October 14, 2025 • 24 mins
Asking students to speak in a new language can feel like asking them to step on stage without a script. We dig into why anxiety hits world language classrooms harder than most, then share nine practical ways to make participation feel safe, predictable, and—dare we say—enjoyable. Drawing on resources from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the International OCD Foundation, we translate research into clear moves you can use tomorrow: stable routines, visible agendas, partner‑first interactions, and quick one‑to‑one check‑ins that remove the burden of self‑advocacy from anxious learners.
We walk through how validation works without lowering expectations, how to slow the pace without losing momentum, and why generous recycling of input is not remedial—it’s the core of acquisition. You’ll learn how to bake stress relief into your class culture with box breathing and short regulation breaks, and how to design predictable, proficiency‑oriented assessments that mirror your daily practice. No pop‑quiz panic, no mystery formats—just small, routine checks that show growth in listening, reading, speaking, and writing. Along the way, we share sample prompts, participation flows that replace cold calling with safer partner talk, and simple benchmarks to gauge when to pause and reinforce.
If you’ve ever wondered whether quiet means apathetic (spoiler: it often means anxious), this conversation offers a humane toolkit to lift the affective filter and raise target language use. Expect tangible ideas you can plug into your syllabus, from weekly agendas to rotation plans for targeted relationship building. Subscribe for more practical strategies, share this with a colleague who needs a calmer class, and leave a quick review so we can reach more teachers who want safer, braver language learning spaces.
RESOURCES FOR UNDERSTANDING STUDENT ANXIETY:
https://www.schoolcounselor.org/newsletters/january-2020/coping-with-student-anxiety
https://kidshealth.org/en/parents/anxiety-factsheet.html
https://anxietyintheclassroom.org/school-system/resources-for-school-personnel/how-to-talk-to-your-students/
https://www.aap.org/en/patient-care/school-health/mental-health-in-schools/supporting-students-with-anxiety-in-school/?srsltid=AfmBO
Find out more and join the Practical Proficiency Network here
or go to lalibrelanguagelearning.com/join
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
What's up?
World language teachers.
Welcome to the practicalproficiency pod on the campus,
where we make the transition toproficiency-oriented instruction
in your world language class.
In a way that works for you,your unique context and teaching
style.
And doesn't sacrifice yourwell-being along the way.
(00:23):
I'm your host, Devin Cunningham,the teacher of earth, conference
host, curriculum creator, andconsultant becoming Lamba
Language Teacher.
This podcast is for the creativeworld language teacher like you,
who's ready to touch theoverwhelming pressure of
switching to acquisition-driveninstruction and CI overnight.
You're ready to discover howusing more target language in
(00:46):
class can actually bring you andyour students more joy instead
of having to wait withpractical, and early strategies
that don't require reinventingwheels or more training.
We all work together towards themagic of a community-based
target language-rich classroom,rooted in the power of community
(01:09):
and comprehensible input.
Let's go.
Well, hey there! Thanks so muchfor joining me again on the
Practical Proficiency Podcast.
Today's topic is juicy andaffects all of us.
And that is we're gonna talkabout ways to reduce student
anxiety in your classroom.
(01:31):
Let's get started.
So we are in a unique situationas world language teachers where
we are asking students to putthemselves and their egos on the
line every day when they comeinto class, which means that the
fact that we are dealing with ananxiety epidemic affects us more
than the other teachers in theroom because we really are
(01:53):
asking a lot of our students.
And some of the things like,hey, speaking a world language
that you're not very familiarwith and you know you're gonna
sound silly, is a huge ask for astudent who is working with
anxiety.
So let's get into some of theseideas.
First of all, I have for yousome research-based tips and
(02:16):
ideas that come from a fewdifferent sources, mainly from
the American Academy ofPediatrics.
My mom is a pediatrician, and Iwould really get in trouble if I
didn't give you someresearch-based info.
So you will find below here alink to those three articles,
including one from the AAP thattalks about what anxiety often
looks like in students, what thedifferent types of anxiety are
(02:38):
in children and adolescents.
I almost said adults there, butchildren and adolescents, and
what it looks like in ourclassroom, because it can show
up in some surprising ways.
So, first of all, let's startwith what our healthcare
providers are talking about withanxiety in students.
What does it look like?
So we have here anxietydisorders will cause people to
(03:02):
feel frightened, distressed, oruneasy during situations when
when most people would not feelthat way.
Or the AAP also defines it asanxiety is a normal, healthy
response to developmentallyappropriate stressors that ask
the student or the child,adolescent, whatever, to rise to
(03:26):
the occasion, but anxiety isgetting in the way of that.
