Planned Just So
TM
Plan with purpose • Teach with impact • Skip the overwhelm
Does this sound familiar?
You sit down to plan and immediately feel stuck.
You're flipping between pacing guides, curriculum binders, and five open tabs—while the clock is ticking and Monday is coming.
You’re not alone - and it’s not you’re fault...
You’ve just been handed a broken system.
How would it feel to…
Spend significantly less time planning and still end up with engaging and rigorous lessons for your students?
Have a complete, year-long instructional plan so you know exactly what to teach and when - eliminating that last minute scramble every day or week?
Never again waste hours searching for activities hoping they’ll align with your unit standards and goals?
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Jennifer's course was amazing! I feel this course is the foundation for truly building work-life balance.
Britton, Planned Just So™ student
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I am looking forward to having my Sundays back and not feeling stressed or overwhelmed... I highly recommend this course for anyone who feels overwhelmed by the planning process.
Misty, Planned Just So™ student
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Thank you for helping me organize all of the "stuff" I had collected in 5 short years! I feel more alive to show up each week and teach the students.
Julie, Planned Just So™ student
Did you see that?
They simplified their planning process, ditched the overwhelm, and found work-life balance.
I’m going to help you do the same.
One course. Unlimited Options.
This course was designed for two types of teachers:
New educators looking to build confident, skill-aligned plans from the ground up
Veteran teachers ready to streamline, optimize, and elevate what already works
To fit your individual needs, you can enroll in:
one module
a focused track
or the full course
Here’s what’s inside:
MODULE ONE
Backward Planning Foundations
Master the method that transforms your planning from scattered to strategic. In this foundational module, you'll learn how to reverse-engineer powerful units by starting with the why.
Instead of grabbing random activities, you’ll clarify your learning targets and build everything around deep, lasting understanding.
1.1 – Why Backward Design Works: Discover how backward planning anchors your instruction in purpose and clarity.
1.2 – The Three Stages of Backward Planning: Break down the exact sequence for goal-first unit design.
1.3 – From Coverage to Transfer: Shift from rushing through content to creating skills students can actually use.
1.4 – Understanding Transfer Goals: Learn to write goals that go beyond standards—and into students' lives.
1.5 – Writing Essential Questions: Craft questions that drive engagement, inquiry, and deeper thinking.
1.6 – What’s Worth Knowing vs. Transferring: Get crystal clear on what really deserves your time—and theirs.
MODULE TWO
From Standards to Aligned Goals
Tired of drowning in standards? This module helps you cut through the clutter and pinpoint what matters most. Learn how to unpack standards into meaningful skills and align them seamlessly with your unit goals.
2.1 – Unpack Standards into Skills: Translate abstract standards into teachable, trackable outcomes.
2.2 – Select Priority Standards That Drive the Unit: Focus your energy on what matters most.
2.3 – Map Standards to Transfer Goals: Connect big ideas and essential questions to your mandated curriculum.
2.4 – Connect Unit Goals to Weekly Learning Targets: Turn long-term goals into weekly checkpoints that drive progress.
MODULE THREE
Designing Assessments &
Coherent Learning Plans
Plan with intention—not just to teach, but to measure understanding. This module helps you design performance tasks that matter, build assessments that make sense, and create daily lessons that ladder up to something meaningful.
3.1 – Design Authentic Performance Tasks: Create assessments that mirror the real world.
3.2 – Build a Balanced Assessment Plan: Use data smartly with a clear plan for formative and summative checks.
3.3 – Develop Clear Rubrics and Success Criteria: Set expectations that help students and guide your grading.
3.4 – Sequence Learning to Build Understanding: Build your unit like a staircase—step-by-step toward mastery.
3.5 – Use WHERETO to Check Lesson Alignment: A powerful tool to make sure each lesson fits your plan.
3.6 – Build Student Engagement into the Learning Plan: Keep curiosity alive while staying on track.
