Step 6: Managing Lessons

Step 6: Creating and Assigning Lessons (The Core of Your Timetable)

This is where all your previous setup - general information, subjects, teachers, classes, and (optionally) rooms - comes together. Lessons define the actual teaching workload: which teacher(s) teach which subject(s) to which class(es), how many times per week/cycle, for how long each session runs (e.g., single or double periods), and in which room(s) if specified.

Accurately defining lessons is paramount for generating a functional and balanced timetable.

Understanding Lessons in TimetableMaster

A "Lesson" in TimetableMaster is a specific instructional unit that needs to be scheduled. It encapsulates:

• Who: One or more Teachers.
• What: One or more Subjects.
• To Whom: One or more Classes/Sections.
• How Often: The total number of periods this combination occurs per week (or per cycle if fortnightly).
• Session Length: The duration of each individual teaching session (e.g., 1 period, 2 consecutive periods).
• Where (Optional): Specific Room(s) if required.

Adding and Managing Lessons

TimetableMaster provides a dedicated interface for creating, viewing, and managing all lesson entries.

Caption: Overview of the main lessons page, showcasing different views and lesson entries.

Adding a New Lesson:

You can add lessons in two primary ways:

1. "Add New Lesson" Button:

   • It's at the end of the lesson list on the page.
   • Clicking this opens a modal where you fill in all details for a new lesson from scratch.
     

     Lesson Entry Modal

     Caption: The modal or form used for adding or editing lesson details.

2. Contextual "Add Lesson" within Views:

   • When using the "Class Wise View" or "Teacher Wise View" (explained below), you'll find an "Add Lesson" button within each group (e.g., next to a class names or teacher names).
   • Clicking this contextual button will pre-populate the relevant field (classes or teachers) in the lesson form, speeding up data entry.

Key Lesson Parameters to Define:

• Teacher(s): Select one or more teachers for the lesson.
• Subject(s): Select one or more subjects to be taught.
• Class(es)/Section(s): Select one or more classes or student groups attending this lesson.
• Periods per Week/Cycle: Specify the total number of periods this lesson should occur.
• Lesson Length (Duration of each session):
  • Choose from a dropdown (e.g., Single Period, Double Period, Tripe Period).
  • Selecting a length greater than 1 (e.g., "Double Period") ensures these periods are scheduled back-to-back without interruption.
  • Example: If a subject needs 4 periods per week, taught as two double periods, you'd set "Periods per Week" to 2 and "Lesson Length" to 2 Consecutive Periods. The system would then schedule two separate 2-period blocks.
• Room(s) (Optional):
  • Select specific room(s) if the lesson must take place there.
  • If a class has a designated "Home Room" and no specific room is chosen for the lesson, the system will attempt to schedule it in the class's Home Room by default.
  • If left blank and no Home Room applies, the system will assign any suitable available room (if rooms are being managed), or will not assign room if rooms are not a constraint.
    

    Room Selection in Lesson

    Caption: Selecting a specific room for a lesson within the lesson configuration.

Powerful Lesson Features

TimetableMaster offers advanced features to handle complex scheduling scenarios:

1. Lessons with Extended Durations (Double/Triple Periods)

• Purpose: For subjects requiring longer, uninterrupted blocks of time (e.g., science labs, practical art sessions, workshops).
• How: In the lesson setup, select the desired "Lesson Length" (e.g., "Double Period").
• System Behavior: The scheduling engine will ensure these periods are scheduled consecutively.

2. Joint Lessons (Multiple Teachers and/or Multiple Classes)

• Purpose: For team teaching, combined classes for specific subjects, or lectures attended by multiple groups.
• How:
  • Multiple Teachers: Select all teachers involved in teaching this single lesson instance. They will all be scheduled for this lesson at the same time, with the same class(es) and subject(s).
  • Multiple Classes: Select all classes that will attend this lesson simultaneously.
    

    Lesson with Multiple Teachers and Classes

    Caption: Example of a lesson entry involving multiple teachers and/or multiple classes taught together.
• System Behavior: All selected teachers and classes will be blocked together for the duration of this lesson.

3. Split Classes (Student Grouping)

• Purpose: To divide a single class (or multiple classes) into smaller groups for different activities or subjects taught concurrently by different teachers. This is common for language options, electives, or ability grouping.
• How:
  1. When adding/editing a lesson, look for an option to "Split Classes into Groups".
  2. You can define multiple groups within one lesson entry.
  3. You can change the group names, system will auto assign generic names like "Group 1", "Group 2" etc.
  4. For each group, you will specify:
     • The Class(es) forming that group (can be a subset of a larger class or entire classes).
     • The Teacher(s) for that group.
     • The Subject(s) for that group.
     • Optionally, a specific Room for that group.
       