There's an excessive amount ofthis normal human
survival-associated behavior.
So it often looks like with,especially with what's called
generalized anxiety disorder,they have many worries most of
the time, especially aboutthings that they perceive that
(03:48):
they can't control.
So check out these articles thatI have below here, linked in the
um, like right underneath thisvideo if you're watching, or for
the majority of you who arelistening in the show notes
below for the podcast.
You will see those articleslinked to give you a little bit
more information about that.
And the Society for OCD, theInternational OCD Foundation, I
(04:11):
should say, also has a lot ofgreat resources and like a full
school guide for school workersand educators about how to work
with students who exhibitsymptoms of anxiety or OCD.
So, with that in mind, I havemixed in for you eight tips.
Some are from my own personalexperience working with students
(04:33):
with anxiety, as well as fromsome of the sources that are
presented below.
So let's get started.
Without further ado, I have foryou this first tip that is great
for all of your students becausehonestly, anything that is
anxiety reducing for yourstudents who are experiencing
anxiety, which is according toall three of these sources that
(04:55):
I'm going to list for you, iscreeping up on 30% of your
student population right now asof 2025.
Wild.
So we're not really talkingabout a minority anymore, like
this is peaking on majorityhere.
And those are just theidentified cases.
So the first tip that I have foryou is something that will make
(05:16):
your life easier and thesestudents' lives easier, and that
is build and maintain classroomroutines.
I cannot tell you how validatingit is for students when they
know exactly what format you'regoing to present your
instruction in.
And I'm talking about simplythat you start class usually the
(05:37):
same way, that you have a middlepart and you have, you know,
like five or so different waysthat you like to interact with
material and move from I do, wedo, you do, like ways that you
move through that progression.
And then a way that you closeout class.
One of my favorite ways, movingright on to tip number two, is
(05:59):
that when you provide the agendain advance, when you give like a
quick little list, even if youonly have 25 or 30 minute
classes of, hey, we're gonnastart with this number one, then
we're gonna move to this, andthis is what it's gonna look
like, and then we're gonna moveto this.
Number three.
And by the way, in a few, thisis what we'll be working on for
a few days.
Next week we'll move to this.
(06:20):
And it doesn't have to be, it'snot like you have to have
everything completely mappedout, because I also don't work
that way.
I'm a very creative person and Ilove to add new ideas on the
fly.
But with all of those things inmind, I actually found that it
allowed me to be more creativeand for my students to be more
prepared for the task at hand.
It's a lot less work for me whenyou're creative within
(06:42):
boundaries and parameters thatallow your creativity to thrive.
So if you're like me and you'rea creative teacher, what I mean
by that is I liked to have likea certain part of my class was
always about input.
A certain part of my class wasalways about interaction, and a
certain part of my class wasalways about review.
So that means like within thosethree parameters, input,
interaction, and reviewing andrecycling things, as well as
(07:05):
some personalization.
Like I'm always gonna be workingwithin those four parameters
instead of thinking about whatneeds to happen in class the
next day and being like, oh myGod, there's so many activities
that I could choose between, oroh my God, I don't even know
where to start, all of that.
Like working within parametersmakes it a lot easier to express
your creativity if you arecreative in the classroom.
(07:25):
And if you are working withlike, oh my God, I'm just trying
to get through the day and Idon't want to reinvent the wheel
type deal, then it's a loteasier if you're working from
similar routines.
It doesn't have to be similarmaterials, it means similar
routines.
Like, oh, I know we're gonna doan activity from YouTube this
day.
I know we're gonna do anactivity from the textbook this
(07:46):
day, and I know on Wednesdaywe're gonna have musique
mercredi or musica miércoles,just like my Sierra Cruz t-shirt
today.
Things like that.
That really helps your planningand it helps students to know
and understand, like, oh, thisis what I can expect in class
today.
When you provide the agenda andexplain it, it you're already
like letting students take adeep breath.
(08:08):
They're like, okay, I know whatto be ready for.
Another thing that we canspecifically do in our classes
is rely less on choral andindividual responses, which is
the norm in a world languageclassroom.
That's what I see most of thetime and what most teachers tell
me that they're relying on toget um clarification as well as
(08:28):
CFUs and checks forunderstandings from students.
And plus just those like quippy,simple interactions that aren't
things that you're planning out,but you're saying things like,
Cuál es la fecha de hoy?
What's the date today?
And you're just asking forstudents to respond to you.
And then when you don't hearanybody, you just call on
somebody like, hey, Celia, ¿cuáles la fecha de hoy?
(08:50):
That's actually there's betterways to do that.
