Growing With Proficiency The Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Are you wondering how to boost interaction among your students within your world language classroom? Struggling to find effective strategies that get students engage while listening, reading and writing? Look no further—this episode is for you. Join us as we welcome Tan Huynh, a secondary school educator with a deep focus on English language acquisition, author, podcaster, and con...

Send us Fan Mail How can we ensure that students not only talk but also listen to each other in group and pair activities, fostering a vibrant classroom discourse community? In this episode, we talk about a crucial aspect of building a classroom discourse community — not just encouraging students to speak but also to listen attentively to one another during group and pair work. While our last epis...

Send us Fan Mail El lenguaje inclusivo y su importancia en nuestras clases con Abelardo Almazán-Vázquez ¿Qué es el lenguaje inclusivo? ¿Por qué es importante entenderlo? ¿Cómo podemos incorporarlo en clase a pesar de restricciones que tengamos?    En este episodio, mi amigo y colega, Abelardo Almazán-Vázques, no sólo nos ayuda a entender más el concepto del lenguaje inclusivo y su importancia, sin...

Send us Fan Mail Seeking ways to encourage student talking and boost engagement in the target language, without forcing output? If you're wondering, 'How can I get my students talking more in class in a natural and engaging way?' then this episode is a must-listen for you. Join me for a powerful conversation with Erica Peplinski-Burge and Justin Slocum Bailey. In this episode, we de...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the final episode of our special 3-part series on the 3 Pillars of a Successful Language Classroom! In this episode, we wrap up with a topic that's close to my heart - communication. We've chatted about building connections and making target language comprehensible in previous episodes. Now, we're diving into communication, the trickiest but most rewardin...

Send us Fan Mail Can you relate to the challenge of making your language classes comprehensible and engaging? I get it. Balancing the importance of facilitating target language comprehensibility with the reality of students at different levels of proficiency and varying levels of motivation is hard. That’s why you’re going to love this episode. In this week’s episode, I dive deep into the nuances...

Send us Fan Mail En este episodio exploramos los fundamentos la enseñanza de la lengua de manera comprensible y comunicative (Comprehensible and Communicative Language Teaching -CCLT) y su impacto en nuestras aulas.  Descubre cómo los principios de comprensión y comunicación pueden empoderarnos para tomar decisiones en cuanto a nuestras prácticas y nos ayudan a defenderlas.   En este episodio tamb...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to a special episode of our podcast! Today, I'm thrilled to chat with Leandra Rodríguez and Angelica Ruiz, two exceptional Spanish teachers and members of GWP, the Spanish Teacher Academy. We'll dive into our most significant takeaways from the ACTFL 2023 conference. In This Session, We'll Cover: The Magic of Reading: We'll explore specific strategies f...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome to the first part of our exciting three-part series, where we're diving deep into the foundational pillars of a world language classroom success! In this episode, we focus on the first pillar: Building Stronger Connections. As language educators, we know the start of a new year is a golden opportunity to foster deeper engagement and cultivate a positive and caring cla...

Send us Fan Mail Have you ever wondered if there's a way to be effective inside the classroom without taking work home or feeling guilty or stressed because you’re not taking work home? In this episode of "Doing Less For More in the World Language Class," we delve into four transformative ideas that can help reduce your workload in class without sacrificing effectiveness or impact o...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode of "Growing With Proficiency The Podcast," we're excited to have Kia London with us. We chat about making assessments sustainable and effective in world language classes. We start by discussing the basics: How often should we assess our students? What should we focus on when grading? And, how long should these assessments be? Kia and I share...

Send us Fan Mail Ever felt stuck on how to start your curriculum theme, or noticed your students could use a bit more help before jumping into a new unit? If that sounds familiar, this episode of Growing With Proficiency The Podcast is just for you. In one of our recent hot seat sessions inside GWP The Spanish Teacher Academy, a member asked us this question: "My students need to talk about t...

