Episode 147: How to Turn End-of-Year Assessments Into a Celebration of Growth

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Do your assessments reflect the full journey your students have taken with you this year?

In this episode, I reflect on how end-of-year assessments can do more.  They can be an opportunity to celebrate all the meaningful interactions, cultural insights, and personal growth that have happened in our classrooms.

Inspired by a powerful quote from Dr. Beniko Mason—“Assessments are more for me as a teacher than for my students”—I’m sharing three practical ideas to help you create assessments that honor what really matters in your class.

Plus, I’ll walk you through:

• Why we need to revisit the World-Readiness Standards for Learning Languages
• What happens when students don’t see relevance in assessments
• How reflection questions, gallery walks, and personal prompts bring connection back
• The importance of creating tasks aligned with ACTFL proficiency levels

And don’t miss the free end-of-year survey resource I use with my own students!

🌟 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why should assessments include more than one section of what we do in class?
• How the 5 Cs (Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons, Communities) show up in class—and how to reflect that in assessment
• Tips for using personal questions at both novice and intermediate levels
• The power of student reflection at the end of the year

🔗 Resources + Links:

• 📄 Free End-of-Year Reflection Workbook: Click here
• 🎧 Episode 102 with AnneMarie Chase on Assessments: Listen here
• 🎧 Episode 110 with Cecile Lainé on Intercultural Competence & the 5 Cs: Listen here
• 🎧 Episode 138 with Maris Hawkins on ACTFL Updates & Proficiency Levels: Listen here

🎉 Don’t Miss This:

From May 12–22, you can get a FREE 7-day sneak peek inside Growing With Proficiency: The Spanish Teacher Academy. No credit card, no commitment—just real support and strategy.

✨ Sign up here: growingwithproficiency.com/academy