So it might work if yourstudents are already, they've
been doing that for a while andthey're familiar with how to
respond to you.
But a better way to do that isbuilding up to that.
Whenever I work with teachersindividually in the practical
proficiency network, we havethis cool thing called office
hours where we meet one-on-oneto do some instructional
(09:11):
coaching and things like that.
A lot of people are coming to mewith like, my class is really
quiet.
There's so little engagement,and I don't know what to do
about it.
The first thing I say is there'sprobably a lot of things that we
can adjust, but always the firstsuggestion that I have is how
often are you doing full classresponses or calling on
individuals?
Let's add some more partnerindividuals.
(09:31):
Hey, I'm gonna ask this to youas a class.
Turn and tell the person next toyou the answer.
Or go pick somebody you want towork with if that works for your
classroom environment.
Most of the time it will.
And see if they can um if theycan answer with people that
they're comfortable with.
You're reducing a lot of thatsocial anxiety that way.
I would also say, too, don't beafraid to do groups, like the,
(09:53):
especially in the first fewmonths of class in a level one
or level two, where there's nota lot of confidence and not a
lot of output, then put them ingroups and say, okay, guys, put
your heads together and try andthink of the answer for this
question.
Ready?
Here comes in Spanish.
Cuál es la fecha de hoy, que díaes hoy.
And then you give them some timeto figure it out, write out the
(10:13):
answers, talk to each otherabout it.
Huge way to reduce anxiety.
I would say too that, andsomething that I found that was
a research-based response forjust general education
classrooms is schedule in someprogrammed one-on-one check-ins.
So I used to do this rightbefore grading periods, like,
hey, grades are due in a week.
Let's just check in and see whatyour grades look like and how
(10:35):
you feel about it.
And everybody would have like along reading to do or maybe some
station activities to rotatethrough.
And I would call kids up to mydesk one by one and just do a
quick check-in.
Hey, how are you feeling aboutclass?
Um, on average, do you feelprepared for class every day?
Do you feel like you understandwhat's going on?
Um, or do you feel lost?
How do you feel about yourgrades?
(10:55):
What are some things that you'dlike to check in or fix?
Um, or what are some missingassignments that you have?
This is a really common practicein the work world.
So I'm not sure why we don't dothis in the school environment
more often.
Probably just because, I don'tknow, you probably have too much
ish to do.
Surprise.
But this one thing can actuallyreduce a lot of your admin
overhead and paperwork.
(11:15):
If you get ahead of those, oh,these kids, um like this, these
three students have a lot ofmissing work to complete.
But it also for your studentswho are struggling with anxiety,
whether it's diagnosed or not,the one-on-one check-in means
that they don't have to beadvocates for themselves
anymore, which is a verystressful experience for
students with anxiety.
They don't even know how to talkabout their anxiety or what
(11:36):
they're worried about becauseit's they don't want to be
judged.
That's like one of the numberone things, especially with
students with social anxiety, isthey have an amplified,
invisible peer group aroundthem.
They feel like people are alwayswatching what they're doing and
they know what they're thinking,which we know is not the case,
but or maybe if you haveanxiety, you felt that way
(11:57):
before.
So if you have some scheduledcheck-ins, and again, they can
be quick, just ask studentsone-on-one, how are things
going?
How do you feel about your aboutyour grades, all of that?
Just program a quick check-inand that will really help.
Tip number five is recognize andvalidate their experience.
This is different from agreeingwith them, but recognizing and
(12:21):
validating their experience canlook like if I was constantly
afraid of making mistakes infront of my teacher, I wouldn't
want to raise my hand either.
This is this comes from um theAmerican Academy of Pediatrics,
is like that very carefulvalidation of what they're
feeling so that they feel seenand understood, but in a way
(12:44):
that helps them to move awayfrom the fear that they're
experiencing and more into therelated emotions around that
fear.
So let's talk about instead,okay, so you have this constant
fear of saying the wrong accentor tripping over a word.
I would be nervous aboutanswering too if I felt that
way.
Let's talk about the and you candive into some strategies to
(13:07):
help them feel more confidentwhen those things come up in
your class.
I would also say, too, my tipnumber six is don't be afraid to
repeat things, to go back andrevisit and recycle material,
and don't be afraid of movingslow.
Today's students really do needa slower pace than what you may
(13:29):
be accustomed to.
And you can check on this byseeing, do I have this magic
number that again just comesfrom my own anecdotal
experience, but try it out andsee how it works for you.
That if 70% of the time, 70% ofyour students are with you,
that's a pretty good pace.
And of course, we want more like85% of students with you all the
(13:50):
time, and then giving thatpersonalized attention to the
students who may need morerepetitions in different ways.
