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AI tools are popping up everywhere — but can we use them in a way that still aligns with second language acquisition and communication-centered teaching?

In this episode, I’m walking you through how I use AI — especially ChatGPT — in my Spanish classroom without losing the heart of what we do as CI teachers. I’ll share the 5 tools I actually use (and how I stack them), plus the mindset I bring into every lesson to make sure my students get compelling, comprehensible, and connected input.

Whether you're new to AI or already experimenting with it, this episode will give you ideas, inspiration, and lots of teacher-to-teacher encouragement.

💡 Here’s what you’ll hear:

• Why AI can support (not replace) your teaching
  
  
• How I use Voice Control for ChatGPT to co-create texts that are meaningful and level-appropriate
  
  
• My exact workflow for stacking 4 AI tools to save time and still create quality input
  
  
• Tips for using Gamma, Mote, Quizziz, QuestionWell, and Diffit
  
  
• Why your voice, experience, and connection with students matter more than any tool

🛠️ Tools & Resources Mentioned:

• Free story: Los animales en los desastres naturales
  
  
• Gamma (Slide Deck Generator)
  
  
• Voice Control for ChatGPT (Chrome Extension)
  
  
• Mote for Voice Support
  
  
• Quizziz Game-Based Review
  
  
• QuestionWell AI Quiz Builder
  
  
• Diffit – AI Resource Builder for Teachers

📣 Let’s Stay Connected

If this episode was helpful, share it with a language teacher friend or tag me on Instagram @claudiamelliott.

💌 And if you’re a Spanish teacher, don’t forget to join the waitlist for Growing With Proficiency: The Spanish Teacher Academy at growingwithproficiency.com/academy — so you’re the first to know when doors open again!

🎙️ Do your students love animals?
Yeah… I already know the answer.
Because if there’s one thing that gets every single one of my students to say “aww” or light up with a smile… it’s animals. 🐶🐱🐘

Now imagine combining that universal love with a real-world topic like natural disasters—and boom 💥—you’ve got a compelling, ready-to-use lesson that sparks curiosity and builds empathy.

At

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Welcome back to Growing With Proficiency The Podcast! In today’s episode, we’re diving into Picture Talk—a classic strategy that many of us use occasionally… but what if it became part of your weekly routine?

When reimagined as a sustainable and student-led practice, Picture Talk can provide meaningful input, spark student curiosity, and support communication—all with one powerful image.

In this episode, I’m sharing exactly how I use one image across different levels and for multiple days, all while keeping prep simple and language use at the center of my classroom.

Whether you’re in a season when energy is low or you’re just looking for something consistent and effective, this episode will guide you through step-by-step ways to make Picture Talk work for you and your students.

Highlights:

What Is Picture Talk?
A quick overview of this input-rich strategy and why it fits all levels.

Why Picture Talk Works Year-Round
From September to April, there are always stretches when engagement drops—Picture Talk helps keep the conversation going.

5 Ways to Stretch One Image Across the Week
From co-creating stories to reusing texts, these strategies help you build routines without more planning.

Tips to Keep It Student-Led
Use questioning, retelling, and real-world connections to invite students to do the heavy lifting.

Differentiation Made Simple
Use the same image with different language supports for novice and intermediate learners.

🎁 And yes—there’s a free resource ready for you:
Download the Animales en Desastres Naturales Picture Talk lesson
Perfect for Earth Day or any time you want to connect language to real-world themes.

Resources

🏫 Join our waitlist for Growing With Proficiency The Spanish Teacher Academy
👩🏽‍💻 Our Blog: Growing With Proficiency
📥 Free Lesson: Animales en Desastres Naturales
📲 Join our free FB Community: Growing With CI
📳 Follow us on social: IG @claudiamelliott | FB @claudiamelliott
🖇️ TPT Store: Growing With Proficiency

More Podcast Episodes to Support You:

🎧 Episode 47 – Ignite Curiosity With Images (with Chelsea Lawrence)
🎧 Episode 95 – What Is Story Asking and Why It Works

Don’t miss this episode—especially if you're looking for a way to simplify your week, provide rich input, and let students guide the learning process.

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In this episode of Growing With Proficiency: The Podcast, I’m joined by three brilliant educators—Donna Tatum-Johns, Justin Slocum Bailey, and Erika Peplinski-Burge—for a real, honest, and insightful conversation straight from the heart of CI Mitten.

