Let’s be real: lesson planning can feel like a lot. Between standards, mixed-level classes, language goals, and behavior management, it’s easy to get caught in the trap of overplanning or relying on rigid templates that don’t leave space for what matters most: our students.
In this episode of Growing With Proficiency, I sat down with two incredible educators and fellow podcasters, Dr. Diane Neubauer and Dr. Reed Riggs. What started as a conversation about planning became a powerful reminder of what it means to teach with intention, flexibility, and joy.
Meet Diane & Reed
Diane has taught Mandarin Chinese for over a decade and now works in teacher education at the University of Louisville, helping future educators understand language acquisition and how to support multilingual learners. Reed teaches Mandarin in an IB high school and has a background in university teaching and applied linguistics.
They also co-host the podcast Conversations About Language, where they dive into thoughtful conversations about language teaching, acquisition, and what it means to do this work well. And in our conversation, they brought all that thoughtfulness into how they approach lesson planning.
Why Planning Feels So Heavy
We opened with the reality many of us feel but don’t always say out loud: planning is hard. Diane reminds us that teachers are often navigating mixed levels, curriculum mandates, time pressure, and high expectations. On top of that, we tend to overplan because we fear the alternative.
“If I don’t plan every moment, the students will plan it for me—and it won’t go well.”
However, a lesson plan should allow us to tune in to our students and have the space to adjust based on their interests. If a student gives a thoughtful or unexpected answer, instead of rushing to the next question, we can pause, dig deeper, and turn it into a moment of authentic learning and connection.
When we allow space for these organic moments, we’re telling students: “What you think matters. Let’s explore it together.”
Not: “That’s not part of the lesson—let’s move on.”
It’s a small shift, but it sends a powerful message: communication is our focus, not covering material.
Essential Questions: Planning with Curiosity, Not Coverage
Diane encourages teachers to begin their units with an essential question, a meaningful, open-ended inquiry that guides students’ use of the language.
For example, instead of planning a unit around the verb to be or a list of animal adjectives, you might ask:
What do pandas look like?
This sparks curiosity and leads to natural input, interpretation, and discussion. The language emerges from the topic, not the other way around. We are planning for communication, not for language.
Language is not the goal. Language is the vehicle to discover, to explore, to play.
What Language Do Students Really Need?
Once we have identified an essential question, we ask ourselves, “What language do students need?” This part helps us identify the essential vocabulary or structures students need to understand the topic and engage with the topic. Sheltering that vocabulary within a unit will allow us to stay comprehensible and add repetition.
However, Reed points out that we need to be cautious about prescribing vocabulary lists too tightly.
“We often don’t know what students already know, and words have different meanings based on the context.”
One more time, flexibility is important. Instead of the language being the only guide, we can let the essential questions provide direction and boundaries for our discussions.
Learning Goals
One key step when planning is identifying learning goals. If we plan for acquisition, it’s important that our learning goals are not always connected with production. As Diane mentions, communication is more than production. Communication is also interpretation, which is key to acquisition.
As Reed explains, the interpretative mode is not only essential for acquisition, but also in real life, most communication is interpretive. We spend far more time listening and reading than presenting or speaking.
That’s why establishing learning goals around the interpretive mode makes sense.
Last but not least, when we are thinking about learning goals, we cannot forget about intercultural competence.
The Importance of Routines
Planning for routines is also powerful. Diane and Reed both emphasized how routines create predictability, which helps us to use more target language in the context of the class.
When students know what to expect, the language we use for these routines will become more and more accessible and comprehensible for our students.
These routines not only reduce students’ anxiety but also support consistent input that builds over time.
Communication for Language vs. Language for Communication
One of the biggest insights from Reed and Diane’s podcast episode (which we discussed in the show) was this question:
Are we using communication to teach language…
or using language to engage in communication?
Language is not the goal. Language is the vehicle to explore, discover, and play.
Final Thoughts: Growth Over Perfection
If you’re in a season where planning feels overwhelming, you’re not alone. The truth is, no one has it all figured out.
Diane and Reed remind us that even experienced educators are still learning, still refining, and still growing. So if you’re trying to plan with purpose this year, reflect on what helps your students feel seen and successful. Make space for interaction and imagination. And most of all, permit yourself to grow slowly.
That’s what acquisition—and teaching—is all about.
🎧 Listen to the full episode for even more insights from Diane and Reed.
If this conversation resonated with you, I’d love to hear what you’re taking into your planning this week. Come connect with me on Instagram (@claudiamelliott) or check out the Spanish Teacher Academy for more tools and support.
More resources:
Neubauer, D. (2022). Chinese Language Instruction with Novice Learners: Target Language Topic Development, Engagement, and Comprehension in Online and Hybrid Classrooms: The University of Iowa.
Jacknick, C. M. (2021). Multimodal participation and engagement: Social interaction in the classroom. Edinburgh University Press.
Hiver, P., Al-Hoorie, A. H., & Mercer, S. (2020). Student engagement in the language classroom. Multilingual Matters.
Diane’s YouTube channel
Diane’s Language teaching blog
New ebook: Comprehension-based Chinese, published by Cheng & Tsui
Reed’s Blog: http://www.reedriggs.com/#/
Conversations About Language: https://conversationsaboutlanguage.buzzsprout.com/
