English Language Arts, Planning Jennifer Martinez, Marianna Monheim, Jeanine Schneider, and Jacqueline Ortiz English Language Arts, Planning Jennifer Martinez, Marianna Monheim, Jeanine Schneider, and Jacqueline Ortiz

How to Differentiate ELA Instruction & Save Time: 5 Strategies That Work

Differentiation doesn’t have to mean hours of extra planning! This post shares five practical, time-saving differentiation strategies that help classroom teachers support individual student needs in literacy without overwhelming prep work. Learn how to use pre-leveled reading passages, sentence starters, vocabulary activities, flexible grouping, and technology to meet diverse student needs efficiently. Plus, get insights from other experienced educators on how they differentiate instruction in engaging and manageable ways.

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Planning Jennifer Martinez Planning Jennifer Martinez

5 Planning Strategies to Successfully Keep Lessons on Track All Winter Long

Don't let snow days throw your ELA curriculum off course. Discover five adaptive planning strategies to maintain student engagement and lesson momentum through winter's unpredictable weather. From quick shifts to emergency kits, this guide offers practical tips for upper elementary teachers to keep the pages turning and the learning consistent, even when the weather outside is frightful.

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Planning Jennifer Martinez Planning Jennifer Martinez

How to Create a System for Planning Consistently

It’s simply not possible to truly affect change without being consistent. Consistency is just as important when it comes to planning. If you want to lessen your stress, improve the effectiveness of your lessons, and help your students meet standards and goals, consistent planning is a must.

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Planning Jennifer Martinez Planning Jennifer Martinez

5 Resources to Save Your Sanity in December

Let me help take some of the overwhelm out of the holiday season in your classroom. I have organization tips, writing activities, and holiday activities perfect for your upper elementary students.

Read on as I take you through five teaching resources that will help save your sanity and keep your students engaged this holiday season.

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Planning Jennifer Martinez Planning Jennifer Martinez

How Planning Backward Prevents Common Problems

There is a better way to lesson planning. A way that streamlines the process, saves you time, while also boosting rigor. I’m talking about planning backward. This idea might be new to you. If it is, I ask you to keep an open mind, continue reading, and trust me.

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Planning Jennifer Martinez Planning Jennifer Martinez

Why Searching Pinterest is Killing Your Lesson Planning

Spontaneity can be fun when you’re planning a last minute trip or deciding what to have for dinner. However, it’s not a recipe for success when we’re talking about lesson planning. Planning without having a system in place leads to so much time wasted searching for activities and resources that might fit with what your students need to learn.

There is a better way.

To make lesson planning less time-consuming, less stressful, and infinitely more effective, you need a system. It starts with saying no to planning “Pinterest-style.”

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Planning Jennifer Martinez Planning Jennifer Martinez

Cut Your Lesson Planning Time in Half with These Three Steps

Over the past several years, I’ve talked to hundreds of teachers about lesson planning. We all have to do it and yet so many of us never quite find a way to make the process streamlined or easy. With something so foundational to our work as teachers, establishing a successful routine for lesson planning is paramount to simplifying our jobs as a whole.

The act of lesson planning will never go away - it’s something you’ll always have to do as a teacher. So why not incorporate a few changes now that will streamline the process and save you hours of time later? With these three tips, you can easily cut your planning time in half.

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Planning Jennifer Martinez Planning Jennifer Martinez

Transform Your Teaching with Understanding by Design

Planning backward will change what and how you teach. Radically. It will challenge you. It might even frustrate you at first. It will also result in instruction that is cohesive, aligned, and meaningful.


When I started planning backward, using the Understanding by Design® method it transformed my teaching. My lesson planning process and the quality of my instruction as a whole changed dramatically. For the better.

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Jennifer Martinez Jennifer Martinez

The One Tool that Keeps my Business Organized

The One Tool that Keeps my Business Organized | Wondering how to get organized and keep your online business running smoothly? This one tool works to organize it all – blog post planning, resource ideas, sales and promotional data, tax information, and more. No need for multiple tools – get organized with this one business planner. | everythingjustso.org

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Planning Jennifer Martinez Planning Jennifer Martinez

Three Solutions That Will Make Sub Prep Simple

Three Solutions That Will Make Sub Prep Simple | Planning to be out of the classroom is never easy, but scrambling to throw together lesson plans for a substitute you weren't expecting is far worse. There are three things you can do now to make lesson planning for a substitute easier. Follow these easy steps and you’ll be prepared for an unexpected or planned absence from the very beginning of the school year. | everythingjustso.org

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