Together, we answer 6 of the most common questions world language teachers ask, like:
🎯 How can I get my upper-level students to actually speak in class?
🧠 How do I juggle multiple preps without burning out?
🎭 What if I’m tired of feeling like a performer?
🧩 How do I support neurodiverse learners in a CI classroom?
🤝 What if my department isn’t on board with CI?
🌍 How can we advocate for our programs when cuts are everywhere?

You'll leave with tangible strategies, mindset shifts, and a deep reminder that you’re not alone in this work. 💛

Whether you’re new to CI or a seasoned teacher, this episode is packed with inspiration, practical ideas, and lots of love for our community.

Resources:

GWP Spanish Teacher Academy Waiting List

Growing With CI FB Community

Blog post

IG

TPT Store

🎉 FREE RESOURCE FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS!

“10 Ready-to-Use Station Activities to Keep Students Engaged!”

✅ Reading & Easy Tasks – Print & go!
✅ Engaging & Interactive – Keep students focused!
✅ Low-Prep & Time-Saving – Less work!

Perfect for those moments when students seem more distracted than ever.

👉 Grab Your Free Resource Now!

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¿Sientes que el fin de año escolar viene lleno de cansancio y falta de energía? 😮‍💨 En este episodio, te comparto dos estructuras que han transformado mis clases en esta época: las estaciones y las rotaciones.

Te explico cómo implementarlas paso a paso, qué tipo de actividades funcionan mejor, cómo organizar el tiempo, y cómo usar tu contenido existente (¡sin tener que crear todo desde cero!). También te doy ideas concretas para fomentar la autonomía, la colaboración, y el compromiso real de tus estudiantes.

Además, te cuento cómo las rotaciones pueden ayudarte a cerrar tus unidades o consolidar todo lo que han aprendido durante el año.

🎧 Si quieres escuchar más sobre estaciones, no te pierdas el episodio en inglés. Haz clic acá.

💻 ¿Quieres las plantillas para hacer estaciones? Haz clic acá para bajarlas.

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Last week in Episode 139, I shared the 4 biggest takeaways from SCOLT — and today, I’m showing you how those ideas come to life with 4 powerful classroom strategies grounded in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research. 💡

In this episode, I’m breaking down 4 engaging, easy-to-implement strategies that are already working right now in my classroom — and they might be just what you need to re-ignite joy and purpose in yours!

Here’s what you’ll hear:

✨ “No me digas” – The reading game that sparks connection and joy

🧠 Story Mapping for Deeper Comprehension. This flexible strategy from Kaleb Hayat helps students re-read, organize meaning, and work together with intention.

📊 Let Students Choose Their Rubric. Learn how Liza Hyatt and Joanna Jiménez are letting students self-select rubrics based on ACTFL proficiency levels — without lowering the bar.

🌎 Calendar Talk with Purpose. I share 3 specific ways to level up Calendar Talk and build global knowledge in the TL. From Earth Day to National Poetry Month, you’ll get concrete ideas you can use this week.

🎁 Mentioned Resources:

• Episode 139: The 4 Big Takeaways
  
  
• Episode with Maris Hawkins on ACTFL Descriptors
  
  
• AnneMarie Chase on Low-Stress Assessments
  
  
• Full Calendar Talk Episode
  
  
• My April 2025 Calendar Talk
  
  
• 7 Natural Wonders YouTube Video
  
  

🧡 If this episode helps you, please share it with a language teacher friend or tag me on Instagram @claudiamelliott. And if you’re a Spanish teacher, join the waitlist for Growing With Proficiency: The Spanish Teacher Academy to be the first to know when doors open again!

Let’s keep creating joyful, communicative classrooms — one strategy at a time. 🙌

🎉 FREE RESOURCE FOR LANGUAGE TEACHERS!

“10 Ready-to-Use Station Activities to Keep Students Engaged!”

✅ Reading & Easy Tasks – Print & go!
✅ Engaging & Interactive – Keep students focused!
✅ Low-Prep & Time-Saving – Less work!

Perfect for those moments when students seem more distracted than ever.

👉 Grab Your Free Resource Now!

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Have you ever needed a reminder of why this work matters? In this episode, I’m sharing the powerful moments from SCOLT 2025 that filled my teacher heart — and why what we do in the classroom matters just as much as how we make students feel.

From hallway conversations to keynote quotes that made me tear up, this episode goes beyond strategies and into the why behind the work. And yes, I’m also sharing two easy, movement-based activities you can try with your students tomorrow! 😉

Key Takeaways:

🔥 Passion = "I pass on" – everything we do ripples
💕 Love is the foundation for a safe classroom
🌟 Joy is an intentional choice
💪 Growth takes consistency, discipline, and community
🕺 Try a silent PQA with movement & connection
👯‍♀️ Turn & Talk with a twist: talk = movement, listen = freeze!