MODULE FOUR
Yearlong Planning
for Skill Growth
It’s time to zoom out. This module helps you map the whole year—not just for coverage, but for skill-building, spiraling, and thematic coherence. Get ahead with a big-picture plan that still allows for flexibility and depth.
4.1 – Spiral Skills Across the Year: Revisit key skills at deeper levels over time.
4.2 – Sequence Units for Growth: Order your units to build complexity—not confusion.
4.3 – Balance Review, Projects & Pacing: Avoid burnout by protecting time for deep work.
4.4 – Develop Meaningful Monthly Themes: Create a year that tells a story.
4.5 – Map Standards to Each Unit: Ensure standards coverage without scrambling at the end.
4.6 – Check for Balance: Make sure you hit all the right strands—reading, writing, language, and speaking.
MODULE FIVE
Bring Your Unit to Life –
Plan a Week That Flows
Stop planning day by day. This module teaches you how to build a week that clicks—where every lesson serves a purpose and every student move builds toward mastery.
5.1 – Blueprint a Week That Flows: Build a Monday–Friday plan that works like clockwork.
5.2 – Choose an Anchor Text That Works: One text. Multiple lessons. Maximum impact.
5.3 – Mini-Lessons That Matter: Write short, focused lessons that stick.
5.4 – Layer Writing, Talk, and Language: Embed multiple skills—without overwhelming yourself or your students.
5.5 – Routines That Run Themselves: Repeatable moves that deepen thinking and lighten your load.
MODULE SIX
Power Moves with Texts
Pick better texts, teach them smarter, and scaffold like a pro. This module gives you all the tools you need to make mentor texts work harder.
6.1 – What Makes a Mentor Text Worth Teaching: Choose texts that teach, not just entertain.
6.2 – Text-to-Standard Matchmaking: Confidently pair your texts to your goals.
6.3 – Scaffolds That Don’t Water Down: Make texts accessible—without losing rigor.
6.4 – Build a Text Set That Works: Design anchor + companion texts for high-impact learning.
MODULE SEVEN
Science of Reading Lens
Planning Through the
Bridge the best of SoR research with practical classroom planning. Whether you're new to SoR or integrating it into upper grades, this module helps you build a balanced, literacy-rich week.
7.1 – SoR, Simplified: Understand what the Science of Reading really means for daily planning.
7.2 – What’s Missing from Most ELA Plans: Find and fix the most common literacy gaps.
7.3 – A Week of Skills, Not Silos: Integrate decoding, fluency, comprehension, and writing seamlessly.
7.4 – Purposeful Routines That Build Literacy: Design literacy routines that do double duty.
MODULE EIGHT
and Meaningful Engagement
Make It Matter: SEL, Voice,
Let’s bring heart into planning. In this module, you’ll learn how to embed SEL and student voice into your lessons—without losing focus or structure. Make every student feel seen, heard, and motivated to learn.
8.1 – Plan with Heart: Use low-lift SEL strategies that build trust and connection.
8.2 – Hook Their World: Integrate cultural relevance and student interest into your lessons.
8.3 – Voice & Choice Without Chaos: Offer choice without sacrificing clarity or control.
8.4 – Get Everyone Talking: Design participation routines that engage all learners, every day.
MODULE NINE
Using Scripted Curriculum
Without Losing Your Voice
Teaching from a script? You don’t have to lose your creativity. This module helps you personalize, differentiate, and bring student-centered energy into even the most structured curriculum..
9.1 – Crack the Script: Identify where to adapt while staying on pace.
9.2 – Differentiate Without Derailing: Support all learners while following the core plan.
9.3 – Add Voice, Choice & Relevance: Infuse student identity and ownership—without rewriting everything.
9.4 – Manage Pacing Without Panic: Keep things moving, even when you need to go deeper.
9.5 – Document with Confidence: Track and share your adjustments with admin-friendly language.
MODULE TEN
Without Drowning in It
Use Your Data—
Data doesn’t have to overwhelm. In this module, you’ll learn how to use student work to make small, smart shifts—without creating more work for yourself.
