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November and December are full, and many of us don't have the capacity to start something new or complicated right now. In this episode of Growing With Proficiency: The Podcast, I share how I turn one Star Student Interview (Estudiante Estrella) into several days of comprehensible input, reading, games, and interpersonal speaking, all with only six to eight questions.

In this episode, I break down:

✅ What a Star Student Interview is and how to build trust before you start

✅ How to prepare 6–8 comprehensible questions and level them up or down

✅ How to co-write a short text with your class and turn it into an independent reading

✅ The "Me Too" (¡Yo también!) game I learned from La Maestra Loca

✅ A whiteboard recall challenge that adds more input through review

✅ How to set up student interviews so students stay in the target language

✅ A class yearbook idea from Mónica, an Academy member, and how I use it to give feedback

✅ Why you don't have to do every step, and how to choose based on your capacity

This idea works in any world language class, at any level, and with any curriculum or textbook.

RESOURCES MENTIONED

📝 Read the blog post for this episode

⭐ Spanish Star Student Interview School Year Bundle

🎧 Episode 49: How to Foster Connections While Using the Target Language with Star Student Interviews

📖 Episode 214 (en español): Cómo facilitar la adquisición del español sin agotarte

📖 Teacher-Led Collaborative Writing (Write and Discuss)

GROWING WITH PROFICIENCY: THE SPANISH TEACHER ACADEMY

Ongoing support, a full curriculum, monthly resources like Star Student Interview, Calendar Talk, and Panorama Cultural, and a professional development hub with amazing educators. Join the waitlist to be the first to hear about our Cyber Monday special (and get a little gift):

👉 https://growingwithproficiency.com/academy

CONNECT WITH CLAUDIA

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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.

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¿Trabajas muchísimo y aún así terminas el día sintiendo que no hiciste lo suficiente? No estás sola. Y no, la solución no es trabajar más.

En la conferencia de Florida, Soraya, una profe de la Academia, me dijo: «Tienes que hacer un podcast que se titule: ¡Ay, Dios mío! ¿Cómo lo hago todo?». Me reí… pero aquí está. 😂

La respuesta honesta: yo no lo hago todo. Lo que sí hago es decidir qué hago. En este episodio te comparto las tres decisiones que me ayudan a facilitar la adquisición del español sin agotarme:

• Tener claridad pedagógica: qué necesitan de verdad mis estudiantes para adquirir el idioma
• Usar rutinas que hagan el trabajo por mí
• Aprender a decir que no (o «todavía no»)

También te cuento dos actividades de baja preparación que me salvaron la vida esta semana: la pregunta del día dibujada con un dictado de cierto o falso, y una lectura con datos falsos seguida de un Kahoot más lento. Al final te dejo cuatro preguntas para encontrar tus propias prioridades.

🎁 Rutina gratis de la pregunta del día: growingwithproficiency.com/rutina

📖 Lee el blog

💛 Academia de Profes de Español: la semana de Cyber Monday tendremos una oportunidad muy especial. Apúntate a la lista de espera: growingwithproficiency.com/academy

🎧 Mencionados en este episodio:

• Episodio 88 con el Dr. Bill VanPatten: https://growingwithproficiencythepodcast.buzzsprout.com/2051875/episodes/14909613
• Episodio 135 con el Dr. Bill VanPatten: https://growingwithproficiencythepodcast.buzzsprout.com/2051875/episodes/16611301
• Episodio 196 con el Dr. Bill VanPatten: https://growingwithproficiencythepodcast.buzzsprout.com/2051875/episodes/19419893
• Discusiones silenciosas (Chelsea Lawrence): https://growingwithproficiency.com/silent-discussions-a-simple-strategy-to-boost-interpersonal-communication-in-your-language-classes/
• Episodio 148, cómo evitar el agotamiento docente: https://growingwithproficiencythepodcast.buzzsprout.com/2051875/episodes/17164501

Si este episodio te ayuda, suscríbete, deja una calificación y compártelo con una profe amiga.

Ciao, ciao. ¡Nos vemos!

