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So many teachers ask the same questions:
"How do you assess in a proficiency-driven classroom?"
"How do you grade without overwhelming students—or yourself?"
And, "How do you keep assessment sustainable?"

That’s why this episode is worth revisiting.

In this re-released episode of Growing With Proficiency: The Podcast, I sit down with AnneMarie Chase to talk about low-stress assessments and how we can shift assessment away from “gotcha” moments and toward meaningful, acquisition-aligned practices.

This conversation focuses on assessments that support language growth, build confidence, and respect both student and teacher energy.

In this episode, you’ll hear about:

• Four essential elements of effective assessments: ease for the teacher, built-in input, low stress for students, and opportunities for every student to experience success
• Why mindset matters when it comes to grading and how assessments can become learning tools
• AnneMarie’s “magic cards” strategy for assessing speaking and other skills naturally throughout the day
• How listening and reading assessments can function as focused class practice
• Practical ways to assess speaking that feel engaging instead of intimidating
• Tips for grading during class time so assessment doesn’t take over your evenings and weekends

If you’re looking for assessment practices that align with comprehensible, communicative instruction—and help you stay sane—this episode will give you clarity and concrete ideas you can use right away.

🎧 Tune in and reimagine assessment as a low-stress, purposeful part of language learning.

Nos vemos pronto.

Links mentioned in this episode:

• AnneMarie Chase’s blog
• Edutopia article: What Does Research Say About Testing?
• GWP Spanish Teacher Academy Waiting List
• Growing With CI FB Community
• Blog
• Teacher Pay Teachers Store

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Interpersonal communication is what our students want most… and what many of us struggle to make happen without it turning into their common language in 10 seconds 😅

In this re-released episode, I’m joined by a friend and outstanding educator and curriculum designer Bethanie Drew to break down five repeatable, low-prep interpersonal activities that build community and keep students supported enough to stay in the target language.

We talk about:

• Fast Five interviews (quick, structured, high-yield)
• Roster interviews that push students beyond their usual partners
• A small-group discussion format that actually works—even in big classes
• A write-first → speak-later scaffold (especially powerful for AP/IB tasks)
• 20-/45-second talk cards to build confidence and fluency over time

This conversation is all about finding the balance between structure and spontaneity, so students can connect, communicate, and grow—sin estrés.

If you want conversations that feel more real, more doable, and more sustainable… hit play 🎧

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

Bethanie Drew’s blog – Aventuras Nuevas
Ideas, lesson reflections, and interpersonal strategies for world language teachers
👉 https://aventurasnuevas.wordpress.com/

Growing With Proficiency: The Spanish Teacher Academy
Ongoing support, units, training, and planning for acquisition-driven instruction
👉 https://growingwithproficiency.com/academy

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(Why one-size-fits-all lessons don’t work—and what to do instead)

In this episode, I focus on what I consider the heart of acquisition-driven instruction: adjusting and personalizing what we do in class so all students can stay engaged, successful, and confident—without creating multiple lesson plans. If your classes include a wide range of proficiency levels, literacy skills, heritage learners, or students who “should know this already”… this conversation is for you.

Building on insights from my conversations with Karen Lichtman and Jason Fritze, and grounded in research by Bill VanPatten and Stephen Krashen, this episode breaks down why acquisition is slow, piecemeal, and unpredictable—and how that reality should shape the way we plan input, reading, and output. I also share practical routines you can use mañana to make your classroom more inclusive, more human, and more effective. Sí, se puede. 💛

Key Takeaways

• Comprehensible input needs support.
  Pair oral language with writing, visuals, gestures, pauses, and slower pacing to help all brains process language.
• Reading requires intentional scaffolds.
• Output improves when students have options.
  Allow multiple ways to respond—yes/no, either/or, gestures, drawings, sentence frames—so more voices are heard.
• Personalization is what builds community.
  Using names, asking real questions, co-creating texts, story asking, listen & draw, and Star Student interviews turns class into a shared experience, not a performance.
• Episodes on the Three Basic Skills for Acquisition
  – Conversation with Karen Lichtman and Jason Fritze
  – Episode 177 on asking better questions
  – Episode 176 on staying comprehensible in the target language
• Research & Frameworks
  – Bill VanPatten on acquisition as piecemeal and stage-like
  – Stephen Krashen on comprehensible input and the affective filter
  – Nancy Young’s Ladder of Reading & Writing
  – ACTFL Proficiency & Performance Descriptors (via ACTFL)
• Related Podcast Episodes
  – Episode 170 with Wesley Wood on supporting neurodivergent learners
  – Episode on Story Listening with Margarita Pérez-García
  – Episode on Embedded Reading with Michele Whaley and Laurie Clarcq
  – Episode on Star Student Interviews

If you’re a Spanish teacher who wants ongoing guidance, practical PD, ready-to-use resources, and a community that truly gets the realities of our classrooms, I’d love to invite you to join Growing With Proficiency – The Spanish Teacher Academy.