However, that if you are gettinganything less than that, it
doesn't matter what's scheduledfor next week.
Nothing next week is going to gowell if they don't have a
foundation what you're workingon this week.
Because everything in a worldlanguage classroom, it's like
(14:11):
math class.
It builds upon the materialbefore it.
So be careful with that.
Move slower than you think.
Number seven is practice stressrelief at school.
We are all in this age where weare recognizing more of the
effects of stress on our centralnervous system and how much it
(14:32):
shuts down anything aboutlearning.
And we know, as world languageteachers, we're actually
uniquely equipped for thissituation.
We know, and we've always known,that when your effective filter
is up, your learning goes down,and there's nothing that we can
do further to promote thatstudent's acquisition.
So add more breaks in where youare teaching students about box
(14:54):
breathing, where you areteaching students about how to
just take a deep breath beforethey do something difficult.
It will make a huge differencein their experience.
And my last one for you is haveroutine and predictable
assessments.
This is an area where I findmost world language educators
(15:16):
struggle.
And that is because since wedon't have standards in the US
at least, we are not required touse specific assessments at a
certain time.
However, most world languageteachers that I've worked with
have a very hodgepodge approachto assessment.
And many of the times theyforget about doing assessment
(15:37):
until it's way too late.
So they, I have lots and lots ofpodcast episodes for you about
assessment.
Dive into it further, but thinkabout your own assessment
practices and how much anxietythat actually adds to a
student's plate when you'rethinking like two days before a
marking period, oh my gosh, Ionly have three grades in the
gradebook right now and I needto do a quick assessment.
(15:59):
That's not really fair to yourstudents.
What your students need and whatwill reduce their anxiety a lot
more, especially when it comesto assessments and test taking,
is if you have routine, smallassessments over time.
And then when it comes toassessments that you are
practicing like crazy for them.
And that, I mean, in worldlanguage, it's not like a big,
(16:22):
oh, we need to make sure thatthe assessments are always a
surprise.
It's actually the opposite.
We want in a proficiencyclassroom, you should be able to
give your students assessmentsahead of time every single time.
They should be, it's not thetype of assessment where you're
like, oh, okay, they have thesemultiple choice questions.
In a proficiency-orientedclassroom, what you're doing
(16:42):
most of the time is you're doinglistening assessments of, hey,
when I say this word desk inFrench, you should know which
picture that corresponds to.
And we can practice that.
And I can give you theassessment ahead of time so you
know exactly what the format is.
Hey, I would like you to writethree sentences about three
different things that you see inyour backpack and that you use
(17:04):
every day.
That's an assessment that youshould be practicing for, and
they should get the exactassessment practiced for it
before it's actually assessmentday.
That is an integral part of aproficiency classroom.
It shouldn't be a surprise whatis on your assessments.
They should be seeing those wellin advance, and you guys should
be working towards those inclass.
(17:24):
It makes a huge difference.
And my last tip was a little bitof a bonus tip.
So maybe number nine, is thereare so many things in your
environment and the way that youinteract with students that can
help to reduce anxiety.
And one of those things reallyis stuff that you're already
doing, which is to make surethat you're rotating through a
(17:46):
few students each week who getspecialized individualized
attention from you.
You are not able to do thisevery day.
Okay.
It is not something that you canlike, oh, I can give kids
individualized attention everyday.
Sure, you're doing that on thefly in the moment because you're
an incredible instructor.
But something simple that youcan do to reduce anxiety is what
you are already doing, which formany teachers, they have a
(18:07):
relationship and an engagementstrategy of this kid needs a
little bit more of my attentionthis week.
I'm gonna talk to this studentmore a little bit this week and
check in with them more.
Next week, you'll notice thatthis student's going through
some stuff and they need uh orthey're having a bad day and
they just need a little bit ofextra attention from you.
It will vary throughout the weekand throughout the instructional
(18:28):
section that you are with them,and that's okay.
That's life, that's natural.
So again, let's go over whatthese nine tips are.
Number one, build and maintainroutines.
Kids are not getting bored inyour class because they're doing
similar activities andstrategies all the time.
They're getting bored becausethe actual activities are
boring.
(18:49):
So focus on routines.
Kids appreciate structure, sodon't feel afraid to give them
that.
Number two, is provide theagenda and explain it.
Again, with that structure inmind, it helps students prepare
for what's coming.
Three, use partner and groupanswers more and one-on-one
answers less because we oftenoveruse them in a world language
(19:10):
setting.
Four, schedule some one-on-onecheck-ins into your routine.
Five, recognize and validatetheir experience.
Six, don't be afraid of goingslower and repeating any
instructional material.