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.

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Do the same three students answer every PQA question while the rest of the class stares at the clock? You’re not alone, and it doesn’t mean your students don’t care.

In this episode, I share the shift that changed my PQAs (personalized questions and answers): task, don’t ask. I learned this idea from Sally Barnes, and it’s all about total participation. When we only ask, we hear from the students who are ready. When we give everyone a task, every student has a way into the conversation.

You’ll learn five low-prep strategies you can use tomorrow, in any world language and at any level:

• Write, Walk & Respond
• Draw, Dictate & Predict
• Write, Swap & Discover
• Find Your Match
• Predict, Ask & Verify

I also share real examples from my Spanish 1 and Spanish 3 classes, how I scaffold answers so every student can participate, and why the real goal is for students to listen to each other.

🎁 Free question-of-the-day guide and template: growingwithproficiency.com/rutina

📖 Read the blog post with all five strategies

🎧 Mentioned in this episode:

• 7 Steps to a Language-Rich, Interactive Classroom with Sally Barnes: https://growingwithproficiency.com/7-steps-to-a-language-rich-interactive-world-language-classroom-with-sally-barnes/
• Promoting Participation with Justin Slocum Bailey: https://growingwithproficiency.com/getting-the-stakes-right-student-participation/

If this episode helps you, please subscribe, leave a rating, and share it with a teacher friend.

Ciao, ciao. ¡Nos vemos!

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

You know one of my obsessions is reading. But how do you get students reading when they barely have any language yet? And what if you don’t have the books, the time, or the budget?

In this episode, Adam Giedd joins me to share how he got novice learners reading. Adam is a former Spanish teacher who now writes short readers for novice learners. He once taught 920 students in five schools, 30 minutes a week, with nothing on the walls, and he still got them reading. He came to the Spanish Teacher Academy to share these ideas, and the session was so good we had to bring it to the podcast.

In this episode:

• Why we need to write for our struggling readers, not our strongest ones
• Why Adam focuses only on verbs when he co-creates a text with his class
• Adam’s shortcut for teachers who don’t have time to learn Write and Discuss: backward plan from a short book
• How to start silent sustained reading tomorrow with $0
• Why short, easy books help students trust you as a reader
• Book Bingo: Adam’s simple way to get students reading the same book five times

Pick one idea, try it this week, and tell me how it goes.

Links:

Confident Pigeon (Adam’s reading platform): https://www.confidentpigeon.com/

Read the blog post

Connect with Adam

Episode 84, The Power of Reading with Dr. Stephen Krashen

Join the Spanish Teacher Academy: https://growingwithproficiency.com/academy

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I LOVE games. But if I'm going to give 15 or 20 precious minutes of class time to a game, I want language happening. A lot of it.

In this episode, AnneMarie Chase and Andrea Caulfield, authors of Proficiency Through Play, join me to talk about how we can play AND keep supporting language acquisition. Because fun and rigor are not opposites. And they didn't introduce themselves. They made me play a game instead! 😂

In this episode:

• This, That, Both, or Neither, the guessing game AnneMarie used to introduce herself and Andrea
• Google Detective (5 minutes), shared by Andrea
• Art Memory (15–20 minutes), shared by AnneMarie
• Sentence Stealer Rock Paper Scissors (15–20 minutes), shared by Andrea
• Details, Details, Details (30–35 minutes), shared by AnneMarie
• Why we should never let students know who is winning too early
• How to narrate the game itself so students get even more input
• What to do when a game goes off the rails (because it will!)

Pick one game, try it this week, and tell me which one your students loved.

🎲 Get Proficiency Through Play: https://teachersdiscovery.com/products/proficiency-through-play
📖 Read the blog post
📱 Connect with AnneMarie: https://senorachase.com/

📱 Connect with Andrea: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrea-caulfield-577196b3/?isSelfProfile=false

🎧 More low-prep games: https://growingwithproficiency.com/4-easy-end-of-year-games-to-boost-joy-and-comprehension/
🏫 Join the Spanish Teacher Academy: https://growingwithproficiency.com/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

¿Tienes estudiantes de herencia en tu clase y sientes que necesitas algo diferente, pero no sabes exactamente qué?

