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The end of the school year can feel chaotic: testing, low energy, and unpredictable schedules. So what do you actually do with your students during those final weeks?

In this episode of Growing With Proficiency, I sit down with Allison Wienhold (Mis Clases Locas) to share simple, low-prep end-of-year activities for world language classes that keep students engaged without burning you out.

We talk about how to balance review, celebration, and connection while staying true to a communicative, comprehension-based approach. Whether you need movement, easy games, or meaningful ways for students to show what they’ve learned, this episode is full of ideas you can use right away.

✨ Biggest Takeaways

• Why the end of the year is a different season for both students and teachers—and how to plan accordingly
• How to use conversation cards + movement for engaging review
• Easy ways to turn any activity into a gallery walk or walk & talk
• Low-prep games like:
  • 1-2-3 Jump
  • Team Marker Game (whole-group version)
  • Relay-style Quizlet/Kahoot/Blooket
• A meaningful self-portrait project to make learning visible
• How to talk about future plans and goals with students
• Simple ways to use movies without creating a full unit

📚 Resources & Links Mentioned

• Alison Wienhold (Miss Clase Locas): https://misclaseslocas.com
• Activities with movement (includes question cards, Quizlet Live Relay, 1,2,3 Salta & dancing) https://misclaseslocas.com/10-ways-to-get-you-spanish-class-moving/
• Culture rich movies to use at the end of the year https://misclaseslocas.com/appropriate-movies-for-spanish-class/
• Comprehensible Iowa Conference June 12-13, 2026 in Des Moines, IA https://comprehensibleiowa.wordpress.com/
• Growing With Proficiency Spanish Teacher Academy: https://growingwithproficiency.com/academy
• Growing With CI FB Community
• GWP Blog
• Claudia's Teacher Pay Teachers Store
• IG & Twitter: @claudiamelliott

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Profe ¿te ha pasado esto? Haces una pregunta… y recibes respuestas de una palabra. O silencio. O miradas de “no sé qué decir”. Y tú estás ahí pensando: pero si esto debería ser comunicación… ¿por qué no se siente así?

Porque muchas veces no es que tus estudiantes no quieran hablar o que no puedan, es que no tienen una razón real para hacerlo.

En esta conversación me siento con dos profes extraordinarias — María del Carmen Benítez desde Monterrey, México, y Teresa Jensen desde Omaha, Nebraska — para descubrir cómo un simple intercambio por Zoom entre sus clases lleva siete años transformando la experiencia de sus estudiantes... y por qué estos no quieren que termine la llamada.

En este episodio hablamos de:

• Qué es el modelo 50/50 y cómo funciona
• La logística: Zoom, Google Sheets y cómo se emparejan los estudiantes
• Cómo se eligen los temas de conversación
• Cómo preparar a los estudiantes antes de la llamada
• Los desafíos más comunes y cómo superarlos
• Seguridad y consentimiento informado
• Cómo empezar desde cero

🎧 Escucha el episodio, compártelo con tu comunidad y conéctate con nosotras para seguir creando clases más auténticas y significativas.

María del Carmen Benítez es especialista en enseñanza de lenguas con casi 40 años de experiencia. Actualmente lidera el área de Lenguas Extranjeras en Prepa Tec y es examinadora del Bachillerato Internacional. Ha trabajado en formación docente, desarrollo curricular y proyectos internacionales, además de promover la lectura y la escritura creativa a través de Poetazos.

Theresa Jensen es profesora de español certificada por National Board con 28 años de experiencia. Ha sido reconocida como finalista de ACTFL Teacher of the Year y Teacher of the Year en Central States. Es autora de novelas en español y promueve el uso de historias como herramienta para crear clases más inclusivas, significativas y centradas en la voz de los estudiantes.

Conéctate con nuestras invitadas:

María del Carmen Benítez benitez@tec.mx

Teresa Jensen —https://srajensen.com

Recursos para ti:

Website: https://growingwithproficiency.com

GWP Spanish Teacher Academy Waiting List

Growing With CI FB Community

Blog

Teacher Pay Teachers Store

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SCOLT is definitely one of my favorite conferences, and 2023 was a highlight. That is why I decided to re-release this and because you can get amazing activities you can do tomorrow in your class.

Are you feeling bored and uninspired in your own language classroom? I'm not talking about your students, I'm talking about you. The truth is, we all need new ideas and fresh perspectives to keep us engaged and motivated in our teaching practice. That's why I love attending conferences like SCOLT.