10.1 – Diagnose, Don’t Drown: Analyze data quickly and make it actionable.
10.2 – Pivot Like a Pro: Adjust lessons on the fly while keeping your goals intact.
10.3 – Student Reflection as Data: Use student thinking and self-assessment to guide instruction.
10.4 – The Friday Data Sprint: A 15-minute weekly ritual to stay ahead.
MODULE ELEVEN
Differentiation That Doesn’t
Drain You
You don’t need 30 different lesson plans. This module shows you how to differentiate smartly—with routines and structures that work for you and your students.
11.1 – One Goal, Many Paths: Tiered tasks that give all students access and challenge.
11.2 – Small Groups, Big Impact: Plan small group lessons that actually move the needle.
11.3 – Centers That Run Themselves: Set up rotations and routines that make the most of class time.
11.4 – Regroup and Refresh: Simplify your system when it’s not working—without burning out.
MODULE TWELVE
Raising Rigor Without
Reinventing the Wheel
Rigor doesn’t mean more work—it means smarter work. Learn how to level up tasks and questions to deepen student thinking.
12.1 – Rigor, Reframed: Know what rigor really looks like.
12.2 – Ask More, Get More: Write better questions that stretch student thinking.
12.3 – Turn Busywork into Brilliance: Upgrade existing tasks to deepen learning.
12.4 – Make Rigor a Routine: Embed challenge into your weekly flow.
MODULE THIRTEEN
Streamline Your Systems
Work smarter—not longer. This module helps you batch your planning, simplify your templates, and build a weekly system that saves time.
13.1 – Batch Like a Boss: Cut planning time in half with strategic batching.
13.2 – What to Batch for Time Back: Focus on the planning tasks with the highest return.
13.3 – Plug-and-Plan Templates: Use customizable tools to protect your flow.
13.4 – Build a Batchable Week: Create repeatable planning rhythms that actually stick.
MODULE FOURTEEN
Tech That Supports
Backward Planning
Let tech serve your teaching—not the other way around. This module shows you how to use AI and digital tools ethically and effectively to streamline your backward planning.
14.1 – Build a Smart Tech Stack: Choose the tools that protect your purpose.
14.2 – Use AI to Plan Smarter: Write prompts that co-plan lessons, scaffolds, and assessments.
14.3 – Automate the Right Tasks: Automate low-impact work to free up your brain.
14.4 – Guardrails for Smart, Ethical Tech Use: Keep student privacy and instructional quality front and center.
MODULE FIFTEEN
The Reuse Revolution
Stop reinventing the wheel every year. This module helps you organize, tag, and reuse your best materials—so planning gets easier every time.
15.1 – Curate What Works: Evaluate and store only what’s worth using again.
15.2 – Build a Digital Catalog: Create a searchable, go-to system for all your resources.
15.3 – Tag It to Teach It: Use naming and tagging systems that let you retrieve anything in seconds.
15.4 – Keep It Clean: Maintain your system with a monthly 20-minute reset.
MODULE SIXTEEN
Planning for The Real World
Perfect plans are nice. But real-world plans are what work. This final module helps you simplify, adapt, and protect instruction—even on your hardest days.
16.1 – Just Enough Planning: Create lesson plans that are focused and flexible.
16.2 – Contingency Planning: Build backups for the inevitable curveballs.
16.3 – Sync It Up: Plan across co-teachers and departments without adding extra work.
16.4 – Sub-Proof and Stress-Free: Set up systems that run when you’re out—so you can actually rest.
Included in each module:
Video Trainings
The first step in your work-life transformation. I’ll walk you through each step of unlearning “what we’ve always done” and teach you how to do it a better way - dare I say, the right way.
Printable Workbook
A support tool that provides examples, helpful tips, cheat sheets, checklists, and work pages to help you complete each lesson.
Completion Certificate
District requirements vary. Check with your administrator to see if this course meets your professional development requirements.
Looking for a focused path?
Rather than individual modules, enroll in one of four Learning Tracks.
