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El regreso al aula viene acompañado de muchas ideas, actividades guardadas, screenshots, recursos y recomendaciones. Pero tener más actividades no siempre significa sentirnos más preparados.

En este episodio de Growing With Proficiency: The Podcast en español, comparto cuatro ideas fundamentales inspiradas en las sesiones de nuestra Conferencia de Verano dentro de Growing With Proficiency: The Spanish Teacher Academy.

Más que darte una lista de actividades, quiero ayudarte a pensar en el propósito detrás de ellas para que puedas comenzar el año con mayor claridad, crear una cultura de respeto y diseñar experiencias en las que más estudiantes puedan comprender, participar y comunicarse.

Hablamos de cómo establecer expectativas claras y consistentes, cómo explicarles a nuestros estudiantes el proceso de adquisición de una lengua, cómo estructurar actividades para aumentar la participación y cómo seleccionar contenido que promueva comunicación y competencia cultural.

En este episodio aprenderás:

• Cómo definir tus expectativas no negociables antes del regreso al aula.
• Por qué la claridad y la consistencia son esenciales para el manejo de clase.
• Cómo explicarles a tus estudiantes el propósito de las actividades.
• Por qué la participación necesita ser diseñada y modelada.
• Cómo usar pausas activas, teatro interpretativo y señales de respuesta total.
• Cómo integrar productos, prácticas y perspectivas desde los niveles novatos.
• Cómo elegir actividades que puedas mantener durante todo el año.

También comparto ideas de las sesiones de Meredith White, Justin Slocum Bailey, Valentina Correa, Sally Barnes, Diego Ojeda y la Dra. Bertha Delgadillo.

Porque no necesitamos regresar al aula tratando de hacerlo todo.

Necesitamos regresar con claridad sobre qué hacemos, por qué lo hacemos y cómo cada actividad apoya el aprendizaje de nuestros estudiantes.

Recursos mencionados:

• Growing With Proficiency: The Spanish Teacher Academy

Recursos para el regreso al aula en mi tienda de Teachers Pay Teachers que está en oferta el 4 y 5 de agosto:

• Calendar Talk
• Estudiante Estrella
• Panorama Cultural Volumen 1
• Panorama Cultural Volúmen 2
• Recursos para explicar adquisición, competencia y evaluación

Episodios relacionados sobre el primer día y las primeras semanas de clase:

🎧 Episodio 42, episodio 43 y episodio 45 de Growing With Proficiency The Podcast

Sígueme en Instagram: @claudiamelliott

Visita: GrowingWithProficiency.com

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We all want students to participate. We want them to raise their hands, share their ideas, react, ask questions, and bring that energy that makes a classroom feel alive.

But what happens when they don’t?

It is easy to assume that the activity is not working, that students are not motivated, or even that we are doing something wrong.

In this special 200th episode of Growing With Proficiency: The Podcast, I sit down with Justin Slocum Bailey to explore another possibility:

Maybe the activity is not the problem. Maybe we need to get the stakes right.

As you prepare to go back to school, this conversation will help you think more intentionally about the questions you ask, the topics you choose, and the different ways students can participate without feeling pressured or put on the spot.

Justin shares how we can create participation that feels meaningful enough to be worth the effort—but safe enough for students to take the risk.

✨ Takeaways

• What it means when the stakes for participation are too high or too low
• Why an activity may fall flat even when it is a great activity
• How information gaps and opinion questions can make communication more meaningful
• Why some personal questions may feel too risky for students
• How to create distance from sensitive topics without removing authentic communication
• Simple ways students can participate without immediately speaking in front of the class
• Why grading every interaction may increase pressure instead of participation
• Why curiosity is more helpful than blaming the activity, the student, or yourself

This episode is an invitation to pause before searching for another activity and ask:

Are the stakes too high, too low, or just right for my students?

📌 Resources + Links Mentioned in This Episode

Learn more from Justin at Indwelling Language:
indwellinglanguage.com

Find more about Voces Digital here

Follow me on Instagram:
@claudiamelliott

Explore ready-to-use back-to-school resources for Spanish teachers in my store:
Growing With Proficiency on Teachers Pay Teachers

Learn more about Growing With Proficiency: The Spanish Teacher Academy:
growingwithproficiency.com/academy

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Planning the first week of school can feel overwhelming—especially when you have a phone full of saved ideas, conference notes, activities, and resources you want to try. But a successful first week is not about doing everything. It is about choosing what will help you build the classroom you want to sustain all year.

In This Episode, you will learn:

• Why more activities do not always create a better first week
• How to connect your first-week plans to your long-term classroom goals
• Why activities should serve a purpose—not the other way around
• How to begin routines at a pace you can sustain
• Why I do not introduce Calendar Talk, sustained reading, and every classroom routine immediately
• Simple ways to connect, provide input, reset, and reflect during the first week
• How to create early success for both you and your students

Resources Mentioned

Read the full blog post.

Learn more about Growing With Proficiency: The Spanish Teacher Academy:
https://growingwithproficiency.com/academy

The Academy is open through July 21 at 11:55 PM ET.

Join us for the Academy Summer Conference on July 24 and 25, plus ongoing professional development, planning support, classroom resources, and the Creciendo curriculum.

Questions about the Academy?
Email support@growingwithproficiency.com

Follow me on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/claudiamelliott/