Welcome to the first in a series of tutorials designed to introduce you to the features and functions of
the iCPALMS Lesson Study Support System.
The Lesson Study Support System app allows you to display multiple lesson study cycles
so that you can have access to the documentation for each cycle that you have participated in.
Once a new lesson study cycle is added, a link to the title will appear on your dashboard.
In order to begin documenting a new cycle of lesson study, click the "Add New Lesson Study" button
in the Lesson Study Support system app.
This will take you to the Lesson Study Support System dashboard, where you will be prompted to enter a title
that describes this lesson study cycle, as well as a brief description of your objectives
for this cycle of lesson study.
These can be changed at any time in the future, so feel free to modify them as you or your team progress
through this cycle of lesson study.
Note that the title and description text boxes are each denoted by a red asterisk; all text boxes in the
Lesson Study Support System that are marked with a red asterisk are mandatory fields.
Now that you have entered a name and description for this lesson study cycle, scroll down the dashboard
page to get an overview of the various steps and tasks included in the Lesson Study Support System.
Note the button to the left of each step described on the dashboard.
Click on these for each of the six steps in order to collapse the windows.
As you can see, there are six main steps in the Lesson Study Support System.
These are sequenced in a way that is designed to support lesson study teams as they progress through
each phase of a lesson study cycle.
Now that you have an overview of the Lesson Study Support System steps, click the button to the left of
Step 1, "Establish Your Lesson Study Team."
This button expands the window so that you can see the individual tasks that comprise that step.
You can also use your cursor to hover over the information icon to the right of one of the tasks
in order to see additional information relevant to that task.
These help icons are found to the right of each task descriptor in the Lesson Study Support System.
Now observe the dashboard instructions to the right of the dashboard.
These provide a brief overview of lesson study, as well as a few helpful hints for using
the Lesson Study Support System.
Instructions pertaining to each step are also included across the top of each task page
of the Lesson Study Support System.
Now that you are familiar with the features of the Lesson Study Support System dashboard, let's explore
some of the tasks included in the steps of the Lesson Study Support System.
Scroll to Step 1 on the Lesson Study Support System dashboard and click on Task 1,
"Establish Your Lesson Study Team."
Note that this task page includes a navigation panel on the left margin that allows for easy navigation
from any task in the Lesson Study Support System to any other task.
There is also an expandable instructions panel included at the top of each
Lesson Study Support System task page.
Now move your cursor to the "District/Organization" dropdown window located beneath the instructions.
Clicking on the dropdown arrow reveals a list of Florida districts.
Select your district from among this list.
Next, enter the school term that corresponds with your team's lesson study cycle,
as well as a name for your group.
Now scroll down to the "Member Roles" work area.
Note that the role of "Facilitator" appears automatically, along with a default description of
the Facilitator's role on the lesson study team.
All teams should have a Facilitator, but the description of the Facilitator's responsibilities
can be customized for your team.
To do this, simply click the "edit" link.
Once you click the edit link, you can scroll down to the "Role Description" text box
and edit the Facilitator description to suit your team's purposes.
Once you have made the desired text edits, be sure to click the "Save" button to the bottom left
of the role description.
This will save your team's customized role description for the Facilitator for this cycle of lesson study.
Now, move your cursor to the role title dropdown window located above the role description text box.
Clicking on the dropdown arrows reveals more pre-set lesson study team roles.
You can select any of these roles, or you can customize your own team roles to suit your purposes.
Each of the pre-set roles has its own default description, which can be edited
in the same manner as the Facilitator role.
To customize a role, simply click on the "Custom" dropdown and type the new role into the text box.
Once you have entered the title for the new role, type a description of the responsibilities for this role
in the "Role Description" text box.
Be sure to click the "Add" button after you have completed your customized role and description.
Once you have selected and added all of the member roles that you would like to fill on this
lesson study team, you can invite members to join.
To do this, scroll down to the "Lesson Study Team" work area at the bottom of the task page.
Note the "Display" dropdown on the upper left corner of the work area.
This allows you to see just the active members, or you can click the dropdown arrows to select all members,
which includes those members who have been invited.
Note that the name of the person who starts the lesson study cycle is entered by default.
In this case, the person who started the cycle is also the team's Facilitator.
Finally, note the "write access" box below the "Permissions & Role" descriptor.
It is automatically checked for the individual who started the cycle.
It is important to understand that only one team member at a time can be granted write access
to the Lesson Study Support System.
This is to prevent accidental overwrites.
In a few moments, we will show you how to pass the write access to another team member.
Scroll down to the "Add Member" section of the task page.
Here you can enter the name of any Florida public school teacher in the "Find a Team Member" text box,
and you can search for them in the CPALMS database by clicking the "Search" button.
As you can see, once a member is located, their name appears along with any district
and school information pertaining to them.
Once their name appears, you can assign a team role to them by clicking on the "Permissions & Role" dropdown
and selecting one of the roles you created earlier.
Note that the "write access" box is unchecked.
If you wish to pass write access to this individual, you may do so now,
or at any other time later in the process.
Just remember that once you pass write access to another member, you no longer have it
unless you ask them to send it back to you.
Once you have decided upon the roles and permissions for this prospective team member,
click the "Invite" button to send them an invitation.
Be sure to click the "Invite" button only once.
Once the "Invite" button is clicked, an email invitation will be sent to this teacher, and they will
be added as active members when they accept your invitation.
A few seconds after you send out the invitation, the prospective team member's name will appear with yours
in the "Lesson Study Team" display.
In order to see each invited member, you will have to select "Show All" in the "Display" dropdown.
Note that the member's status is marked as "Invited" until they accept your invitation.
It is important to note that the member's status will not change to "Active" until they accept
the invitation to join your team.
Be sure to let any invited teachers know about the invitation
so that they will look for it in their email.
Some districts and schools send this type of correspondence directly to junk mail, so
make sure that members who claim to have not received your invitation check their junk mail accounts.
Thank you for viewing this iCPALMS tutorial.
Please be sure to watch the next tutorial on using the Lesson Study Support System
to document your team's cycle of lesson study.