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Have you ever hesitated to try something new in your classroom, convinced it would require too much work and too little control? That's exactly how I felt about using stations in my language class - until I tried it, and loved it!

In this episode, I’ll share why I decided to try stations, how I set it up, and 10 ideas for different stations. From small-group discussions to gaming and independent reading, the station ideas I'll share are easy to set up, engaging, and adaptable to any level or language. So, grab your favorite beverage, sit back, and get ready to explore the power of stations in your world language class!

Resources and Links

GWP Spanish Teacher Academy Waiting List

Click here to download 5 comprehensible legends in Spanish: Leyendas Latinoamericanas

Join my Free FB Community Growing With CI

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En este episodio, Claudia explora cómo las charlas del calendario van más allá de discutir el clima y la fecha.

Aprende a crear discusiones orgánicas y significativas en el idioma meta, abordando la vida de los estudiantes, eventos comunitarios y asuntos globales.

Descubre los beneficios de las charlas del calendario para fomentar la curiosidad, proporcionar input comprensible y promover la comunicación auténtica. Claudia comparte estrategias para implementar estas charlas en varios niveles de español, asegurando que sean relevantes y comprensibles.

Growing With Proficiency TPT Store

Teacher Guide: How to Shift to A Comprehensible and Communicative Teaching Approach

Growing With Proficiency The Blog

Growing With Proficiency The Spanish Teacher Academy Waitlist

Free FB Community: Growing With CI

https://www.diainternacionalde.com/

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In this episode of Growing with Proficiency: The Podcast, I share lesson ideas for those days when you're not feeling your best, or your students seem disengaged. We've all been there—those moments when students are easily distracted, impatient, or simply not cooperating. And sometimes, as teachers, we’re the ones feeling drained.

I'll talk about practical strategies that provide tons of comprehensible input without relying on oral facilitation. These activities are perfect for creating a balance between high-energy moments and quieter, more independent student work.

Biggest takeaways from this episode:

• How to establish lesson goals that lead to richer learning experiences.
• Creative ways to scaffold meaning through word clouds, matching activities, and TPR.
• Reading activities like traffic light reading, sketch annotations, and gallery walks.
• Why personalized writing and interactive games like Socrative or Textivate can boost engagement on tough days.
• The importance of adapting lessons to your and your students' energy levels to avoid burnout.

Whether you’re having an off day or just need a change of pace in the classroom, these ideas can keep the input flowing while giving you a break. Tune in for actionable tips, and let’s keep growing with proficiency, even on the hardest days!

Listen now for more strategies to keep your students engaged, no matter the challenges!

Resources:
Back to School Bundle for Spanish Classes
GWP Spanish Teacher Academy Waiting List
Growing With CI FB Community
Blog
Teacher Pay Teachers Store
Episode 113
Episode 88 with Dr. Bill VanPatten

I’m excited to share that the 2024 Klett World Languages Back 2 School Conference is now open, and the best part? It’s asynchronous, so you can dive in at your own pace! I’ll be there as one of the keynote speakers alongside the amazing Joe Dale, and we’re joined by an incredible lineup of experts.
Use code CLAUDIA for 30% off. Click here to get your ticket.

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Join host Claudia Elliott in this insightful episode of 'Growing with Proficiency, the podcast,' as she delves into the importance of listening comprehension and skills in world language education with special guest, Marta Yedinek.

Discover innovative strategies and the story behind the renowned podcast 'Cuéntame,' designed to aid Spanish learners. Claudia and Marta discuss methods to prepare students before, during, and after listening activities, offering practical advice for language teachers to implement in their classrooms.

Learn about Marta’s hands-on experience in adapting her podcast to meet the varying needs of her students and takeaway actionable tips to enhance your teaching approach. Don't miss out on this engaging conversation that promises to inspire and support language educators in cultivating proficient and culturally competent learners.

00:00 Introduction to Growing with Proficiency

01:09 Meet Your Host: Claudia Elliott

01:45 Special Guest: Martha Yedinek

01:50 The Importance of Listening Skills

03:11 Creating the Cuéntame Podcast

05:46 Strategies for Effective Listening

08:05 Using Podcasts in the Classroom

11:21 Practical Tips for Teachers

13:16 Engaging Students with Listening Activities

23:16 Reflection and Continuous Improvement

30:09 Final Thoughts and Resources

Meet our guest:

Marta Ruiz Yedinak is a National Board Certified Spanish teacher, Kohl Fellow, and a WAFLT New Teacher Award recipient. She is a passionate provider of comprehensible input and a firm believer of teaching students, not curriculum. She loves sharing with other teachers by presenting at various language conferences such as ACTFL, WAFLT, CSCTFL, FLAND, MittenCI, iFLT, and CIMW, a conference that she co-directs. Marta works for the Ripon Area School District. She is the author of “La princesa y el guerrero”, published by Wayside, and the producer of ¡Cuéntame!, a podcast for Spanish acquisition.

Resources mentioned in the podcast:

Cuéntame Podcast

List of all the episodes of Cuéntame

Facebook community of Cuéntame

More resources:
Back to School Bundle for Spanish Classes
GWP Spanish Teacher Academy Waiting List
Growing With CI FB Community
Blog
Teacher Pay Teachers Store

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In this episode, Claudia sits down with Nelly Andrade-Hughes, an outstanding Spanish teacher and author of many comprehensible readers and educational materials for Spanish classes, to dive into the art of creating comprehensible texts for language learners. If you're looking to improve your students' engagement and comprehension, this episode is for you!

