items.

Items are immediately available to teachers upon creation. No extra publishing is required. 

Run a Checklist Usage Report

A report of district wide checklist usage can be generated in the Reports tab. This report shows the number of times each item was used within a given month.

To create a checklist usage report:

1. Open the Reports Tab.
2. Select the Checklist Usage Report.
3. Choose the start date and school.
4. Click "Submit Report" to open or save a PDF file.