In this episode of Growing With Proficiency The Podcast, I'll be sharing 5 of my favorite strategies and activities that I learned at SCOLT 23. All of the 5 strategies and activities have one thing in common: they not only have the potential to engage my students and promote proficiency, but they also excite me to use them. When I'm excited, that energy transfers right back to my students.

So, if you're looking for ways to shake things up in your class and get excited, hit play and join me for this exciting episode of Growing With Proficiency.

👉 Resources & Links

Growing With CI FB Community

GWP Spanish Teacher Academy Waiting List

Blog

Teacher Pay Teachers Store

IG & Twitter: @claudiamelliott

5EModel Explain

QFT Video

Guess the Movie

Challenge Brain Break

Hexagon Strategy by Bertha Delgadillo

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Interpersonal communication can feel like one of the hardest modes to teach. You plan the activity, set expectations… and then students give one-word answers, switch to their common language, or disengage altogether.

But what if the problem isn’t your activity?

In this second part of my conversation with Chelsea Lawrence, we build on our previous conversation in episode 163 and take a deeper look at what actually makes interpersonal communication work—especially through silent discussion.

After presenting this strategy at SCOLT and trying it in our own classrooms, we saw firsthand how powerful it can be when students have a clear goal and the right scaffolds in place.

In this episode, we unpack what true interpersonal communication requires, how to structure a silent discussion for success, and how to support students so they can stay in the target language and engage meaningfully with each other.

If you’ve ever felt frustrated with interpersonal activities, this conversation will give you a new way to think about them—and practical ways to implement them right away.

✨ Key Takeaways

• Why interpersonal communication often falls flat—and what’s really missing
• The two essential elements of true interpersonal communication: an information gap and a clear purpose
• How silent discussion lowers the affective filter and increases participation
• Different communicative goals you can use (jigsaw, interview, prediction, and problem-solving)
• How to scaffold student questions instead of giving them all the language
• Simple ways to support responses, reactions, and negotiation of meaning
• How to help students stay in the target language without forcing it
• Why this strategy works across levels—from novice to AP

📚 Resources & Links

• 🎧 Listen to Part 1 (Episode 163: Silent Discussion with Chelsea Lawrence)
• 📄 Read the full blog post: How to Build Interpersonal Communication with Purpose in the Target Language
• Website: https://growingwithproficiency.com
• GWP Spanish Teacher Academy Waiting List
• Growing With CI FB Community
• Blog
• Teacher Pay Teachers Store

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Have you ever felt like you are doing everything, you’re running out of energy, and somehow, it still doesn’t feel like enough?

In this episode of Growing With Proficiency The Podcast, I sit down with Meredith White, Bethanie Drew, and Maris Hawkins to have a real and honest conversation about something we don’t talk about enough: How do we decide what to stop caring about as teachers?

Because the truth is… we cannot do it all. And trying to do it all is what leads to burnout.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How to identify what is actually worth your time and energy
• Why comparison is one of the biggest drains on teachers
• How to stop reinventing the wheel with every lesson
• The power of using high-impact templates like sentence starters and roving paragraph frames
• A simple, repeatable lesson cycle you can use with any reading or video
• How to protect your time, your boundaries, and your joy

This is not about doing less just to do less. This is about doing what matters—with intention.

If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed, this episode will help you take a step back and ask:
What do I actually need to keep… and what can I finally let go of?

🎧 Listen now and start making small shifts that will make your teaching more sustainable.

🔗 Resources mentioned:

• Roving Paragraph Frames & Sentence Starters (Bethanie Drew)
• Episode with Sally Barnes

📬 Stay connected:

• Website: https://growingwithproficiency.com
• GWP Spanish Teacher Academy Waiting List
• Growing With CI FB Community
• Blog
• Teacher Pay Teachers Store

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I’m re-releasing this episode today because Silent Discussions have become one of the most powerful activities in my classroom. Recently, during a formal observation, my assistant principal watched my students fully engaged in a Silent Discussion for almost 30 minutes—reading, asking questions, responding to each other, and learning from their classmates.

If you’ve been looking for a strategy that truly gets students interacting in the target language, this episode is a great place to start.

Have you ever felt like getting your students to really use the target language with each other is the hardest thing? You want them to share ideas, agree or disagree, and ask questions. But when the moment comes, silence takes over—or worse, they switch to English.

In this episode, I sit down with my friend and incredible Spanish teacher, Chelsea Lawrence, to talk about a game-changing strategy: Silent Discussions.

