Episode 163: Silent Discussions: A Simple Strategy to Boost Interpersonal Communication in Your Language Classes

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Have you ever felt like getting your students to really use the target language with each other is the hardest thing? You want them to share ideas, agree or disagree, and ask questions. But when the moment comes, silence takes over—or worse, they switch to English.

In this episode, I sit down with my friend and incredible Spanish teacher, Chelsea Lawrence, to talk about a game-changing strategy: Silent Discussions.

✨ What you’ll learn in this episode:

• What Silent Discussions are and how to set them up step by step.
• Why this strategy works so well to lower stress and build success in interpersonal communication.
• Real classroom examples—from connecting the Panama Canal to a local tunnel, to jigsaw activities with biographies and even telescopes.
• Practical scaffolds to support your students: graphic organizers, sentence starters, question stems, and even a “How do you say…?” board.
• What to do after the Silent Discussion to extend the learning with gallery walks, reflections, or presentational tasks.

👉 If you’re a Spanish teacher and are looking for resources to create great jigsaw activities plus Silent Discussions, check out the Biographies to Celebrate Hispanic Women or explore the Panoramas Culturales, where you can assign one article to each group.

Listen now and discover how one big sheet of paper can transform into a powerful tool for authentic student interaction in your classroom.

📌 Resources 

• Join the waitlist for Growing With Proficiency: The Spanish Teacher Academy → growingwithproficiency.com/academy
• Follow me on Instagram @claudiamelliott 
• ​​📑 Discover culturally rich, month-specific resources for Spanish classes in myTPT Store: Growing With Proficiency.