Send us a text

Are you looking for an interactive and engaging activity to boost your students' participation and build a strong classroom community at the end of the school year? In this episode of "Growing With Proficiency, the podcast," we explore a unique twist on the popular Card Talk activity that my students absolutely loved!

In this activity, I’ll share with you how to turn the simple drawings our students do in card talk into a pair-reading activity plus a gallery walk.

Main Highlights:

• Introduction to Card Talk and its benefits for student engagement and comprehensible input.
• Detailed activity setup with the prompt: "The Best and the Worst in the School Year."
• Step-by-step process from drawing, writing, hallway gallery walk, and class discussion.
• Personal connection and community building through shared experiences.
• Extending Card Talk: Ideas for adapting Card Talk for different thematic units such as clothing, food, and travel.

Resources and Links Mentioned:

• Free Teacher Guide: "How to Shift to A Comprehensible and Communicative Teaching Approach" – growingwithproficiency.com/guide
• Episode 82: Previous discussion on Card Talk with Ben Fisher
• Follow Claudia on Instagram: @claudiamelliott
• Connect on Facebook: Claudia M Elliott
• Join our waitlist for Growing With Proficiency The Spanish Teacher Academy

Thank you for tuning in to "Growing With Proficiency, the podcast." Until next time, keep growing and keep teaching with passion. ¡Hasta luego!

Send us a text

Are you ending the year feeling tired, disconnected, or wondering if all your hard work made a difference?

In this episode, I’m opening up about five things I wish I had known earlier in my teaching career — before burnout crept in. These aren’t just reflective lessons; they’re practical shifts that helped me move from survival mode to a place of clarity, confidence, and connection in the classroom.

Whether you're in year one or year twenty, this episode is a reminder that burnout doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong — it might just mean you're carrying too much without enough support.

💡 In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Why burnout is often the result of cognitive overload and decision fatigue
  
  
• How clarity in your “why” can reduce overwhelm
  
  
• Why collecting strategies isn’t enough without a framework
  
  
• What changed when I stopped trying to create everything from scratch
  
  
• And how finding a supportive community shifted everything

📚 Related episodes and resources:

• 🎧 Ep. 69 – The Pillars of a Comprehensible and Communicative Driven Classroom
• 🎧 Ep. 111 – How to Plan a 90-Minute Class With Confidence
• 💻 Explore The Spanish Teacher Academy – 7-Day Free Experience

🎧 Spanish teacher — this is your invitation to finally experience what it's like to teach with clarity, connection, and confidence.

The 7-Day Start Experience of Growing With Proficiency: The Spanish Teacher Academy gives you a FREE sneak peek inside the trainings, tools, and story-based curriculum that hundreds of teachers are using to transform their classes.

Get the why, the how, and the what — all in one place, with a comunidad tha