Lesson Planner Advanced

overview

Lesson Planner Advanced is, as the name suggests, the upgraded version of Lesson Planner produced by 3 Square Associates. It uses FileMaker Pro database technology to produce lesson planning software that must be of valuable consideration to any busy teacher. The advanced version offers the ability to have lesson plans prepared for a whole variety of teachers and for different subjects and indeed schools. Using a series of selector boxes and drop down menus the software enables four page plans with the key aim and objective criteria to be easily and rapidly produced and to be professionally formatted and printed.

The package is terrifically flexible and able to cope with a wide variety of personalisation, differentiation and learning strategies. The advanced version also includes an integrated calendar and timetable function to enable plans to be linked to the working week. Plans can also include links to other material in a variety of formats such as Word documents and PowerPoint presentations to allow storage of a total 'package' of lesson content. These may be printed out for individual lessons or for a whole week or term. Powerful search facilities also enable material to be easily located. The package contains many other useful tools such as a spell check and internet site look up. Lesson Planner Advanced is available for both Apple Mac and Windows platforms. It installed effortlessly under XP. Two versions are available: a stand-alone version suitable for use by individual teachers or departments and a network version for use across a whole school.

It is generally straightforward to use and is a useful labour-saving package. It will particularly benefit NQT and student teachers and perhaps should be included as standard by teacher training institutions on a 'this could be useful to you' basis. It enforces good practice for classroom planning and preparation and opens exciting possibilities on the way lesson resources are stored, integrated and distributed. At around £50 for the stand-alone version, it is an affordable and time-saving piece of software. Users, especially those with a FileMaker Pro background, will find it generally user-friendly and quick to work with. All in all it is a great way to produce lesson plans simply and effectively.

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