New to CARL? Start here. This quick tour gives you the big-picture map of the editor, what each tool is for, and where to go when you need more detail.
When you open a lesson in CARL, you are working inside the lesson editor. Think of it as your planning workspace: the place where you review the generated lesson, make edits, add activities, customize the look, and prepare the lesson for publishing or sharing.
The CARL editor layout showing the main areas teachers use while planning.
| Area | What it does |
|---|---|
| Top Bar | Save & Exit, lesson title/status, Publish, and CARL-Assist. |
| Editor Sidebar | Opens Lesson Info, Components & Resources, Media, Customize, and Blocks. |
| Main Editing Area | The central lesson workspace where you review, adjust, and build your plan. |
| Page Navigation | Lets you move between pages or added lesson materials. |
| Status & View Controls | Shows saved status, document/page info, zoom, and view controls. |
Before you create your first lesson, it is worth setting up your curriculum and class profile. This gives CARL better context before it starts generating.
Your curriculum settings live under Profile Settings → Curriculum. This is where you can choose your default curriculum framework and manage Saved Class Profiles.
Set curriculum context and choose a teaching profile before planning.
Use Curriculum Defaults to choose the curriculum framework CARL should use when generating new lessons and units.
Saved Class Profiles let you save reusable classroom context, such as grade, subject, class size, lesson length, technology access, and learner needs.
When you start planning, use Choose saved class profile before generating your lesson. This helps CARL understand the class you are planning for without asking you to re-enter the same details each time.
CARL has three different tools that can sound similar at first: Components, Teaching Resources, and Blocks. They each do something different.
Components, Teaching Resources, and Blocks each serve a different purpose in the editor.
| Tool | What it is | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Components | Student-facing activities, assignments, assessments, and handouts. | Adding an exit ticket, quiz, worksheet, reflection, handout, or activity students will use. |
| Teaching Resources | Mostly teacher-facing supports. | Adding lesson/unit enhancements, ELL supports, and other instructional supports. |
| Blocks | Smaller extra pieces added inside an existing page or template. | Adding a Venn diagram, table, chart, organizer, multiple-choice section, or extra content area. |
Components are student-facing materials you can add to a lesson, such as assignments, activities, assessments, handouts, quizzes, and reflections.
To add one, open Components & Resources in the left sidebar, then choose Browse Components. From there, you can find a component, preview the template, and add it to your lesson.
Use Components & Resources to browse student-facing components and teaching supports.
| Option | What it means |
|---|---|
| Use Template | Adds the blank structure. You fill in the content yourself. |
| AI Generation | CARL looks at your lesson and generates content for the component. |
Teaching Resources are supports that help you strengthen, adapt, or extend a lesson. They are mostly teacher-facing, though some supports may create student-facing materials too.
To add them, open Components & Resources, choose Browse Teaching Resources, select the supports you want, and click Generate.
Teaching Resources help you generate lesson enhancements and ELL supports after the core plan is ready.
| Area | What it helps with |
|---|---|
| Lesson & Unit Enhancements | Adds targeted teaching supports connected to the lesson or unit. |
| ELL Supports | Creates multilingual and language-support resources for English language learners. |
Lesson & Unit Enhancement modules may include supports such as UDL & Differentiation, Equity & Inclusion, SEL Focus, Student Voice Action, Trauma-Informed Safeguards, and Indigenous Voice Inclusion.
Blocks are smaller content pieces you can add inside a lesson page or template. They are useful when you want to add a table, chart, organizer, text area, form, or layout support.
Blocks need somewhere to go before CARL can insert them. That means you start by adding a section.
Add Section, choose a layout, select a slot, then add a block.
| Step | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Click Add Section on the lesson canvas. |
| 2 | Choose a layout. |
| 3 | Click the slot where the block should go. |
| 4 | Open Blocks in the left sidebar. |
| 5 | Choose the block you want to add. |
CARL-Assist is your built-in AI support tool in the lesson editor. It helps you review your lesson and ask questions while you work.
Use Review for a quality check, or Ask Carl when you have a specific planning question.
| Tool | Use it when... |
|---|---|
| Review | You want CARL to check your lesson for clarity, alignment, gaps, or improvement ideas. |
| Chat / Ask Carl | You want to ask a question, brainstorm ideas, or get help thinking through a lesson decision. |
The Customize panel lets you adjust the look and feel of your lesson. You can update fonts, themes, styles, and logos so the lesson feels more polished or better matches your classroom/school context.
Use Customize after the main lesson content is mostly finished.
- Change heading and body fonts.
- Apply a theme.
- Adjust the visual style.
- Upload or apply a school logo.
- Reuse a preset logo.
CARL autosaves while you work. To confirm your lesson is saved, check the bottom-left of the editor for the green dot, SAVED label, and timestamp.
When you are done editing, use Save & Exit in the top-left.
Use Publish when your lesson is saved and ready to share or download.
When you publish, CARL saves your lesson and prepares downloadable files. Most of the time, files are ready by the time publishing finishes.
If your lesson has a lot of components or CARL is busy, downloads may take a little longer. If you see a loading spinner where the download button should be, wait a minute or two and check again.
CARL supports collaboration by letting teachers remix and contribute to lessons.
Use Create Remix when you want your own editable version, or Add Contribution when you want to add another resource/component.
A contribution is an extra component or resource added to a lesson without changing the original lesson plan.
For example, if you like a lesson but want to add an exit ticket as another option, you can add that as a contribution.
A remix creates your own editable version of a lesson. Use this when you want to adapt the actual lesson plan for your own classroom.
If another teacher saves your published lesson to their library, CARL protects that saved version so it does not change unexpectedly for them. If you want to update the lesson after that, create a remix and publish the updated version.
| If you want to... | Go here |
|---|---|
| Set your default curriculum | Profile Settings → Curriculum → Curriculum Defaults |
| Save reusable class context | Profile Settings → Curriculum → Saved Class Profiles |
| Use saved class context while planning | Start Planning → Choose Class Profile |
| Edit the core lesson plan | Lesson editor → Main Editing Area |
| Add a student-facing activity or handout | Components & Resources → Browse Components |
| Add images, upload media, or generate AI visuals | Media → Library, Web, or AI |
| Add a smaller extra piece inside a page | Add Section → choose layout → Blocks |
| Add teaching supports | Components & Resources → Browse Teaching Resources |
| Get AI help reviewing or thinking through a lesson | CARL-Assist |
| Change fonts, themes, or logos | Customize |
| Check whether work is saved | Bottom-left save status |
| Publish or update a lesson | Publish |
| Add an extra resource/component to another lesson | Remix → Add Contribution |
| Make your own editable version of a lesson | Remix → Create Remix |