Track One
Build Your Backward Planning Foundation
Modules 1–5: Core Backward Design Essentials
Master the full backward planning process—from writing goals to designing assessments, mapping yearlong skill progressions, and planning weeks that flow with purpose.
Module 1: Backward Design Foundations
Module 2: From Standards to Aligned Goals
Module 3: Designing Assessments and Building Coherent Learning Plans
Module 4: Yearlong Planning for Skill Growth and Thematic Coherence
Module 5: Bring Your Unit to Life – Plan a Week That Flows
Track Two
ELA Planning That Centers Texts, Literacy, and Skill Growth
Modules 6–8: Text Selection, Science of Reading, and Meaningful Engagement
Deepen your ELA planning with strong text choices, Science of Reading alignment, and strategies that build student connection, literacy, and authentic engagement.
Module 6: Power Moves with Texts: Choose, Match, and Maximize
Module 7: Planning Through the Science Of Reading Lens
Module 8: Make It Matter: SEL, Voice, and Meaningful Engagement
Track Three
Personalize, Differentiate, and Elevate Student Voice
Modules 9–12: Scripted Curriculum, Differentiation, Data, and Rigor
Personalize your instruction, adapt scripted programs, and raise rigor in ways that center student voice, choice, and growth—without doubling your workload.
Module 9: Scripted Curriculum Without Losing Your Voice
Module 10: Use Your Data—Without Drowning in It
Module 11: Differentiation That Doesn’t Drain You
Module 12: Raising Rigor Without Reinventing the Wheel
Track Four
Streamline, Sustain, and Plan for the Real World
Modules 13–16: Planning Systems, Tech, Libraries, and Flexibility
Streamline your systems, build reusable planning tools, leverage technology, and create flexible plans that hold up to real classroom challenges.
Module 13: Streamline Your Planning Systems
Module 14: Tech That Supports Backward Planning
Module 15: Sustain and Strengthen: Build a Backward Planning Library
Module 16: Planning for the Real-World Classroom
Need all the help?
Enroll in the full course and get access to these bonuses:
Sub Binder
Now that you know how to proactively plan for a sub, you need a tool to house all your classroom, student, and lesson plan information for your substitutes.
Enter the sub binder.
Prep this tool in advance so anyone can walk into your classroom, open it up, and keep your class running like the well-oiled machine that it is.
Sub Plans
Your sub binder is prepped with everything a sub might need to know about your classroom, your students, and your routines. But you still need to plan actual lessons.
Not anymore. Multiple days of reading and writing lessons for third, fourth, or fifth grade students ready-to-go. All you have to do is print and place in your prepped sub binder.
Sub plans from beginning to end? Done.
Teacher Planner
Includes everything you need to stay on track with planning all year long.
Choose your plan:
One Module
$19 - $37
4-6 Lessons in each
Lesson videos
Printable workbook
Templates and tools to help complete your work
Completion certificate
One Track
$47 - $127
3-5 Modules
4-6 Lessons in each
Lesson videos
Printable workbook
Templates and tools to help complete your work
Completion certificate
Full Course
$297
16 Modules
4-6 Lessons in each
Lesson videos
Printable workbook
Templates and tools to help complete your work
Completion certificate
limited time - limited enrollment
Planned Just So: Fast-Track Coaching Pass
A 2-week coaching experience for upper elementary ELA teachers who want to walk into the new school year actually ready.
Session 1: Map Your Year (Without Overthinking It)
Start with the big picture. Get clear on what matters and drop what doesn’t.
Build your Year-at-a-Glance
Set your transfer goals
Choose big ideas, anchor texts, and priority standards
Session 2: Build Your First Unit (Fast and Aligned)
No more blank unit plans or second-guessing. You’ll leave with a complete outline.
Transfer goal + essential question
Anchor text + performance task
Weekly checkpoints
Session 3: Plan a Week That Flows (and Saves You Time)
Your first week? Planned. Your future weeks? Simplified.
