A course map is a simple table you fill in before building anything. Rows are your weeks or units. Columns are the topic, the objective it serves, the assessment that checks it, and the materials students use. A spreadsheet or a sheet of paper is enough.

The map surfaces problems while they are still cheap to fix: an outcome with no assessment, a week with three major things due at once, a reading that serves no objective. Once the map holds together, the rest of course building becomes mostly execution.