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Welcome to Growing With Proficiency: The Podcast! Are you a World Language teacher who is looking for ideas, strategies, activities, and inspiration to create a World Language class where you and your students enjoy using the language to learn about the world and each other? Do you want to transform your class into an acquisition-driven instruction space where you intentionally provide a ton of comprehensible input?
If you are, you're in the right place.
Let's start this journey together. Head over to IG, and send me a DM @claudiamelliott to let me know what topics you would like me to cover in an upcoming episode.Join my free Facebook community, Growing With C. Also, check out my blog to start discovering some of these ideas and strategies at growingwithproficiency.com
202 Episodes
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Send us a text (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 ...
Send us a text In this episode of Growing With Proficiency, we continue the series on how to build foundational skills for language acquisition in intentional 5-minute blocks. This episode focuses on one powerful — and often underestimated — skill: asking better questions. We know questions are essential for staying in the target language, checking comprehension, and personalizing instruction. But when questions feel too complex or unsafe, students shut down. When we stay too long in low-leve...
Send us a text En este episodio de Growing With Proficiency, hablo de tres habilidades esenciales para la adquisición de la lengua que sostienen nuestras clases comunicativas: maximizar el uso de la lengua meta, hacer preguntas que apoyen la comprensión y muevan la conservación y ajustar y personalizar el contenido. Pero, ¿cómo podemos cultivar estas habilidades sin que creemos una mayor carga de trabajo y mayores niveles de estrés? En bloques de cinco minutos. Por eso, en este episodio...
Send us a text Happy New Year, profe 🎉 If you’re setting classroom goals for 2026—this episode is for you. So many language teachers want the same thing: use more target language, keep students engaged, and support acquisition… but “90% in the TL” can feel overwhelming. In this first episode of a 3-part mini-series, I’m sharing a more realistic approach: think in 5-minute moments. Because five minutes is doable—and when you repeat it, it adds up. Inspired by my conversation in Episode 158 wit...
Send us a text Do you spend too much time lesson planning, searching for files, or managing your inbox—and still feel like you’re always behind? In this re-released episode of Growing With Proficiency, I’m joined by Lisa McCart to talk about how systems and organization can help teachers reclaim their time without adding more stress. Teachers spend hours every week redoing lessons, digging through Google Drive (or its equivalent), and trying to stay on top of email. Yet when we hear phrases l...
Send us a text As the school year wraps up, there’s no better time to reflect—not just on what we think worked, but on how students experienced our class. In this episode of Growing With Proficiency: The Podcast, I’m sharing how I use end-of-year surveys to gather meaningful feedback that helps me adjust my teaching and better meet my students’ needs. I’ll walk you through key survey questions that cover classroom culture, comprehension, learning strategies, and personal progress. I’ll also r...
Send us a text In this episode, we talk about December. I’m sharing three low-stress activities that keep students engaged, help them revisit everything they’ve learned, and still give them meaningful input, even when their energy (and ours) is running low. These ideas have worked beautifully in my own classroom. My students stay focused, they collaborate, they read, they listen… and I get to step back a little without sacrificing the quality of the lesson. Top Takeaways 1. Review + Rec...
Send us a text If you are exhausted this December and looking for simple, meaningful ways to keep your students engaged — this episode is your cafecito. I’m sharing what truly stood out at ACTFL this year, and spoiler alert: it wasn’t a new app, a new tech tool, or a shiny new curriculum. It was something much more human: ✨ Curiosity + Safety = Motivation. In a powerful session with Samara Spielberg, she shared how dopamine rises when learners experience curiosity, anticipation, and the desir...
Send us a text ¿Te sientes que se te acabo la gasolina? ¿Tienes poco tiempo pero muchas ganas de que tus clases sigan vivas y activas? En este episodio te comparto 3 estrategias reales para que tus clases sean dinámicas, participativas y en español — sin que tengas que quedarte hasta tarde preparando cada día. Hablamos de: 🎯 Preguntas personales y rutinas de entrada que activan la clase desde el minuto uno. 🔄 Brain breaks, pausas mentales y descansos estratégicos para renovar la atención y la...
Send us a text Have you ever felt disconnected from your passion for teaching — like you’re doing all the things but nothing seems to spark joy anymore? You’re not alone. In this re-released episode of Growing With Proficiency: The Podcast, we talk with Spanish teacher Mirna Deakle, who shares her journey of burnout, rediscovery, and finding her authentic voice in the language classroom. Mirna opens up about how she shifted from survival mode to purpose-driven teaching by centering her ...