✨ What you’ll learn in this episode:

• What Silent Discussions are and how to set them up step by step.
• Why this strategy works so well to lower stress and build success in interpersonal communication.
• Real classroom examples—from connecting the Panama Canal to a local tunnel, to jigsaw activities with biographies and even telescopes.
• Practical scaffolds to support your students: graphic organizers, sentence starters, question stems, and even a “How do you say…?” board.
• What to do after the Silent Discussion to extend the learning with gallery walks, reflections, or presentational tasks.

👉 If you’re a Spanish teacher looking for resources to create great jigsaw activities plus Silent Discussions, check out the Biographies to Celebrate Hispanic Women or explore the Panoramas Culturales, where you can assign one article to each group.

Listen now and discover how one big sheet of paper can transform into a powerful tool for authentic student interaction in your classroom.

📬 Stay connected:

GWP Spanish Teacher Academy Waiting List
Growing With CI FB Community
Blog
Teacher Pay Teachers Store

Website: https://growingwithproficiency.com

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Dictation is one of those classic activities many of us use in our language classes—but sometimes it can feel repetitive or not very communicative.

In this episode of Growing With Proficiency: The Podcast, I talk with Latin teacher Keith Toda about how a simple tweak can transform dictation into a purposefully communicative activity. We discuss how dictation supports comprehensible input and how we can add curiosity and interaction to make the activity more meaningful for students.

If you’re looking for a low-prep strategy that slows down your pacing, increases focus, and encourages communication in your world language classroom, this conversation will give you ideas you can try right away.

Takeaways

• Why dictation still supports language acquisition
• How to make dictation purposefully communicative
• A simple prediction twist that sparks discussion
• How to mix dictation with quick personalized questions (PQA)
• How dictation can prepare students for reading or video input

Resources

📖 Read the blog post: Dictation + Communication: How to Make Dictation Purposefully Communicative

🌍 Keith Toda – Toda-lly Comprehensible Latin
https://todallycomprehensiblelatin.blogspot.com

🎙️ Related Episodes
Talking Language Acquisition with Dr. Bill VanPatten (Part 2)
Talking Language Acquisition with Dr. Bill VanPatten (Part 1)
Beyond Exposure: Comprehensible and Meaningful Input with Dr. Florencia Henshaw (Part 1)
Making Our Classroom Communication Driven

GWP Spanish Teacher Academy Waiting List
Growing With CI FB Community
Blog
Teacher Pay Teachers Store

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Join host Claudia Elliott in this insightful episode of 'Growing with Proficiency, the podcast,' as she delves into the importance of listening comprehension and skills in world language education with special guest, Marta Yedinek.

Discover innovative strategies and the story behind the renowned podcast 'Cuéntame,' designed to aid Spanish learners. Claudia and Marta discuss methods to prepare students before, during, and after listening activities, offering practical advice for language teachers to implement in their classrooms.

Learn about Marta’s hands-on experience in adapting her podcast to meet the varying needs of her students and takeaway actionable tips to enhance your teaching approach. Don't miss out on this engaging conversation that promises to inspire and support language educators in cultivating proficient and culturally competent learners.

00:00 Introduction to Growing with Proficiency

01:09 Meet Your Host: Claudia Elliott

01:45 Special Guest: Martha Yedinek

01:50 The Importance of Listening Skills

03:11 Creating the Cuéntame Podcast

05:46 Strategies for Effective Listening

08:05 Using Podcasts in the Classroom

11:21 Practical Tips for Teachers

13:16 Engaging Students with Listening Activities

23:16 Reflection and Continuous Improvement

30:09 Final Thoughts and Resources

Meet our guest:

Marta Ruiz Yedinak is a National Board Certified Spanish teacher, Kohl Fellow, and a WAFLT New Teacher Award recipient. She is a passionate provider of comprehensible input and a firm believer of teaching students, not curriculum. She loves sharing with other teachers by presenting at various language conferences such as ACTFL, WAFLT, CSCTFL, FLAND, MittenCI, iFLT, and CIMW, a conference that she co-directs. Marta works for the Ripon Area School District. She is the author of “La princesa y el guerrero”, published by Wayside, and the producer of ¡Cuéntame!, a podcast for Spanish acquisition.

Resources mentioned in the podcast:

Cuéntame Podcast

List of all the episodes of Cuéntame

Facebook community of Cuéntame

More resources:
GWP Spanish Teacher Academy Waiting List
Growing With CI FB Community
Blog
Teacher Pay Teachers Store