🧠 Looking for a great resource for Día de la Tierra?
📖 Grab this class story about los animales en desastres naturales – perfect for comprehension and discussion!
👉Here

Resources & Links Mentioned:

📌 Learn more about the Spanish Teacher Academy:
https://growingwithproficiency.com/academy

📸 Instagram: @claudiamelliott
📘 Facebook: Growing With CI Community

If this episode spoke to your heart, please leave a review and share it with another language teacher who might need the reminder: you're not behind — you're becoming. 💛

🎧 Stay tuned for Part 2 next week, where I’ll share many strategies I learned at SCOLT!

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With new regulations restricting what we can and cannot teach, many of us are left wondering: How can we continue to support ALL of our students while creating a safe and inclusive classroom?

That’s exactly why I’m re-releasing this episode on the Star Student Interview—one of the most powerful and adaptable strategies for centering students, fostering engagement, and making language learning truly meaningful.

In this episode, I break down:
✅ What the Star Student Interview is and how it differs from PQAs
✅ Why it’s such an effective strategy for creating community and using language in context
✅ How to implement it in your classroom—from selecting students to engaging the whole class
✅ How to level up or down questions to meet different proficiency levels
✅ What to do after the interview to maximize learning and reinforce comprehension

At a time when many educators feel constrained by policies that limit diverse and equity-focused content, the Star Student Interview allows us to shift the focus back to our students—celebrating who they are and making them feel seen, regardless of external restrictions.

Looking for more ideas? Check out these resources:
📌 Bryce Hedstrom’s Star Student Questions – A great collection of questions to get started.
📌 Cécile Laine’s Guide – A resource for adjusting question difficulty to different proficiency levels.

Have you tried the Star Student Interview? What’s your go-to strategy for creating a welcoming and engaging language classroom? Let’s continue the conversation!

And if this episode resonated with you, please leave a review on Apple Podcasts—it helps more world language teachers discover strategies to grow with proficiency! 🎉

🔗 Listen now!

💬 Let’s Connect!
📸 Instagram: @claudiamelliott
📘 Facebook: Growing With CI Community

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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 delve into the delicate balance of nurturing student communication in the target language. We're not talking about forcing output, but rather creating an environment where students feel inspired and motivated to talk.

Discover strategies backed by brain research that reveal how to enhance student engagement and encourage voluntary, natural use of the target language in your classroom. These techniques are not just about getting students to talk more; they're about transforming the way they interact with the language and each other.

Are you ready to discover new ways to encourage your students to communicate more freely and effectively in the target language? Want to know the secrets to creating a classroom atmosphere that naturally promotes student talking and engagement?

Click and join us in this episode.

Highlights of the episode:

• Utilizing rejoinders and gestures
• Creating a safe and trusting environment for language Learners
• Reflecting on brain research and students’ motivation to talk
• Discussing the effects of feedback when students are talking
• Disconnecting speaking from being graded
• The power of narration
• Enhancing student motivation through small speaking successes

__________________________________________

Our guest experts:

Justin Slocum Bailey: A longtime language, music, and martial arts teacher from Vienna, Austria, Justin has trained teachers in 37 U.S. states and given workshops, courses, and keynotes in Mexico, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, and China. Justin has also published several articles and book chapters on language teaching. The many glowing testimonials of his work include “If everyone taught language like Justin Slocum Bailey, we would have a world of self-directed polyglots” and “The kind of teacher I’d like to have a beer with.” Justin is unwavering in his belief that all humans can learn another language and that good teaching consists of identifiable, learnable skills. He can’t wait to help you master these!

Erica Peplinski-Burge: A neuroscience-loving Spanish teacher with a passion for sharing knowledge and 18 years of teaching experience from Kindergarten to 8th grade, Erica was the MIWLA 2020 Teacher of the Year. Erica is a regular presenter at some of the biggest conferences in the industry, including iFLT, ACTFL, Central States, and many state-sponsored conferences. She also co-founded and presents at MittenCI. Erica is a published author, having coauthored a chapter on how the brain acquires language, and has consulted for Encyclopedia Britannica and various language curriculums. Erica also plans Voces' PD events and specialized training for teachers. She loves helping teachers find brain-friendly ways to help students acquire languages joyfully!

Resources mentioned and more:

Free training videos by Justin and Erica: https://vocesdigital.com/training.php?tgt=av-hub

Growing With Proficiency The Blog

Growing With Proficiency The Spanish Teacher Academy

Growing With Proficiency TPT Store