Send us a text If you’ve ever found yourself searching for an activity that is engaging, meaningful, and actually supports language acquisition, this episode is for you. Many of us want our students to feel confident understanding and using the language — without us spending hours planning something new every day. In this conversation, I’m joined by Amy Marshall, a world language teacher with over 25 years of classroom experience, known for her thoughtful use of ClipChat. ClipChat blends shor...
Send us a text En este episodio, comparto uno de mis episodios favoritos en español sobre tres cambios fundamentales que transformaron mi clase y renovaron mi motivación como docente. Estos cambios surgieron a lo largo de 15 años en el aula y responden a una pregunta que muchas profes me hicieron recientemente: ¿Cómo construir una clase donde la conexión, la comunicación y la cultura sean el centro, y donde el español se use de manera auténtica? Hablaremos de: Construir conexiones con l...
Send us a text A conversation with Wesley Wood What happens when we stop planning for the “average” learner and instead design our classrooms with neurodivergent students and students with disabilities in mind? In this episode of Growing With Proficiency: The Podcast, I’m joined by Wesley Wood, Disability Specialist at Georgetown University and former world language teacher, for a powerful and eye-opening conversation about expanding what is possible in the language classroom. Wesley brings d...
Send us a text Every world language teacher knows the power of music — but how do we move beyond karaoke Fridays and make songs truly comprehensible and meaningful for our learners? 🎵 In this episode of Growing With Proficiency: The Podcast, host Claudia Elliott sits down with veteran teacher and blogger Kara Jacobs to unpack how she turns authentic songs and music videos into acquisition-rich, culture-centered units. Together, they explore how to create stories around songs, use visuals to s...
Send us a text There’s never a bad time of the year for a good game. Whether it’s November, May, or that wild week before a break — a well-chosen game can transform your classroom energy and boost your students’ confidence to use Spanish. In this re-release of one of the most-loved episodes of Growing With Proficiency, the Podcast, I sit down with Christina Margiore, a high-school Spanish teacher from Long Island (you might know her as @supersenora), to talk about how she uses games to lower ...
Send us a text Are you searching for low-prep games perfect for this busy time of year? Look no further! In this episode, join us as we welcome two incredible educators from Colombia, Profe Valentina and Carolina Gómez. They're here to share five engaging, low-prep games that are ideal for any classroom setting. These games are designed to boost engagement, foster community, review content, and add some fun to your daily routine. Who doesn't need a little extra fun, right? In this discussion,...
Send us a text Have you ever noticed that some students struggle to see their progress in an acquisition-driven classroom? When your lessons focus on comprehensible input and communication, progress can feel invisible to students used to “right or wrong” answers. That’s why Task-Based Language Teaching (TBLT) can be such a game-changer. In this episode, I talk with Dr. Claudia Fernández, one of the leading voices on TBLT, about how this approach helps students engage in authentic language use...
Send us a text Does comprehensible input still matter at the intermediate level? Absolutely. In this conversation with Gary DiBianca, he shares how he “levels up” intermediate classes by centering CI, intentionally modeling structures students can recycle (time frames, connectors, question stems), and layering authentic resources that stretch comprehension without overwhelming learners. You’ll hear: What changes—and what doesn’t—at intermediate: same CI foundation, deeper themes, tighter recy...
Send us a text En este episodio en español de Growing With Proficiency: The Podcast, converso con la Dra. Marta Silva sobre un tema esencial para profes de español: cómo enseñar a estudiantes de herencia. Exploramos la diferencia entre clases de herencia y de segunda lengua, y por qué es clave replantear nuestros objetivos, pilares y rutinas para apoyar a estos estudiantes de manera auténtica. En este episodio descubrirás: Los 4 pilares de las clases de herencia: sostenimiento de lengua y cul...
Send us a text Why am I re-releasing this episode? Because after a few weeks back in the classroom, I felt it again — that weight of doing everything myself: picking up pencils, erasing the board, answering endless “what did I miss?” emails. And I remembered… this episode holds the solution. In this powerful conversation with Annabelle Williamson (La Maestra Loca) and John Seifert, we dive deep into classroom jobs — not just what they are, but why they matter. Annabelle and John share: Their ...
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Fantastic podcast for language teachers! Thank you Claudia, you're amazing!!!
Mil gracias Claudia, tus consejos me ayudan mucho. me gusta mucho escuchar tu podcast. Siempre encuentro algo que puedo aplicar en mi clase y sobretodo me motiva a seguir creciendo como profesora.