Recycling is an important partof being an effective world
language educator.
Seven, practice some type ofstress relief at school.
(19:33):
It'll just set them up for beinga happier human, anyways.
Eight, have routine andpredictable assessments with
built-in review and prep atschool, not at home.
And number nine, continue withthe relationship building that
you're doing on a one-on-onebasis with the students who need
it at that time.
Again, all of the resourcesmentioned and some of the
(19:56):
research that I use to compilethis list are provided below or
in the show note links.
And thanks so much for caringabout your students with anxiety
and helping to support them in aworld language classroom.
I'll catch you on the nextepisode.
Leave a rating if this helpedyou so that we can reach more
teachers and help them as well.
And if you have a question thatyou'd like answered on the
podcast, there's info belowabout how you can do that.
(20:18):
Quick, simple form, tell me yourquestion.
I'd love to answer it on air.
Okay, y'all.
That's it for now.
Thanks for hanging out with me.
Bye for now.
Adios, que les vaya bien.
Au revoir.
What's up?
World language teachers.
Welcome to the practicalproficiency pod on the campus,
where we make the transition toproficiency-oriented instruction
in your world language class.
In a way that works for you,your unique context and teaching
style.
And doesn't sacrifice yourwell-being along the way.
(00:23):
I'm your host, Devin Cunningham,the teacher of earth, conference
host, curriculum creator, andconsultant becoming Lamba
Language Teacher.
This podcast is for the creativeworld language teacher like you,
who's ready to touch theoverwhelming pressure of
switching to acquisition-driveninstruction and CI overnight.
You're ready to discover howusing more target language in
(00:46):
class can actually bring you andyour students more joy instead
of having to wait withpractical, and early strategies
that don't require reinventingwheels or more training.
We all work together towards themagic of a community-based
target language-rich classroom,rooted in the power of community
(01:09):
and comprehensible input.
Let's go.
Well, hey there! Thanks so muchfor joining me again on the
Practical Proficiency Podcast.
Today's topic is juicy andaffects all of us.
And that is we're gonna talkabout ways to reduce student
anxiety in your classroom.
(01:31):
Let's get started.
So we are in a unique situationas world language teachers where
we are asking students to putthemselves and their egos on the
line every day when they comeinto class, which means that the
fact that we are dealing with ananxiety epidemic affects us more
than the other teachers in theroom because we really are
(01:53):
asking a lot of our students.
And some of the things like,hey, speaking a world language
that you're not very familiarwith and you know you're gonna
sound silly, is a huge ask for astudent who is working with
anxiety.
So let's get into some of theseideas.
First of all, I have for yousome research-based tips and
(02:16):
ideas that come from a fewdifferent sources, mainly from
the American Academy ofPediatrics.
My mom is a pediatrician, and Iwould really get in trouble if I
didn't give you someresearch-based info.
So you will find below here alink to those three articles,
including one from the AAP thattalks about what anxiety often
looks like in students, what thedifferent types of anxiety are
(02:38):
in children and adolescents.
I almost said adults there, butchildren and adolescents, and
what it looks like in ourclassroom, because it can show
up in some surprising ways.
So, first of all, let's startwith what our healthcare
providers are talking about withanxiety in students.
What does it look like?
So we have here anxietydisorders will cause people to
(03:02):
feel frightened, distressed, oruneasy during situations when
when most people would not feelthat way.
Or the AAP also defines it asanxiety is a normal, healthy
response to developmentallyappropriate stressors that ask
the student or the child,adolescent, whatever, to rise to
(03:26):
the occasion, but anxiety isgetting in the way of that.
There's an excessive amount ofthis normal human
survival-associated behavior.
So it often looks like with,especially with what's called
generalized anxiety disorder,they have many worries most of
the time, especially aboutthings that they perceive that
(03:48):
they can't control.
So check out these articles thatI have below here, linked in the
um, like right underneath thisvideo if you're watching, or for
the majority of you who arelistening in the show notes
below for the podcast.
You will see those articleslinked to give you a little bit
more information about that.
And the Society for OCD, theInternational OCD Foundation, I
(04:11):
should say, also has a lot ofgreat resources and like a full
school guide for school workersand educators about how to work
with students who exhibitsymptoms of anxiety or OCD.
So, with that in mind, I havemixed in for you eight tips.
Some are from my own personalexperience working with students
(04:33):
with anxiety, as well as fromsome of the sources that are
presented below.
So let's get started.
Without further ado, I have foryou this first tip that is great
for all of your students becausehonestly, anything that is
anxiety reducing for yourstudents who are experiencing
anxiety, which is according toall three of these sources that
(04:55):
I'm going to list for you, iscreeping up on 30% of your
student population right now asof 2025.