Full Monday–Friday lesson plan
Mini-lesson flow, SEL, and routines
Batch-planning strategies
Session 4: Polish & Plan Ahead
Refine your work and make it repeatable.
Review your plans
Create your personal planning system
Get your questions answered and celebrate your wins
What’s Included:
✔️ Four Live Planning Sessions (60-90 Minutes Each)
We’ll work through the process of mapping your year, developing your first unit, and finalizing your first week of plans so you can start the year with confidence. Ask questions, get feedback, and watch real-time demos.
✔️ Private Pop-Up Community (Two Weeks Only)
Get direct access to me and your cohort in a private Facebook group. Ask follow-up questions, share your progress, and get feedback between sessions. The group is open only for these two weeks—so you can focus, connect, and get real-time support.
✔️ Replay Vault
All live sessions will be recorded and uploaded to a private replay vault. Can’t attend live? No problem—you’ll have time to rewatch and implement on your own schedule.
✔️ BONUS: Resource Bundle
Time-saving, plug-and-play resources you can use all year long. Including:
Tiered Task Menus: Pre-written examples of tiered task ideas, sentence frames, scaffolds, and pacing flex points for different ability levels.
Weekly Exit Ticket Bank - A bank of ready-to-use exit ticket prompts aligned to common ELA skills (reading, writing, vocabulary, analysis).
Center Rotation Slides - Ready to use slides that keep your centers and station on track.
Daily Agenda Slides - Get your day or class period to a calm, orderly start. Your choice of multiple themes.
✔️ BONUS: On Free Month Inside My New Membership - The Just So Planning Club
A monthly hub for smarter planning, reusable tools, and teacher-to-teacher support - powered by the system that has helped 1,000s of teachers plan with purpose. Exclusively for upper elementary ELA teachers.
Live Meeting Dates & Times:
8/11, 8-9 PM EDT: Session One
8/13, 8-9 PM EDT: Session Two
8/18, 8-9 PM EDT: Session Three
8/20, 8-9 PM EDT: Session Four
Important Registration Notes:
In order to register, you must be an existing or new Planned Just So student enrolled in either Track One or the full course.
Before the first meeting, you must view the lesson videos inside Track One.
This is a small-group, high-support experience, and spots are limited.
Registration for the August 2025 cohort ends Sunday, August 3, 2025.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Good question! Most of my teaching experience is in third and sixth grades, so the resources I create and ideas I share are geared towards upper elementary students and teachers.
However, the systems I teach can be used in any grade from elementary to college. Many of the resources included can be used in multiple grade levels.
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After enrolling, you have unlimited access to the course and any updates for as long as you like.
I can’t predict the future, so I can’t promise that you’ll have access for a lifetime. However, I can promise that as long as the course exists, you’ll have access.
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No, you don’t! After purchasing, you decide when to begin and how quickly (or slowly) to work through each lesson.
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No! This course has been design to give you exactly what you need. Many teachers aren’t looking for a full course - they just want focused PD in a specific area. So this course is set up to fit your needs - not mine.
You can choose individual modules, a specific track, or the full course.
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We want you to be completely satisfied with your purchase. If you’ve truly put in the work and aren’t satisfied with the results, we are happy to refund your purchase within seven days of purchase.
To qualify for a refund:
You must show proof that you did, in fact, put in the work and the systems didn’t work for you.
You must request a refund within 7 days of purchasing the course.
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Yes! The course doesn’t teach you how to use certain standards or a specific curriculum. Instead, it teaches you how to plan in a way that is streamlined and more effective - no matter the materials you use.
Jennifer Martinez
Meet Your Instructor
Hello! I’m Jennifer, and I’ve spent the last 20 years teaching, coaching, and helping teachers build planning systems that actually stick.
I know what it’s like to stay late, to constantly tweak, to feel like you’re never quite done.
That’s why I built this course—to help you plan with clarity, purpose, and a repeatable system that gives you your evenings back.
I’m here to help you work smarter—with backward planning that’s practical, sustainable, and centered on what really matters.
Can’t wait to see you inside!