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Growing With Proficiency The Podcast
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
Growing With Proficiency The Podcast
Episode 136: Brain Breaks, Map Talk, and Storytelling: Growing With Proficiency Winter Conference Takeaways (Part 1)
Have you ever felt like you’re running low on energy in your classroom? Maybe you’ve been wondering how to bring more movement, engagement, and joy into your lessons. In this special episode, I’m sharing my biggest takeaways from the Growing With Proficiency Winter Conference! This is Part 1 of a two-part series, and today, we’re diving into Brain Breaks, Map Talk, and Bringing Stories to Life with some of the most inspiring educators in our field.
✅ Brain Breaks with Annabelle Williamson (@lamaestroloca)
✅ Map Talk & Google My Maps with Carolina Gómez (@funforspanishteachers)
✅ Storytelling with Berta Delgadillo (@profedelgadillo)
Each of these strategies can be easily implemented in your class tomorrow—or even today if you’re listening on your way to school! 🚗☕ Let’s bring more movement, curiosity, and deep cultural understanding into our language classrooms!
Key Takeaways:
🌟 Brain Breaks Keep Engagement High
- Set clear expectations and model the activity before starting.
- Try These Brain Breaks:
- The Number Game.
- Pass It On.
🗺️ Map Talk & Google My Maps – Exploring the World Through Geography
- Start with students’ own communities before expanding to other locations.
- Tools to use.
- What is geo-literacy and why it’s important
- Google My Maps!
📖 Storytelling
- Go beyond surface-level culture—ask deeper questions and uncover your own blind spots.
- Help students act out key story elements with Reverse Charades.
Resources & Links:
📌 La Maestra Loca Blog
📌 Explore Google My Maps for Your Classroom: 🔗https://funforspanishteachers.com/map-talk-from-our-communities-to-the-world/
📌 Bertha Delgadillo Blog
📌 Learn More About Classroom Culture: Episode 110: Six Strategies to Cultivate Classroom Culture
📌 Get More Ideas for Intercultural Teaching: Episode 134: Intercultural Competence in the Language Classroom
📌 Join the Spanish Teacher Academy: https://growingwithproficiency.com/academy
💬 Let’s Connect!
📸 Instagram: @claudiamelliott
📘 Facebook: Growing With CI Community
If you found this episode helpful, please take a moment to leave a review! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Your feedback helps other language teachers discover these ideas.
🎧 Stay tuned for Part 2, where we’ll dive into powerful output strategies and activities!
This teacher guide, available in English and Spanish, will give you clarity about how our students acquire the language and develop proficiency and the shifts I made to move from a traditional approach to a more comprehensible and communicative teaching approach.
Click here to download now https://growing-with-proficiency.mykajabi.com/teacherguide