Wild.
So we're not really talkingabout a minority anymore, like
this is peaking on majorityhere.
And those are just theidentified cases.
So the first tip that I have foryou is something that will make
(05:16):
your life easier and thesestudents' lives easier, and that
is build and maintain classroomroutines.
I cannot tell you how validatingit is for students when they
know exactly what format you'regoing to present your
instruction in.
And I'm talking about simplythat you start class usually the
(05:37):
same way, that you have a middlepart and you have, you know,
like five or so different waysthat you like to interact with
material and move from I do, wedo, you do, like ways that you
move through that progression.
And then a way that you closeout class.
One of my favorite ways, movingright on to tip number two, is
(05:59):
that when you provide the agendain advance, when you give like a
quick little list, even if youonly have 25 or 30 minute
classes of, hey, we're gonnastart with this number one, then
we're gonna move to this, andthis is what it's gonna look
like, and then we're gonna moveto this.
Number three.
And by the way, in a few, thisis what we'll be working on for
a few days.
Next week we'll move to this.
(06:20):
And it doesn't have to be, it'snot like you have to have
everything completely mappedout, because I also don't work
that way.
I'm a very creative person and Ilove to add new ideas on the
fly.
But with all of those things inmind, I actually found that it
allowed me to be more creativeand for my students to be more
prepared for the task at hand.
It's a lot less work for me whenyou're creative within
(06:42):
boundaries and parameters thatallow your creativity to thrive.
So if you're like me and you'rea creative teacher, what I mean
by that is I liked to have likea certain part of my class was
always about input.
A certain part of my class wasalways about interaction, and a
certain part of my class wasalways about review.
So that means like within thosethree parameters, input,
interaction, and reviewing andrecycling things, as well as
(07:05):
some personalization.
Like I'm always gonna be workingwithin those four parameters
instead of thinking about whatneeds to happen in class the
next day and being like, oh myGod, there's so many activities
that I could choose between, oroh my God, I don't even know
where to start, all of that.
Like working within parametersmakes it a lot easier to express
your creativity if you arecreative in the classroom.
(07:25):
And if you are working withlike, oh my God, I'm just trying
to get through the day and Idon't want to reinvent the wheel
type deal, then it's a loteasier if you're working from
similar routines.
It doesn't have to be similarmaterials, it means similar
routines.
Like, oh, I know we're gonna doan activity from YouTube this
day.
I know we're gonna do anactivity from the textbook this
(07:46):
day, and I know on Wednesdaywe're gonna have musique
mercredi or musica miércoles,just like my Sierra Cruz t-shirt
today.
Things like that.
That really helps your planningand it helps students to know
and understand, like, oh, thisis what I can expect in class
today.
When you provide the agenda andexplain it, it you're already
like letting students take adeep breath.
(08:08):
They're like, okay, I know whatto be ready for.
Another thing that we canspecifically do in our classes
is rely less on choral andindividual responses, which is
the norm in a world languageclassroom.
That's what I see most of thetime and what most teachers tell
me that they're relying on toget um clarification as well as
(08:28):
CFUs and checks forunderstandings from students.
And plus just those like quippy,simple interactions that aren't
things that you're planning out,but you're saying things like,
Cuál es la fecha de hoy?
What's the date today?
And you're just asking forstudents to respond to you.
And then when you don't hearanybody, you just call on
somebody like, hey, Celia, ¿cuáles la fecha de hoy?
(08:50):
That's actually there's betterways to do that.
So it might work if yourstudents are already, they've
been doing that for a while andthey're familiar with how to
respond to you.
But a better way to do that isbuilding up to that.
Whenever I work with teachersindividually in the practical
proficiency network, we havethis cool thing called office
hours where we meet one-on-oneto do some instructional
(09:11):
coaching and things like that.
A lot of people are coming to mewith like, my class is really
quiet.
There's so little engagement,and I don't know what to do
about it.
The first thing I say is there'sprobably a lot of things that we
can adjust, but always the firstsuggestion that I have is how
often are you doing full classresponses or calling on
individuals?
Let's add some more partnerindividuals.
(09:31):
Hey, I'm gonna ask this to youas a class.
Turn and tell the person next toyou the answer.
Or go pick somebody you want towork with if that works for your
classroom environment.
Most of the time it will.
And see if they can um if theycan answer with people that
they're comfortable with.
You're reducing a lot of thatsocial anxiety that way.
