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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

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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. ❤️

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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

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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

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The AP Spanish Language and Culture exam is changing—and if you teach AP, you may feel like you need to change everything in your course too.

But take a breath. You do not have to start from zero.

In this episode, I’m joined by my friend and incredible educator Bethanie Carlson Drew, who is beginning her 33rd year in the classroom. Bethanie helps us look at the new AP Spanish Language exam format with clarity and intention.

As Bethanie reminds us, approximately 80% of what we already do in a strong AP language class has not changed. Students still need to develop language proficiency, cultural competence, and the confidence to communicate.

Instead of rebuilding her entire course, Bethanie is asking three questions:

What should I keep? What should I increase? And what can I finally drop?

✨ In this episode, we discuss:

• How Bethanie uses 60–90-second mini-presentations to gradually prepare students for the new three-minute Project Presentation
• Why students need explicit support to ask follow-up questions—not only answer them
• How one image and only three words on a slide help students develop real presentational skills
• Why Bethanie is keeping reading, music, and culturally rich input at the center of her course
• Simple ways to increase oral sharing without adding more long, formal presentations
• How to explore products, practices, and perspectives throughout the year by asking, “Why is this important?”
• Why culture cannot be reduced to one isolated unit
• How Bethanie is simplifying the AP project materials into a manageable student notebook
• What she is dropping now that the simulated conversation and stand-alone cultural comparison are no longer part of the exam
• Why the beginning of the year should focus on classroom culture, confidence, and connection—not panic

Even if you do not teach AP Spanish, this conversation is full of practical ideas for any language classroom. It is a powerful reminder that the activity is not the purpose—the activity serves the purpose.

📚 Resources Mentioned

👉 Read the complete blog post and show notes here.

👉 Explore Bethanie’s blog, Aventuras Nuevas.

👉 Review the AP Spanish Language and Culture Course and Exam Description.

📲 Connect with Claudia

Follow me on Instagram: @claudiamelliott

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

Listen, take a breath, and remember: you do not need to throw away everything that already works.

Keep what supports acquisition. Increase meaningful communication. Drop what no longer serves your students.

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

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What if one simple routine could help students see, understand, and feel more confident with the language they have already experienced?

In this episode, I sit down with Ben Fisher-Rodriguez to explore how Write and Discuss, choral translation, and pop-up grammar can help students make sense of the language they are hearing and reading while keeping meaningful communication at the center.

Ben walks us through the process step by step: beginning with a highly comprehensible or co-created text, translating it together as a class, briefly highlighting one grammatical feature, and then returning to meaningful communication.

We also discuss how choral translation can serve as a quick formative assessment, how to plan pop-up grammar when you have a grammar-heavy curriculum, and why noticing a structure does not guarantee immediate language acquisition.

This episode offers practical classroom strategies for world language teachers who want to address grammar while keeping communication, comprehension, and proficiency at the center.

✨ Takeaways

• Why students need to understand the meaning of a text before focusing on grammatical form
• How to create a highly comprehensible, personalized text through Write and Discuss
• A step-by-step process for introducing choral translation
• How choral translation can reveal gaps in comprehension and serve as a formative assessment
• How to plan brief, student-friendly pop-up grammar without turning it into a full grammar lesson
• Why noticing grammar may support students, but does not guarantee immediate acquisition or accurate production
• Ideas for returning to meaningful target-language communication after the grammar “pop”

📚 Resources Mentioned

• Choral Translation and Pop-Up Grammar: Discovering How Form Contributes to Meaning by Ben Fisher-Rodriguez
  Read Ben’s original article
• Mr. Fisher Says
  Explore Ben’s website
• SLAyyy: Second Language Acquisition for Everyone with Ben Fisher-Rodriguez and Bill Langley-Bostick
  Listen on Apple Podcasts
• The Perfect Low-Prep Activity for Any Day in Our World Language Classes with Ben Fisher-Rodriguez
  Listen and read more
• How to Build a Sustainable Language Class with Routines
  Read the related blog post

Listen to the full episode and share it with a world language teacher who is trying to balance a grammar-focused curriculum with a more communicative, proficiency-driven classroom.

And if you need more support, check this out:

• Blog
• Growing With Proficiency on Teachers Pay Teachers
• Join the waitlist for Growing With Proficiency: The Spanish Teacher Academy

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Have you ever started a story with your students and felt like everything was going beautifully until you noticed the glazed expressions, delayed responses, and side conversations beginning?

It is easy to assume the story is boring or that students simply do not care. But a drop in engagement does not necessarily mean the story failed.

In this episode, I sit down with world language educator, author, and presenter Eric Richards to explore how we can use stories and reading to support language acquisition while keeping students engaged.

Eric shares how he builds engagement through two essential elements: confidence and curiosity. We also discuss how to make stories more comprehensible, recognize when students’ attention is beginning to fade, and respond with quick resets instead of falling into what I call the judgment trap.

This conversation is filled with practical, low-prep strategies you can use with any story, reading, proficiency level, or curriculum.

✨ Takeaways

• Why comprehension itself can make a story compelling for beginning learners.
• How confidence and curiosity help students continue listening and reading.
• Simple ways to add movement, drawing, personalization, and interaction.
• What to do when you notice student engagement beginning to drop.
• How to check comprehension without turning every reading into a test.
• Why the response students give should match the purpose of the activity.

📚 Resources and Links

• Read the complete blog post and find all the resources
• Visit Eric Richards’ website and blog
• Explore Eric’s professional development and classroom resources
• Jim Trelease’s Read-Aloud Handbook, Eighth Edition
• Join the waitlist for Growing With Proficiency: The Spanish Teacher Academy
• Follow Claudia on Instagram: @claudiamelliott

🎧 Listen now and discover how stories can become a vehicle for language acquisition, connection, curiosity, and cultural competence—poco a poco.

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What if challenging student behavior is not always simply a discipline problem—but sometimes a sign of overwhelm, anxiety, or disconnection?

In Episode 202 of Growing With Proficiency: The Podcast, I’m joined by French teacher and teacher educator Hélène Colinet to explore classroom management through the lens of nervous system regulation.

This conversation is not about excusing behavior or removing boundaries. Instead, Hélène invites us to pause before assigning motives, consider what a behavior may be communicating, and respond in ways that protect both the student’s dignity and the learning environment.

We discuss practical ways to create the conditions students need to engage and acquire language—including connection, comprehensible input, predictable routines, movement, and teacher self-regulation.

Key Takeaways

• Observe behavior before assigning a motive.
• Safety and clear boundaries can coexist.
• Slow down and check for comprehension.
• Use predictable routines to reduce uncertainty.
• Include both brain breaks and body breaks.
• Address difficult behavior calmly and privately.
• Notice and support your own regulation.
• Remember that our state can influence the class.

Resources Mentioned

• Read the companion blog post
• Learn more from Hélène Colinet
• Follow Hélène on Instagram
• Creating a Powerful First Day of Language Class
• Save Time and Reduce Stress With Classroom Routines
• The Science Behind the Power of Storytelling
• Brain Breaks, Map Talk, and Storytelling
• Growing With Proficiency: The Spanish Teacher Academy

If this episode gives you a different way to think about classroom behavior, share it with a teacher who may need it. Then come find me on Instagram at @claudiamelliott and tell me: What is one small practice that helps you feel more regulated during the school day?

Profe de español,

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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

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.