Your phone is probably full of screenshots.
You have saved Instagram posts, podcast episodes, conference notes, activity ideas, classroom decorations, and resources you still have not opened.
Every idea looked incredible when you found it.
But now that the first week of school is approaching, you are trying to fit everything together—and instead of feeling prepared, you may be feeling overwhelmed.
The problem is not that you need more ideas. The problem is deciding which ideas deserve a place in your classroom.
Your first week does not need to include every great activity you have discovered this summer.
It needs to begin building the type of classroom you want to sustain all year.
Why Planning the First Week Feels So Difficult
Back-to-school season brings a lot of conflicting advice.
One teacher says you should introduce yourself on the first day. Another says students do not want to sit through a presentation about their teacher.
One person recommends beginning with games. Someone else says you should avoid games until you have established your expectations.
You may hear that you should speak the target language from the moment students enter the room. Then someone else tells you that this could overwhelm novice learners.
No wonder teachers feel confused.
After a recent workshop with more than 400 Spanish teachers, I received questions such as:
- Can Calendar Talk last 40 minutes?
- Should I speak Spanish during the entire class?
- How do I teach grammar?
- What happens when students refuse to participate?
- How can I do this with 40 students?
- What if my class is only 45 minutes?
- What if I have to follow a textbook?
These questions matter.
However, most of them cannot be answered with a simple yes or no.
The best choice depends on your goals, your students, your teaching context, and the way you use the activity.
Instead of asking, “What should every teacher do during the first week?” we need better questions.
Three Questions to Ask Before Choosing a First-Week Activity
Before downloading another resource or saving another post, pause and ask yourself these three questions.
1. What Is My Goal for This Year, and How Will I Get There?
Before deciding what you will do on Monday, think about what you want to accomplish by the end of the year.
What do you want students to experience in your classroom?
What kind of growth do you hope to see?
My goal is for my students to grow in their linguistic proficiency and cultural competence while feeling connected and knowing that they belong in our classroom.
That goal shapes my decisions.
Last year I received a letter from a student who told me that he had always believed he was bad at Spanish.
However at the end of the year he felt different. Even though he knew he did not speak or write as fluently as some of his classmates, he knew he had grown. He could tell he was able to understand more and more reading our books during Silent Sustained Reading, and every day was easier to follow all our conversations in class. He no longer believed that learning Spanish was impossible for him.
My goal is not perfection. My goal is growth.
To facilitate that growth, I need to build connection with my students.
I need to provide comprehensible input consistently—not simply speak Spanish, but use Spanish in ways students can understand.
And I need to use language for communication rather than using communication only to practice language.
Once I have that clarity, I can begin building the routines and structures that support it.
Before you plan your first week, ask:
What is my larger goal for my students, and what needs to happen consistently for us to move toward it?
2. Does This Activity Serve the Purpose?
Once your goal is clear, evaluate each activity through that goal.
Does this activity help students feel connected?
Does it provide comprehensible input?
Does it create meaningful communication?
Does it support cultural competence?
Does it help students feel successful?
Activities serve a purpose. Not all the way around.
Sometimes we become loyal to activities.
We say:
“I do Calendar Talk.”
“I do Weekend Chat.”
“I do Star Student Interviews.”
“I do Story Asking.”
These can all be powerful routines, but the name of an activity does not guarantee that students are receiving comprehensible input or engaging in communication.
Calendar Talk can become a meaningful conversation. It can also become a teacher talking for 40 minutes while students slowly stop listening.
A game can provide repetition, communication, and motivation. It can also become noisy competition with very little language and a lot of chaos.
A pop-up grammar explanation can help students notice something they need to understand a message. It can also become a long, isolated explanation students cannot meaningfully use. Read more about pop-up grammar in this post by my friend Ben Fisher Rodríguez.
The better question is not:
“Is this a good activity?”
The better question is:
“What is this activity doing in my classroom?”
When you use a question of the day, are students communicating something real?
When you conduct an interview, does the student feel comfortable and valued?
When you play a game, are students processing meaning or are they simply trying to win?
These questions protect us from choosing an activity simply because it is popular.
They also give us permission to use something simple when simple is what best serves our students.