I would also say, too, don't beafraid to do groups, like the,
(09:53):
especially in the first fewmonths of class in a level one
or level two, where there's nota lot of confidence and not a
lot of output, then put them ingroups and say, okay, guys, put
your heads together and try andthink of the answer for this
question.
Ready?
Here comes in Spanish.
Cuál es la fecha de hoy, que díaes hoy.
And then you give them some timeto figure it out, write out the
(10:13):
answers, talk to each otherabout it.
Huge way to reduce anxiety.
I would say too that, andsomething that I found that was
a research-based response forjust general education
classrooms is schedule in someprogrammed one-on-one check-ins.
So I used to do this rightbefore grading periods, like,
hey, grades are due in a week.
Let's just check in and see whatyour grades look like and how
(10:35):
you feel about it.
And everybody would have like along reading to do or maybe some
station activities to rotatethrough.
And I would call kids up to mydesk one by one and just do a
quick check-in.
Hey, how are you feeling aboutclass?
Um, on average, do you feelprepared for class every day?
Do you feel like you understandwhat's going on?
Um, or do you feel lost?
How do you feel about yourgrades?
(10:55):
What are some things that you'dlike to check in or fix?
Um, or what are some missingassignments that you have?
This is a really common practicein the work world.
So I'm not sure why we don't dothis in the school environment
more often.
Probably just because, I don'tknow, you probably have too much
ish to do.
Surprise.
But this one thing can actuallyreduce a lot of your admin
overhead and paperwork.
(11:15):
If you get ahead of those, oh,these kids, um like this, these
three students have a lot ofmissing work to complete.
But it also for your studentswho are struggling with anxiety,
whether it's diagnosed or not,the one-on-one check-in means
that they don't have to beadvocates for themselves
anymore, which is a verystressful experience for
students with anxiety.
They don't even know how to talkabout their anxiety or what
(11:36):
they're worried about becauseit's they don't want to be
judged.
That's like one of the numberone things, especially with
students with social anxiety, isthey have an amplified,
invisible peer group aroundthem.
They feel like people are alwayswatching what they're doing and
they know what they're thinking,which we know is not the case,
but or maybe if you haveanxiety, you felt that way
(11:57):
before.
So if you have some scheduledcheck-ins, and again, they can
be quick, just ask studentsone-on-one, how are things
going?
How do you feel about your aboutyour grades, all of that?
Just program a quick check-inand that will really help.
Tip number five is recognize andvalidate their experience.
This is different from agreeingwith them, but recognizing and
(12:21):
validating their experience canlook like if I was constantly
afraid of making mistakes infront of my teacher, I wouldn't
want to raise my hand either.
This is this comes from um theAmerican Academy of Pediatrics,
is like that very carefulvalidation of what they're
feeling so that they feel seenand understood, but in a way
(12:44):
that helps them to move awayfrom the fear that they're
experiencing and more into therelated emotions around that
fear.
So let's talk about instead,okay, so you have this constant
fear of saying the wrong accentor tripping over a word.
I would be nervous aboutanswering too if I felt that
way.
Let's talk about the and you candive into some strategies to
(13:07):
help them feel more confidentwhen those things come up in
your class.
I would also say, too, my tipnumber six is don't be afraid to
repeat things, to go back andrevisit and recycle material,
and don't be afraid of movingslow.
Today's students really do needa slower pace than what you may
(13:29):
be accustomed to.
And you can check on this byseeing, do I have this magic
number that again just comesfrom my own anecdotal
experience, but try it out andsee how it works for you.
That if 70% of the time, 70% ofyour students are with you,
that's a pretty good pace.
And of course, we want more like85% of students with you all the
(13:50):
time, and then giving thatpersonalized attention to the
students who may need morerepetitions in different ways.
However, that if you are gettinganything less than that, it
doesn't matter what's scheduledfor next week.
Nothing next week is going to gowell if they don't have a
foundation what you're workingon this week.
Because everything in a worldlanguage classroom, it's like
(14:11):
math class.
It builds upon the materialbefore it.
So be careful with that.
Move slower than you think.
Number seven is practice stressrelief at school.
We are all in this age where weare recognizing more of the
effects of stress on our centralnervous system and how much it
(14:32):
shuts down anything aboutlearning.
And we know, as world languageteachers, we're actually
uniquely equipped for thissituation.
We know, and we've always known,that when your effective filter
is up, your learning goes down,and there's nothing that we can
do further to promote thatstudent's acquisition.
So add more breaks in where youare teaching students about box
(14:54):
breathing, where you areteaching students about how to
just take a deep breath beforethey do something difficult.
It will make a huge differencein their experience.
And my last one for you is haveroutine and predictable
assessments.
This is an area where I findmost world language educators
(15:16):
struggle.