Send us Fan Mail If you have a love-hate relationship with technology, this is your episode. In this episode. Meredith White, an expert in integrating technology in language teaching, shares with us how to navigate the endless amount of tech tools without succumbing to burnout or FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). Meredith gives us practical strategies and discusses essential tech tools that every world...

Send us Fan Mail Tres Claves Esenciales para Clases de Idiomas Dinámicas y Sostenibles: En este episodio estoy compartiendo  tres claves esenciales que te ayudarán a hacer tus clases espacios más dinamicos pero de una manera sostenible.  Clave 1: Actividades Repetibles en Todos los Niveles Aprende cómo implementar actividades que funcionen en todos los niveles y que puedas usar cada semana.  Estas...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Carrie Toth, an author and Spanish educator with over 30 years of experience, shares so many low-prep post-reading activities and games designed to engage students with more reading. This episode is perfect for our series theme, "Making Comprehensible and Communicative Language Teaching Easy," since Carrie shares with us strategies that enrich language c...

Send us Fan Mail Are you spending a ton of time trying to find new ways to read a text with your class, check for comprehension, or ask open-ended questions? Do you have great resources but find that many of the activities could use more movement and engagement? You don't have to create a new activity every day. You don't need to be in front of the class, constantly trying to get your st...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Growing With Proficiency: The Podcast, we have a special guest, John Bracey, a Latin teacher who has been using Comprehensible Input methodology for several years. In this episode, John Bracey emphasizes the importance of finding strategies that can be consistently implemented without overwhelming teachers' work-life balance. John discusses the importance o...

Send us Fan Mail In this first episode of our series "Comprehensible and Communicative Language Teaching Made Easy," we're tackling the cornerstone of any thriving world language class: motivation. Discover how simple daily actions can build the trust and rapport that fuel student engagement. Join us as we explore three specific strategies to build connections in the class from soci...

Send us Fan Mail En este episodio, exploramos  como a través de la cocreación de historias podemos potencializar el uso de la lectura en nuestras clases para facilitar la adquisición de la lengua. Este episodio fue inspirado por las ideas brillantes que surgieron en la conferencia para profesores de lengua en la Florida FFLA, especialmente en la  presentación del Dr. Stephen Krashen sobre la impor...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, join me as I reflect on the incredible experience of FFLA23 (Foreign Language Association of Florida) and share my top takeaways from the event. In Episode 58, I discuss practical strategies and activities that can be implemented in your language classes, the power of reading, and innovative tools for language education. Discover how small group, music, and readin...

Send us Fan Mail Get ready for part two of "All About Output" with Dr. Florencia Henshaw. In this episode, Florencia discusses the importance of the process versus the product in writing, which can also apply to oral presentations. She also shares practical ideas on how we can use this process to help students become better communicators. We also delve into assessments, clarifying the go...

Send us Fan Mail Get ready for the first part of a two-episode series all about the fascinating world of output! In these two episodes, Dr. Florencia Henshaw is joining us to shed light on what output truly is and how it plays an important role in developing your students' presentational and interpersonal proficiency. Remember when Dr. Henshaw shared with us about comprehensible input a few m...

Send us Fan Mail Get ready for an exciting episode of "Growing With Proficiency The Podcast," where we're talking about games and AI in the language classroom. These five games I'm sharing today are just plain awesome because they'll keep your students hooked while they get to hear tons of understandable and interesting stuff. Now, why are these games so cool? It's si...

Send us Fan Mail Today, we're talking about asking questions. We all know that asking questions plays a significant role in our classes. But let's get real, when you've got a big class filled with students who are just starting out in the language or perhaps have only grasped the basics, asking questions can feel like an art form, right? In this episode, we're sharing many stra...

Send us Fan Mail ¿Qué papel juega la cultura en tu clase? ¿Te has preguntado como podrías darle un papel más protagónico?  En este episodio, exploraremos cómo podemos centrar nuestras clases de lengua, específicamente nuestras clases de español,  en la cultura. Muchas veces tenemos buenas intenciones pero nos sentimos maniatados a un currículo que no le da a la cultura el lugar que le corresponde....