# Teaching lessons out of order

URL: https://www.openskyplanner.com/support/teaching-lessons-out-of-order
Tab: Scheduling & Courses
Category: Rescheduling
Updated: 2026-11-03

Work through a course's chapters in your own order while the lesson list keeps matching the book.

A course has two orders. The **lesson order** is the book's: it is what you see in the course editor and what each lesson's number refers to. The **teaching order** is the order your student actually works through it. Change the teaching order and OpenSky schedules from it, while the lesson list, lesson numbers and the course editor keep matching the book.

## Changing the teaching order

1. Open the student's **Enrollments** tab and find the course.
2. Click the course row's **…** menu and choose **Change teaching order**.
3. In **Change Teaching Order**, drag a unit by its handle to move it, or use the up and down arrows beside it. Click a unit to open it and drag lessons within the unit.
4. Click **Save Order**.

Units and lessons that are already complete or skipped are locked where they are. A unit that is partly done can still move; only its unfinished lessons go with it.

The unit the student is on shows **In progress**, the next unit shows **Up next**, and later units show **Planned**. Inside a unit, the next lesson to be taught is highlighted **Up next**.

## What you see afterwards

The course row says **This course is taught out of book order.** and its lessons are listed in teaching order. Each row keeps its book number, so a lesson pulled forward reads, for example, "Lesson 25" between lessons 12 and 13. The **Next Lesson** badge, the **Today** and **Upcoming** pages and the lesson numbers all follow the new order.

The course editor is unchanged: it always shows the book's order.

## Back to the book's order

Open **Change teaching order** and click **Reset to original order**. Nothing is marked complete and completed lessons keep their dates. Any dates you had pinned by hand are cleared, since the pins belonged to the old order.

## Completing a lesson out of order

You can mark any lesson complete at any time, whatever the teaching order says. It is recorded on the day it happened. The day it had been planned for stays open; to fill it, move the next lesson there. See [Moving a lesson](https://www.openskyplanner.com/support/moving-a-lesson).

## Moves that would go out of order

A lesson still cannot be moved to a date before the lesson ahead of it in the teaching order. If OpenSky says **Can't move out of order**, pick a later date, or change the teaching order so the lesson comes first.

## Need more help?

Reach out any time at [support@openskyplanner.com](mailto:support@openskyplanner.com) and we will be happy to help.