Hi Pianofiend,
probably you were watching the Cubase 7 tutorials, which will show you a lot of stuff that your Elements version doesn’t have. You can access the Cubase Elements 7 video tutorials through the Steinberg Hub though. On the top left hand side window of the Hub you will find three buttons, the last one is called “Quickstart”. Click there and you will find 5 links that will redirect you to the quick start video tutorials of Cubase Elements 7 on youtube.
This is Chapter 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBVwMnoz6tY&feature=youtu.be
Hope this helps
Regards