       Split Class Functionality Interface

       Caption: Interface showing how a class can be split into different groups for concurrent lessons.
• System Behavior: All defined groups within a single "split lesson" entry will be scheduled at the exact same time. This ensures, for example, that while Group A of Grade 9 takes French with Teacher X, Group B of Grade 9 takes Spanish with Teacher Y simultaneously.
• Flexibility: You can add as many groups as needed within one split lesson configuration.

Viewing and Analyzing Lesson Data

TimetableMaster provides different views to help you organize, verify, and understand your lesson entries:

1. Class Wise View

• Display: Lessons are grouped by the Class(es) they are assigned to. You'll see a list of classes, and under each class or group of classes, all the lessons added for them.
• Use Case: Excellent for checking if each class has the correct total number of periods, the right mix of subjects, and if their curriculum requirements are met. Helps identify if a class is over-scheduled or under-scheduled.
  

  Class Wise View of Lessons

  Caption: Lessons grouped by class, showing the curriculum for each student group.

2. Teacher Wise View

• Display: Lessons are grouped by the Teacher(s) assigned to them. You'll see a list of teachers, and under each teacher or group of teachers, all the lessons added for them.
• Use Case: Ideal for reviewing teacher workloads, ensuring teaching assignments match their expertise, checking for over/under allocation of periods, and verifying their contractual hours.
  

  Teacher Wise View of Lessons

  Caption: Lessons grouped by teacher, providing an overview of each teacher's workload.

Actions on Lesson Entries

Each lesson entry (or "card") typically comes with several action buttons for easy management:

• View Details (Information Icon - 'i'):
  • Clicking this provides a clear, written explanation of the lesson entry.
  • Example Explanation: "Teacher A is scheduled to teach Mathematics to Class 1A for 5 periods per week. Each teaching session will be 1 period long, resulting in 5 individual 1-period sessions per week." Or, "Teachers B & C will jointly teach Physics to Classes 10X and 10Y for 4 periods per week, with each session being a double period (2 consecutive periods), resulting in 2 double-period sessions per week. This lesson is scheduled in Science Lab 1."
• Duplicate Lesson (Duplicate Icon):
  • Creates a copy of the selected lesson. All fields (teacher, subject, class, periods, length, room) are duplicated.
  • Use Case: Extremely useful for quickly adding similar lessons where only one or two details need to change (e.g., same teacher, same subject, same periods, but for a different class). Speeds up data entry significantly for repetitive lesson structures.
• Edit Lesson (Edit Icon):
  • Opens the lesson details in a modal or form (similar to the "Add New Lesson" modal), allowing you to modify any aspect of the lesson.
• Delete Lesson (Delete Icon):
  • Permanently removes the lesson entry from your timetable configuration.

Tips and Best Practices for Adding Lessons

• Start with Core Subjects: Begin by adding lessons for compulsory subjects for all classes.
• Handle Complex Scenarios Systematically: Address joint lessons, split classes, and multi-period lessons carefully, one scenario at a time.
• Use Duplicate Feature: Leverage the duplicate lesson feature extensively to save time.
• Regularly Switch Views: Toggle between Class Wise and Teacher Wise views to cross-verify data and catch potential imbalances or errors early.
• Verify Total Periods: For each class, ensure the sum of periods from all its lessons matches the expected total weekly/cyclical teaching time. Similarly, check teacher workloads against their contracted hours.
• Room Assignments: If using rooms, assign specialized rooms (labs, studios) explicitly. For general lessons, rely on Home Room assignments or let the system allocate suitable shared rooms.

Advanced Lesson Configuration Features

TimetableMaster has added powerful new capabilities to give you even more control over your timetabling process: Fixed Placements and Multiple Lesson Configurations. These features provide unparalleled flexibility in adapting to your institution's specific scheduling requirements.

1. Fixed Placements (Pre-assigned Time Slots)

Purpose: This feature allows you to pre-define exactly when certain lesson units should occur in your timetable before automatic scheduling happens. This is invaluable for:

• Accommodating external faculty with limited availability
• Reserving specific time slots for particular subjects (e.g., PE always on Friday afternoons)
• Maintaining existing scheduling patterns that work well
• Coordinating with external facilities or partnerships that have fixed timings

How It Works:

1. When adding or editing a lesson, enable the "Fixed Placement" option at the bottom of the form.
2. Once enabled, a visual timetable grid will appear showing all days and periods.
3. From the unplaced lesson units section, drag and drop units onto specific day/period cells in the grid.
4. Each placed unit will be locked in that exact position during timetable generation.

