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What if challenging student behavior is not always simply a discipline problem—but sometimes a sign of overwhelm, anxiety, or disconnection?

In Episode 202 of Growing With Proficiency: The Podcast, I’m joined by French teacher and teacher educator Hélène Colinet to explore classroom management through the lens of nervous system regulation.

This conversation is not about excusing behavior or removing boundaries. Instead, Hélène invites us to pause before assigning motives, consider what a behavior may be communicating, and respond in ways that protect both the student’s dignity and the learning environment.

We discuss practical ways to create the conditions students need to engage and acquire language—including connection, comprehensible input, predictable routines, movement, and teacher self-regulation.

Key Takeaways

• Observe behavior before assigning a motive.
• Safety and clear boundaries can coexist.
• Slow down and check for comprehension.
• Use predictable routines to reduce uncertainty.
• Include both brain breaks and body breaks.
• Address difficult behavior calmly and privately.
• Notice and support your own regulation.
• Remember that our state can influence the class.

Resources Mentioned

• Read the companion blog post
• Learn more from Hélène Colinet
• Follow Hélène on Instagram
• Creating a Powerful First Day of Language Class
• Save Time and Reduce Stress With Classroom Routines
• The Science Behind the Power of Storytelling
• Brain Breaks, Map Talk, and Storytelling
• Growing With Proficiency: The Spanish Teacher Academy

If this episode gives you a different way to think about classroom behavior, share it with a teacher who may need it. Then come find me on Instagram at @claudiamelliott and tell me: What is one small practice that helps you feel more regulated during the school day?

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El regreso al aula viene acompañado de muchas ideas, actividades guardadas, screenshots, recursos y recomendaciones. Pero tener más actividades no siempre significa sentirnos más preparados.

En este episodio de Growing With Proficiency: The Podcast en español, comparto cuatro ideas fundamentales inspiradas en las sesiones de nuestra Conferencia de Verano dentro de Growing With Proficiency: The Spanish Teacher Academy.

Más que darte una lista de actividades, quiero ayudarte a pensar en el propósito detrás de ellas para que puedas comenzar el año con mayor claridad, crear una cultura de respeto y diseñar experiencias en las que más estudiantes puedan comprender, participar y comunicarse.

Hablamos de cómo establecer expectativas claras y consistentes, cómo explicarles a nuestros estudiantes el proceso de adquisición de una lengua, cómo estructurar actividades para aumentar la participación y cómo seleccionar contenido que promueva comunicación y competencia cultural.

En este episodio aprenderás:

• Cómo definir tus expectativas no negociables antes del regreso al aula.
• Por qué la claridad y la consistencia son esenciales para el manejo de clase.
• Cómo explicarles a tus estudiantes el propósito de las actividades.
• Por qué la participación necesita ser diseñada y modelada.
• Cómo usar pausas activas, teatro interpretativo y señales de respuesta total.
• Cómo integrar productos, prácticas y perspectivas desde los niveles novatos.
• Cómo elegir actividades que puedas mantener durante todo el año.

También comparto ideas de las sesiones de Meredith White, Justin Slocum Bailey, Valentina Correa, Sally Barnes, Diego Ojeda y la Dra. Bertha Delgadillo.

Porque no necesitamos regresar al aula tratando de hacerlo todo.

Necesitamos regresar con claridad sobre qué hacemos, por qué lo hacemos y cómo cada actividad apoya el aprendizaje de nuestros estudiantes.

Recursos mencionados:

• Growing With Proficiency: The Spanish Teacher Academy

Recursos para el regreso al aula en mi tienda de Teachers Pay Teachers que está en oferta el 4 y 5 de agosto:

• Calendar Talk
• Estudiante Estrella
• Panorama Cultural Volumen 1
• Panorama Cultural Volúmen 2
• Recursos para explicar adquisición, competencia y evaluación

Episodios relacionados sobre el primer día y las primeras semanas de clase:

🎧 Episodio 42, episodio 43 y episodio 45 de Growing With Proficiency The Podcast

Sígueme en Instagram: @claudiamelliott

Visita: GrowingWithProficiency.com

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We all want students to participate. We want them to raise their hands, share their ideas, react, ask questions, and bring that energy that makes a classroom feel alive.

But what happens when they don’t?

It is easy to assume that the activity is not working, that students are not motivated, or even that we are doing something wrong.

In this special 200th episode of Growing With Proficiency: The Podcast, I sit down with Justin Slocum Bailey to explore another possibility:

Maybe the activity is not the problem. Maybe we need to get the stakes right.

As you prepare to go back to school, this conversation will help you think more intentionally about the questions you ask, the topics you choose, and the different ways students can participate without feeling pressured or put on the spot.

Justin shares how we can create participation that feels meaningful enough to be worth the effort—but safe enough for students to take the risk.

✨ Takeaways

• What it means when the stakes for participation are too high or too low
• Why an activity may fall flat even when it is a great activity
• How information gaps and opinion questions can make communication more meaningful
• Why some personal questions may feel too risky for students
• How to create distance from sensitive topics without removing authentic communication
• Simple ways students can participate without immediately speaking in front of the class
• Why grading every interaction may increase pressure instead of participation
• Why curiosity is more helpful than blaming the activity, the student, or yourself

This episode is an invitation to pause before searching for another activity and ask:

Are the stakes too high, too low, or just right for my students?

📌 Resources + Links Mentioned in This Episode

Learn more from Justin at Indwelling Language:
indwellinglanguage.com

Find more about Voces Digital here

Follow me on Instagram:
@claudiamelliott

Explore ready-to-use back-to-school resources for Spanish teachers in my store:
Growing With Proficiency on Teachers Pay Teachers

Learn more about Growing With Proficiency: The Spanish Teacher Academy:
growingwithproficiency.com/academy