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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