And that is because since wedon't have standards in the US
at least, we are not required touse specific assessments at a
certain time.
However, most world languageteachers that I've worked with
have a very hodgepodge approachto assessment.
And many of the times theyforget about doing assessment
(15:37):
until it's way too late.
So they, I have lots and lots ofpodcast episodes for you about
assessment.
Dive into it further, but thinkabout your own assessment
practices and how much anxietythat actually adds to a
student's plate when you'rethinking like two days before a
marking period, oh my gosh, Ionly have three grades in the
gradebook right now and I needto do a quick assessment.
(15:59):
That's not really fair to yourstudents.
What your students need and whatwill reduce their anxiety a lot
more, especially when it comesto assessments and test taking,
is if you have routine, smallassessments over time.
And then when it comes toassessments that you are
practicing like crazy for them.
And that, I mean, in worldlanguage, it's not like a big,
(16:22):
oh, we need to make sure thatthe assessments are always a
surprise.
It's actually the opposite.
We want in a proficiencyclassroom, you should be able to
give your students assessmentsahead of time every single time.
They should be, it's not thetype of assessment where you're
like, oh, okay, they have thesemultiple choice questions.
In a proficiency-orientedclassroom, what you're doing
(16:42):
most of the time is you're doinglistening assessments of, hey,
when I say this word desk inFrench, you should know which
picture that corresponds to.
And we can practice that.
And I can give you theassessment ahead of time so you
know exactly what the format is.
Hey, I would like you to writethree sentences about three
different things that you see inyour backpack and that you use
(17:04):
every day.
That's an assessment that youshould be practicing for, and
they should get the exactassessment practiced for it
before it's actually assessmentday.
That is an integral part of aproficiency classroom.
It shouldn't be a surprise whatis on your assessments.
They should be seeing those wellin advance, and you guys should
be working towards those inclass.
(17:24):
It makes a huge difference.
And my last tip was a little bitof a bonus tip.
So maybe number nine, is thereare so many things in your
environment and the way that youinteract with students that can
help to reduce anxiety.
And one of those things reallyis stuff that you're already
doing, which is to make surethat you're rotating through a
(17:46):
few students each week who getspecialized individualized
attention from you.
You are not able to do thisevery day.
Okay.
It is not something that you canlike, oh, I can give kids
individualized attention everyday.
Sure, you're doing that on thefly in the moment because you're
an incredible instructor.
But something simple that youcan do to reduce anxiety is what
you are already doing, which formany teachers, they have a
(18:07):
relationship and an engagementstrategy of this kid needs a
little bit more of my attentionthis week.
I'm gonna talk to this studentmore a little bit this week and
check in with them more.
Next week, you'll notice thatthis student's going through
some stuff and they need uh orthey're having a bad day and
they just need a little bit ofextra attention from you.
It will vary throughout the weekand throughout the instructional
(18:28):
section that you are with them,and that's okay.
That's life, that's natural.
So again, let's go over whatthese nine tips are.
Number one, build and maintainroutines.
Kids are not getting bored inyour class because they're doing
similar activities andstrategies all the time.
They're getting bored becausethe actual activities are
boring.
(18:49):
So focus on routines.
Kids appreciate structure, sodon't feel afraid to give them
that.
Number two, is provide theagenda and explain it.
Again, with that structure inmind, it helps students prepare
for what's coming.
Three, use partner and groupanswers more and one-on-one
answers less because we oftenoveruse them in a world language
(19:10):
setting.
Four, schedule some one-on-onecheck-ins into your routine.
Five, recognize and validatetheir experience.
Six, don't be afraid of goingslower and repeating any
instructional material.
Recycling is an important partof being an effective world
language educator.
Seven, practice some type ofstress relief at school.
(19:33):
It'll just set them up for beinga happier human, anyways.
Eight, have routine andpredictable assessments with
built-in review and prep atschool, not at home.
And number nine, continue withthe relationship building that
you're doing on a one-on-onebasis with the students who need
it at that time.
Again, all of the resourcesmentioned and some of the
(19:56):
research that I use to compilethis list are provided below or
in the show note links.
And thanks so much for caringabout your students with anxiety
and helping to support them in aworld language classroom.
I'll catch you on the nextepisode.
Leave a rating if this helpedyou so that we can reach more
teachers and help them as well.
And if you have a question thatyou'd like answered on the
podcast, there's info belowabout how you can do that.
(20:18):
Quick, simple form, tell me yourquestion.
I'd love to answer it on air.
Okay, y'all.
That's it for now.
Thanks for hanging out with me.
Bye for now.
Adios, que les vaya bien.
Au revoir.
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