Send us Fan Mail

A student threw her backpack on the floor and said loudly, “I hate this class. I hate everything about this class.” More than once.

Everything inside of me wanted to react. I wanted to defend myself, my class, and all the work I put into creating a space where students feel successful.

But I didn’t.

In this episode, I’m taking you inside what happened next, the framework that helped me respond without escalating the situation, and the private conversation that followed. We’ll talk about what we can do when a student’s frustration becomes disruptive: regulate ourselves first, have the conversation privately, set the boundary, give students better options for communicating what they feel, and then release.

But this experience also revealed a blind spot I didn’t expect.

I care deeply about my students feeling connected, confident, and successful in my classroom. But somewhere along the way, I had started watching this student a little too closely—hoping she would smile, laugh, participate differently, and eventually love the class.

And that made me ask myself a much harder question:

Do our students need to enjoy our class in order to belong in it?

This episode is about classroom management, yes. But it’s also about us—our triggers, our expectations, and what difficult moments with students can teach us about ourselves when we’re willing to look.

Grab your cafecito ☕️, your mate, or just take me with you on your drive to school. This is a conversation I think we need to have.

MORE FROM GROWING WITH PROFICIENCY

• Follow me on Instagram: @claudiamelliott
• Blog
• Growing With Proficiency on Teachers Pay Teachers
• Join the waitlist for Growing With Proficiency: The Spanish Teacher Academy

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

If this episode resonated with you, subscribe to Growing With Proficiency — The Podcast and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. Your support helps more world language teachers find the podcast and join these conversations. 🎙️

Gracias for listening. ❤️

Profe de español,

Grab this free resource and bring into your classroom 5 fascinating and comprehensible leyendas Latinoamericanas.

Go to growingwithproficiency.com/leyendas to grab your free copy.

Send us Fan Mail

What if one strategy could give your students more comprehensible input, more repetition, more writing, AND more opportunities to think and contribute?

In this episode, we're talking about teacher-led collaborative writing, also known as Write & Discuss, shared writing, or joint construction. It's one of those strategies that can do a LOT without requiring a lot of prep.

I break down how I use it before, during, and after writing—and some small changes I'm making this year that are making it even more effective.

A few takeaways:

• Why Write & Discuss is especially powerful with large and mixed-level classes
• How a quick brain dump or retrieval activity BEFORE writing can prepare students to contribute
• When to co-create freely and when to choose one intentional language move
• How to use proficiency targets to decide what to model
• How tasking instead of asking can keep more students actively involved
• What to do AFTER you create the text, including choral reading, comprehension activities, and retrieval writing
• How to use a disappearing text variation with less experienced learners

You don't need to do all of these things every time. Choose what your students need, make the strategy work for your classroom, and keep coming back to the language.

Resources & Episodes Mentioned:

• Episode 204 with Ben Fisher-Rodriguez — We talk about Write & Discuss with a specific focus on using pop-up grammar during the process.
• Mike Peto — The educator I originally learned Write & Discuss from.
• Blog
• Growing With Proficiency on Teachers Pay Teachers
• Join the waitlist for Growing With Proficiency: The Spanish Teacher Academy

Profe de español,

Grab this free resource and bring into your classroom 5 fascinating and comprehensible leyendas Latinoamericanas.

Go to growingwithproficiency.com/leyendas to grab your free copy.

Send us Fan Mail

Una conversación con la Dra. Bertha Delgadillo

En este episodio en español, converso con mi amiga, la Dra. Bertha Delgadillo, sobre su investigación doctoral, en la que entrevistó a familias de estudiantes hisanohablantes para conocer sus experiencias, expectativas y relación con la escuela y la clase de español.

Sus respuestas revelan oportunidades importantes para nosotros como profes: conocer mejor la experiencia lingüística de cada estudiante, escuchar lo que quiere lograr con su español, reconocer el trabajo que las familias ya hacen para preservar el idioma y la cultura, e invitarlas a participar activamente en nuestras clases.

También hablamos sobre la vergüenza que algunos jóvenes sienten alrededor de su español, el peligro de asumir su nivel por su apellido o por lo que hablan en casa y la importancia de crear espacios donde puedan sentirse orgullosos de ser de aquí y de allá.

Principales aprendizajes de este episodio

• Por qué no todos los estudiantes de herencia tienen las mismas experiencias, necesidades ni metas.
• Qué preguntas podemos hacer para conocer su verdadera relación con el español.
• Cómo ofrecerles oportunidades de crecimiento sin darles simplemente más trabajo.
• Lo que las familias pueden enseñarnos sobre el idioma, la cultura y la identidad de sus hijos.
• Cómo invitar a las familias a compartir sus historias, tradiciones y conocimientos en nuestras clases.
• Por qué un estudiante no necesita demostrar un nivel específico de español para que su identidad sea reconocida y valorada.
• Cómo conectar el idioma con el servicio comunitario para que los estudiantes puedan participar, contribuir y experimentar un verdadero sentido de pertenencia.

Esta conversación lleva la investigación de Bertha directamente al aula y nos ofrece acciones posibles, incluso cuando enseñamos clases grandes y con diferentes niveles.

No necesitas tener todas las respuestas ni crear un programa completamente nuevo. A veces, el primer paso es simplemente hacer mejores preguntas, escuchar con intención y abrir una puerta que antes no habíamos considerado.

Recursos:

Profesora Delgadillo IG

Blog

Growing With Proficiency on Teachers Pay Teachers

Join the waitlist for Growing With Proficiency: The Spanish Teacher Academy

Profe de español,

Grab this free resource and bring into your classroom 5 fascinating and comprehensible leyendas Latinoamericanas.

Go to growingwithproficiency.com/leyendas to grab your free copy.