Key Takeaways:

• Why comprehensibility matters: Learn why students must be able to understand 98% of the text for true language acquisition.
• Strategies for writing effective texts: Nelly shares how to use high-frequency verbs, proper nouns, and cognates to build compelling stories.
• The importance of repetition: Discover how to ‘park’ key information to ensure students acquire vocabulary without overwhelming them.
• Adapting content for different levels: From novice to intermediate, find out how to adjust sentence structure, vocabulary, and context to match your students’ abilities.
• Balancing simplicity and engagement: Tips for keeping your text both comprehensible and compelling for middle and high school students.
  
  Books by Nelly Andrade-Hughes:
• Click here to access some of Nelly’s books

More resources:
Back to School Bundle for Spanish Classes
GWP Spanish Teacher Academy Waiting List
Growing With CI FB Community
Blog
Teacher Pay Teachers Store

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En este episodio de "Growing With Proficiency, The Podcast", hablamos sobre cómo apoyar a los estudiantes de herencia en clases de español regulares. Discutimos estrategias para evaluar su competencia lingüística, fomentar el orgullo cultural y adaptarnos a sus necesidades en el aula. Además, exploramos cómo utilizar contenido relevante y actividades interactivas que promuevan su participación sin aislarlos ni sobrecargarlos.

Principales puntos del episodio:

1. Evaluar la competencia individual en habilidades interpretativas y comunicativas.
2. Promover una mentalidad positiva hacia los estudiantes de herencia, destacando su riqueza cultural.
3. Implementar estrategias para ofrecer contenido enriquecedor y actividades que fomenten su orgullo lingüístico y cultural.
4. Cómo integrar el input escrito en niveles bajos y medios para estudiantes de herencia.

Recursos mencionados:

• Episodio con la Dr. Alberta Gatti, donde se explora la importancia de la identidad lingüística en el aprendizaje.
• Episodio sobre contenido basado en narrativas, con estrategias para aplicar storytelling en el aula.
• Episodio del "Estudiante Estrella", sobre cómo involucrar activamente a los estudiantes de herencia en clases regulares.
• Episodio sobre el calendario y cómo organizar el año escolar utilizando eventos culturales como herramientas de aprendizaje.

Invitación: Si quieres conocer más sobre nuestra comunidad de Growing With Proficiency The Spanish Teacher Academy, te invito a nuestro tour privado de la academia el 10 de septiembre a las 7:30 PM ET, regístrate en growingwithproficiency.com/tour.

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In this episode of "Growing With Proficiency The Podcast," we dive into five game-changing, low-prep strategies that can transform your world language classroom.

Whether you're looking to build stronger connections with your students, make reading more interactive, or boost student output with minimal prep, these ideas have you covered.

From using class passwords to energize daily routines, to implementing silent discussions that promote deep reflection and collaboration, you'll find practical and powerful tools to enhance your teaching.

Plus, stick around for a special invitation to a private tour of the Growing With Proficiency Spanish Teacher Academy! Don't miss out on these simple yet transformative ideas that can make a big impact in your classroom.

Links and Resources

• Sign up for our private tour of Growing With Proficiency The Spanish Teacher Academy at growingwithproficiency.com/tour
• Sign up to receive the template for Character Autopsy here
• Episode 9 of GWP The Podcast
• Episode 56 and 57 of GWP The Podcast

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In this episode of "Growing With Proficiency The Podcast," I'm super excited to chat with two incredible language educators, Alicia Shoemaker and Ben Fisher Rodriguez. We dive into the magic of 'Aha Moments'—those lightbulb moments that bring so much joy and energy to both students and teachers. We talk about what the research says about why these moments are so important and share some practical tips on how you can create more of them in your classroom.

We also get into the nitty-gritty of intercultural competence and cultural humility—big ideas that can take those 'Aha Moments' to the next level by making learning more inclusive and meaningful. Alicia and Ben share some awesome examples and resources that have worked wonders in their own teaching.

Resources:

Dr. Wesley Carpenter at the University of Akron - His definition of 'Aha Moments' as "a sudden conscious change in a person's representation of a stimulus, situation, event, or problem."

Dr. John Hattie and Dr. Jay Berkeley, University of Melbourne - Their 2023 article, Making Learning Visible: Observable Correlates of the Aha Moment when Moving from Surface to Deep Thinking, discusses how 'Aha Moments' in students lead to feelings of joy, relief, self-efficacy, and increased engagement.

2017 ACTFL Can-Do Statements on Intercultural Competence - These statements define intercultural competence as the ability to interact effectively and appropriately with people from other language and cultural backgrounds.

Common Ground: Second Language Acquisition Theory Goes to the Classroom by Florencia Henshaw and Maris Hawkins

Randall Munroe's "What If?" Questions - A resource mentioned for its effectiveness in encouraging students to think critically and reflectively about cultural scenarios, helping to create 'Aha Moments.'

Teaching Tools in a Flash by Dr. Deborah Clark and Dr. Sharma of Kent State University** - This resource provides practical examples of how to approach cultural humility in language classes.

Maris Hawkins’ Blog
Ben Fisher Rodriguez’s Blog

More resources:

Back to School Bundle for Spanish Classes

GWP Spanish Teacher Academy Waiting List

Growing With CI FB Community

Blog

Teacher Pay Teachers Store