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Create instructional routines

An instructional routine is a reusable teaching template: the fixed structure of a lesson, written once and applied to as many lessons as you like. Instead of re-describing every time "a lesson starts with a hook, then modelling, then…", you store that structure in a routine and reuse it.

A concrete example: the 'Lesson sheet'

The 'Lesson sheet' routine describes a 30-minute lesson in five ordered steps, each with its duration:

  1. Hook (4 min)
  2. Modelling (8 min)
  3. We do it (8 min)
  4. You do it (10 min)
  5. Wrap-up (5 min)

Applied to a lesson, this routine tells generation how to run the lesson. Change the routine, and every lesson that uses it afterwards follows the new structure.

The catalog: a library of templates

Routines live in a catalog — a library of templates you browse and reuse. The catalog has two shelves:

  • Shared — templates common to all programmes. Reserved for the super administrator.
  • Workspace — templates specific to your programme (for example Senegal). Editable by that workspace's curators.

The catalog holds two kinds of entry: routines (the teaching structure, this page) and formatters (the layout, see Create formatters). They work the same way; only their use differs.

Browse and read the catalog

"What's in the catalog?"

Claude lists the available entries, showing for each its shelf (shared or workspace) and its kind (routine or formatter).

"Show me the detail of the 'Lesson sheet' routine."

Claude gives you its full content — the steps, their instructions, the cross-cutting rules — so you know exactly what you are applying.

Apply a routine to a lesson

You apply a routine to a lesson:

"Apply the 'Lesson sheet' routine to this lesson."

An important point: applying a routine makes an independent copy attached to your lesson. The copy stands alone — if someone later edits the catalog routine, your lesson does not move. This is deliberate: your published lessons never change behind your back.

Create or edit a routine

A routine is built like the rest of the curriculum: by chatting, through successive tweaks that go into a draft.

"Create a routine 'Mental maths routine' with four steps: …"

"In the 'Lesson sheet' routine, lengthen the 'You do it' step to 12 minutes."

"Add a cross-cutting rule to this routine: 'French only'."

If a close-enough routine already exists, start from it rather than from a blank page:

"Duplicate the 'Lesson sheet' routine as 'Lesson sheet — revision'."

Write it straight into the library

Say "in the library" (or "in the catalog") in your first sentence. The detour of building the entry inside a subject and then copying it across is no longer needed — and it left a half-finished routine sitting in the curriculum whenever a session stopped part-way.

A routine is made of:

  • ordered steps (the flow), each carrying its instruction;
  • and, at the routine level, cross-cutting rules that apply to every step.

Who can edit what

An entry on the workspace shelf is edited by a curator of that workspace. A shared entry (common to all programmes) is reserved for the super administrator — to avoid a change touching others by accident.

A routine does not change existing lessons

Editing a catalog routine does not alter the lessons that already received a copy of it (see above). For a lesson to adopt the new version, you apply it again. This is what guarantees nothing changes without your knowledge.