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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 desire to know what happens next. And the moment she said that, everything clicked. I suddenly saw the pattern in the effective activities. 

In today’s episode, I break down three simple, low-prep strategies I learned at ACTFL you can use right away in your world language class — even in December — to spark that curiosity while keeping comprehension and safety at the center.

🌟 In this episode you’ll learn:

• Why curiosity naturally increases student motivation
• How Picture Talk with one compelling image can create instant intrigue (learned from Mira Canion)
• How cultural storytelling (inspired by Carolina Gómez) builds prediction, anticipation, and deep meaning
• How the Movie Trailer Technique gives you easy engagement with zero prep
• How simple “cliff-hanger” moments create dopamine, motivation, and comprehension
• Why motivation is not about hype… it’s about relevance, safety, and curiosity

And toward the end, I talk about the piece many of us forget: teachers need community too. ACTFL reminded me that when we feel supported, inspired, and connected — our classrooms change.

Which is exactly why I’m so excited about the six-month membership option now open inside Growing With Proficiency: The Spanish Teacher Academy.  This is for any Spanish teacher who wants to grow as a teacher, to gain practical, comprehensible-input strategies, and to access culturally rich units, and a supportive community — without burning out.

If you’re thinking, “I want to teach better, but I need it to feel manageable…” this six-month option is exactly for you. 👉 Join the Academy

The World Largets Lesson with SDG

Samara Spielberg IG: @samaraspielberg 

Carolina Gómez IG: @funforspanishteachers

Mira Canion www.miracanion.com

Episode of Growing With Proficiency on Picture Talk
Episode with Karen Rowan on storytelling, comprehension, and brain-friendly instruction

If this episode gave you a spark of hope this December, share it on IG and tag me @growingwithproficiency.