Planboard

Planboard is Chalk’s digital lesson-planning tool for teachers building and organizing units and lessons. Teachers can create, edit, and share lesson plans, then arrange lessons, subjects, and semesters in a timetable. Plans can include curriculum standards, photos, and files. The mobile app syncs with Planboard on the web, and the service is available on web, iOS, and Android. The Planboard plan costs nothing. Chalk Gold adds custom colors, lesson search, and Google Classroom integration. Gold users and teachers at schools subscribed to the Instruction Solution can also share lessons to Google Classroom, export timetables to Google Calendar, and attach Google Drive files. Free users cannot share to Google Classroom unless their school subscribes to the Instruction Solution. Chalk Teams is aimed at teaching teams of 2–10 people and includes Gold features and shared lesson collaboration. Public lesson links can expose lessons and attachments enabled for the link’s configured time frame. PowerSchool says Chalk collects teachers’ names, email addresses, and IP addresses; users can view and export data, request account and data deletion, and download lesson plans.

Planboard covers lesson planning and timetable organization across web and mobile, with standards and attachments included in plans. Google integrations depend on Chalk Gold or a school subscription, and public links can expose selected lessons and attachments for their configured timeframe.

Planboard suits teachers who want to plan and organize lessons, subjects, and semesters, with access from web or mobile. Chalk Teams is intended for teaching groups of 2–10 people that need shared lesson collaboration.

Planboard is a digital workspace for building lesson plans and organizing a teaching timetable. It is best suited to teachers who want planning, standards, and scheduling together without an upfront cost. Its core planning is free; Google Classroom workflows and team collaboration are the reasons to look beyond individual free access.

Overview

Planboard connects lesson planning with subjects and semesters in a timetable, so it can serve teachers managing a course or term rather than only drafting one-off lessons. Standards alignment and attachments add useful context to plans. Teachers who mainly need a simple writing space may not need this broader structure.

Key features

Teachers can create, edit, and share lesson plans, arrange them by subject and semester, manage curriculum standards, and attach photos or files. Calendar view, PDF export, and ICS export make the planner useful beyond its lesson editor, particularly for teachers who want plans tied to a schedule.

The mobile app syncs with the web version, keeping plans accessible across devices. Google Classroom sharing, Google Calendar timetable exports, and Google Drive attachments are available to Chalk Gold users and teachers at schools subscribed to the Instruction Solution. Free users cannot share lessons to Google Classroom unless their school has that subscription, a meaningful limitation for teachers whose classroom workflow depends on that handoff.

Chalk Gold adds custom colors, lesson search, and Google integrations. Chalk Teams is aimed at teaching teams of 2–10 people; it includes Gold features and shared lesson collaboration, making it the relevant option when planning needs to be collaborative rather than individual. Public lesson links can expose the lessons and attachments enabled for that link during its configured timeframe, so teachers should consider what they include before sharing.

Pricing

Planboard: free. Free access covers digital lesson planning for teachers, making it a sensible starting point for an individual who can work without the premium tools. The key tradeoff is the restricted Google workflow: free users need a school Instruction Solution subscription to share to Google Classroom.

Chalk Gold: custom pricing. It adds custom colors, Google Classroom integration, and lesson search, along with the Google Calendar and Drive connections available to Gold users. It fits teachers who need those integrations or search; the price is not a fixed published amount.

Chalk Teams: custom pricing. Designed for teams of 2–10, it includes Chalk Gold features plus shared lesson collaboration. It is the better fit for a small teaching team, while an individual teacher who does not need shared planning can start with free Planboard.

Platforms

Planboard is available on web, Android, and iOS, with mobile apps syncing to the web version. PDF and ICS exports support sharing plans and timetable information outside the app.

Who it's for

Planboard is a good fit for teachers who want lesson plans, standards, attachments, and a timetable organized in one place, especially if free access is enough. Teachers who require Google Classroom sharing should confirm that Gold or a qualifying school subscription is available. Small teams needing shared lesson collaboration should consider Chalk Teams rather than relying on an individual setup.

PowerSchool Group LLC provides Chalk services. PowerSchool says Chalk collects teachers’ names, email addresses, and IP addresses and uses security measures to protect data integrity and confidentiality. The Chalk Privacy Supplement says users can view and export their data, request account and data deletion, and download lesson plans.

Pros and cons

• Pro: Timetable organization, standards, and lesson plans sit together, supporting term-level planning rather than isolated drafts.
• Pro: Free digital planning and web-to-mobile sync give individual teachers a way to work across devices without a paid plan.
• Pro: PDF and ICS exports, calendar view, and attachments make plans useful for scheduling and record-keeping.
• Con: Free access does not include Google Classroom sharing unless the school subscribes to Instruction Solution.
• Con: Gold and Teams use custom pricing, so teachers cannot compare a fixed price for premium integrations or collaboration.
• Con: Public lesson links can reveal enabled lessons and attachments for the link’s configured timeframe, requiring care when sharing.

Alternatives

Lesson Planning Software is the broader category page for comparing lesson-planning options.

Choose SchEDU if its free lifetime allowance of two lesson plans and two subjects, plus one automated activity or exam per day and full-term auto-planning, matches a more limited planning need.

LessonApp is another freemium option with a free trial, a basic license that includes more than 50 teaching methods, up to 10 draft lessons, printing, and access to other users’ plans.

PlanbookEdu may suit teachers who value unlimited weekly plans, rotation schedules, word-processor editing, and a free plan that works on iPad and phone.

Planbook is an alternative with free access and paid individual or school and district licensing.

Daytical is a paid option at $12 a year, billed $144 once a year, with unlimited courses, students, and plans and monthly AI credits.

GoPlans is a paid alternative with a yearly subscription and pricing that varies by number of users.

OnCourse Lesson Planner is a paid annual subscription with pricing provided by request.

Daybook offers a 14-day free trial, then costs $1.99 a month with all features included and cancellation anytime.

Verdict

Choose Planboard if you want free, cross-device lesson planning that connects standards, attachments, and a timetable. Its strongest case is that joined-up planning workflow; look elsewhere if Google Classroom sharing must be available without a school subscription or if you need a fixed, transparent price for team collaboration.