Bonjour!
First of all........you don't sound stupid at all!! We were all once new to cooking so don't feel bad........
When cooking in a Crockpot you must first 'cook' or brown your meat.........then you can place all the rest of your ingredients into the pot. Crockpots cook evenly and provide all over heat.........there is no need to worry about burning in a crockpot. You can leave the house and leave your crockpot on and cooking until you return in the evening...........sometimes for stew you would have to thicken it towards the end of cooking....this you would do during the last hour in a crockpot.
I hope this helps you out...........and good luck trying and using your crockpot, you will learn to love it.
Kind regards,
Kimmy