Effective planning lays the foundations for effective teaching in mathematics (Smith & Stein, 2018). The planning decisions made by teachers are many and varied and ultimately inform what, how and why students learn mathematics (Kilpatrick et al., 2001). Critically, these decisions affect students' opportunities to engage with mathematics in meaningful ways (Attard, 2012). However, a key challenge for teachers is to address the complex web of decisions required to design high quality learning sequences and experiences in mathematics. In this article Aylie Davidson offers an overview on how effective planning strategies, together with the Model for Planning in Mathematics (MPM), can be applied to support and strengthen planning conversations in mathematics with colleagues in schools.