Caption: The Fixed Placement interface allows precise positioning of lesson units on specific days and periods.

Key Benefits:

• Partial Fixing: You can fix some units while letting the system optimize others. For example, fix 2 of 5 weekly Mathematics lessons on specific days, while allowing the system to place the remaining 3 optimally.
• Visual Confirmation: Fixed placements are clearly marked with a pin icon (📌) throughout the interface.
• Conflict Detection: The system immediately alerts you to potential conflicts when placing units (e.g., teacher already occupied, class has another subject, room unavailable).
• Flexible Planning: You can pre-place as many or as few units as needed - from just one critical lesson to your entire timetable.

System Behavior: During timetable generation, fixed units will be treated as immovable constraints. The scheduler will work around these fixed positions when placing all other lessons.

2. Multiple Lesson Configurations (Mixed Length Support)

Purpose: This advanced feature allows a single lesson to have multiple configurations with different lengths within the same timetable. For example, a Science subject might need both single periods for theory and double periods for lab work.

How It Works:

1. When adding or editing a lesson, you'll find a "Lesson Configurations" section allowing multiple entries.
2. For each configuration, specify:
   • Periods Per Week: How many units of this particular configuration are needed.
   • Period Length: How many consecutive periods each unit should span (e.g., 1 for single, 2 for double).
3. Add as many different configurations as needed for complete flexibility.

Caption: Setting up multiple configurations for a science lesson with both single and double periods.

Example Scenario:

For Grade 10 Physics taught by Mr. Smith:

• Configuration 1: 3 single periods per week for theory
• Configuration 2: 1 double period per week for laboratory work

This creates a total of 5 periods of Physics per week (3 singles + 1 double), with appropriate time allocation for different activities.

Key Benefits:

• Pedagogical Flexibility: Match period lengths to teaching needs (discussion, lecture, practical work, assessment).
• Resource Optimization: Schedule longer sessions when specialized facilities are available.
• Balanced Learning: Create rhythm in the timetable with alternating short and long sessions.
• Simplified Management: Keep all related teaching under one lesson entry rather than creating separate lessons for different length requirements.

System Behavior: The timetable generator treats each configuration as having unique constraints while understanding they belong to the same overall subject-teacher-class relationship.

Using Fixed Placements and Multiple Configurations Together

These features can be combined for maximum control over your timetable. For example:

• Fix only the double-period lab sessions to days when lab assistance is available
• Create a rhythm by fixing one single period at the start of the week for introducing concepts and a double period at the end for consolidation activities
• Set up multiple length configurations and then use fixed placement to ensure specific configurations land on appropriate days

Best Practices for Advanced Lesson Features

• Start Simple: Begin with standard configurations before adding complexity with multiple lengths or fixed placements.
• Document Your Logic: Keep notes on why certain lessons have fixed placements for future reference.
• Balance Control and Flexibility: While it's tempting to fix many lessons, allow the system some freedom to optimize the overall timetable.
• Consider the Full Picture: When fixing placements, think about the ripple effects on teachers, classes, and resources.
• Verify Configurations: Double-check that the total periods across all configurations match curriculum requirements.

Tips for Specific Scenarios

• Block Scheduling: Use multiple configurations to implement block scheduling (alternating longer and shorter sessions).
• Specialized Staff: For visiting specialists with limited availability, use fixed placement to secure their time slots.
• Facility Sharing: When sharing specialized rooms with other departments or institutions, fixed placements ensure access during allocated times.
• Split Classes with Different Needs: For split groups that need different session lengths, use multiple configurations with appropriate lengths for each group.

Next Steps

Once all lessons are meticulously defined, representing the complete teaching plan for your institution, you are at the final stage before the magic happens! The next step involves a final review of all your data and then initiating the timetable generation process.

Confirmation Checklist:

• All required lessons (Teacher-Subject-Class combinations) have been created.
• The correct number of "Periods per Week/Cycle" is set for each lesson.
• "Lesson Length" (e.g., single, double, triple periods) is correctly configured for each session.
• Joint teacher, joint class, and split-class lessons are accurately set up.
• Room requirements (if any) are assigned to lessons.
• Lesson data has been reviewed from both Class Wise and Teacher Wise perspectives for completeness and balance.