En este episodio en español converso con la Dra. Nancy Domínguez-Fret, hija de inmigrantes mexicanos, hablante de herencia, exmaestra de high school y directora del programa de formación docente en Northern Illinois University. Nancy nos cuenta cómo nació Voces que cruzan fronteras: nuestra comunidad y la identidad multilingüe, un libro de texto completamente gratis que creó con la Dra. Megan Marshall para clases de español para hablantes de herencia.

En este episodio hablamos de:

• Qué hace diferente una clase de herencia: por qué se parece más a una clase de Spanish Language Arts que a una clase de español como segunda lengua.
• Cómo dejar atrás la perspectiva de déficit: empezar por lo que nuestros estudiantes ya traen al salón.
• Diseño inverso en cada unidad: preguntas esenciales, proyecto final desde el principio e input que sirve de modelo.
• La gramática al final, y a propósito: cómo descubrir si tus estudiantes realmente necesitan una estructura antes de enseñarla.
• Cómo llevar el español fuera del salón: entrevistas a la familia, debates sobre el Spanglish y conexiones con la comunidad.
• Ideas para Español 1, 2 y 3: cómo usar este recurso cuando no tienes una clase de herencia, pero sí estudiantes de herencia.

Y lo más importante: cómo ayudar a nuestros estudiantes a sentir orgullo por su lengua, sus raíces y su comunidad.

Recursos mencionados:

• Voces que cruzan fronteras, Volumen I y II: https://spanishdeherencia.com/
• Blog del episodio

Episodios relacionados:

• Episodio 206: Lo que las familias nos enseñan sobre cómo apoyar a estudiantes de herencia, con la Dra. Bertha Delgadillo
• Episodios 79 y 81: Cómo apoyar la competencia escrita de los estudiantes de herencia, con la Dra. Alberta Gatti

Más enlaces:

• Growing With Proficiency: The Spanish Teacher Academy: http://growingwithproficiency.com/academy
• Museo de la Herencia Hispana
• Comunidad gratis en Facebook, Growing With CI: https://www.facebook.com/groups/growingwithci
• Claudia en Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/claudiamelliott/

Profe de español, descarga gratis 5 leyendas latinoamericanas fascinantes y comprensibles para tu clase: https://growingwithproficiency.com/leyendas

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

We all want our students to acquire the language. We also want them to read it and, eventually, write it. But are we teaching them how to become readers and writers in the target language?

That’s what I discuss with Dr. Lara Bryfonski in this episode. Lara is a professor at Georgetown University and coauthor of The Art and Science of Language Teaching. Together, we explore why developing literacy and acquiring a language are different processes—and how we can support both in our classrooms.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why we cannot always assume that students’ reading and writing skills in their first language will transfer automatically to the language we teach.
• How to find out what support students need when they read.
• What to do before, during, and after reading to help students make sense of a text.
• How to show students what they can do when they reach a word or paragraph they don’t understand.
• Why writing needs time for brainstorming, drafting, feedback, and revision.
• How to teach useful peer feedback, even when you have a large class.

One thing surprised me during our conversation: I was already using some of these strategies. Understanding how they help students develop literacy skills made me want to name and model them more intentionally.

If you’ve ever finished reading with your class, looked at the comprehension questions, and wondered, How do I actually help my students become better readers?—grab your cafecito ☕️ and join us. This conversation gave me tools I can use in my next lesson.

MORE FROM GROWING WITH PROFICIENCY

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

SUBSCRIBE & REVIEW

Subscribe to Growing With Proficiency — The Podcast so you don’t miss our next conversation. If this episode helps you, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps more world language teachers find the show. 🎙️

Gracias for listening. ❤️

Profe de español,

Bring five fascinating, comprehensible Latin American legends into your classroom for free. Grab your copy at growingwithproficiency.com/leyendas.

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

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.