3. Can I Sustain This?
This question may save your entire school year.
Can you imagine continuing this routine in October?
Can you do it when students are distracted?
Can you prepare it without spending three hours every evening?
Can you continue it when your own energy is low?
When the answer is no, you do not necessarily have to abandon the idea. You may simply need a smaller starting point.
Perhaps you want to use Calendar Talk, but you are not ready to sustain a long conversation. Begin with three to five minutes.
Perhaps you want to conduct Star Student Interviews, but asking spontaneous follow-up questions in the target language feels overwhelming. Begin with three prepared questions.
Perhaps you want to use more of the target language but cannot yet sustain it for an entire class period. Choose one routine and practice making that routine comprehensible.
Your starting point does not need to look like another teacher’s finished product.
Do Not Begin the Year at Someone Else’s Pace
Years ago, my brother and I trained for a race.
My husband, Matt, decided to join us. He had always been athletic, but he had not trained as consistently as my brother.
My brother planned to run at a very fast pace. I planned to alternate running and walking at a pace that felt sustainable for me.
Matt decided to run with my brother. Halfway through the race, I passed him. We all finished, but Matt never wanted to run another race. Running was not the problem. Matt was not the problem.
The problem was that he had started at someone else’s pace.
We sometimes do this too.
We watch another teacher use the target language confidently. We see established routines, engaged students, smooth transitions, and spontaneous conversations.
We see the final version. We do not see the years of practice behind it.
We do not see the lessons that failed, the awkward pauses, the confused students, or the time that teacher spent learning how to slow down, point, pause, repeat, and check for comprehension.
Then we try to reproduce that final version during our own first week.
We may sustain it for several days, but soon we become exhausted. Students become confused, and we decide the approach does not work.
Begin in a way that allows you to continue.
That does not mean lowering your vision or expectations for you or for your students.
It means creating a starting point that can grow with you and your students.
Four Priorities for the First Week of World Language Class
Once I answer those three questions, I organize my first week around four priorities:
- Connect
- Provide comprehensible input and facilitate communication
- Reset
- Close, reflect, and listen
These are not the only things we will do all year.
They are the foundation that will allow us to do more later.
Priority 1: Begin With a Simple Connection Routine
My first connection routine is not a long Calendar Talk or Weekend Chat.
It is a simple question of the day. In Spanish 1, I may begin with:
¿Cómo estás hoy?
Students see a scale from one to five:
- Terrible
- Mal
- Más o menos
- Bien
- Muy bien
Students respond with their fingers.
That is all I initially ask them to do. They do not need to produce a complete sentence or pronounce unfamiliar words in front of everyone.
They can still communicate. I then provide the language by narrating their responses:
“Muchos estudiantes están en cinco. Muy bien.”
“Hay estudiantes en tres.”
“Yo estoy muy bien, pero (but) necesito café.”
I point to visuals and words. I pause. I use facial expressions. I may briefly clarify something in English before returning to Spanish.
Students are already learning several important things about our classroom:
- I will ask them questions.
- They can participate before they “know” Spanish.
- I will help them understand.
- Their responses matter.
- Spanish is a tool for learning about real people.
The goal of the first day is not to impress students with how much target language we can speak. It is to help them experience comprehension.
There is a powerful difference between a student leaving class thinking, “I understood some Spanish,” and leaving class thinking, “I had no idea what happened.”
Priority 2: Provide Comprehensible Input With a Clear Purpose
After that first moment of connection, I want students to experience a longer stretch of comprehensible input.
One way I do this is through a presentation about myself.
Yes, I know some people say teachers should never introduce themselves with a presentation during the first week because that´s boring, but it works for me.
Remember: the activity is not the most important part.
The purpose is.
My presentation uses pictures and focuses on three high-frequency structures:
- I am
- I have
- I like
Those structures allow me to communicate a lot:
I am Claudia.
I am from Colombia.
I am a teacher.
I have two sons.
I have a dog.
I like coffee.
I like running.
I do not like to cook.
Then I invite students into the conversation.
Do you like coffee?
Do you have a dog?
Are you from Jacksonville?
Are you from Colombia?
Students may respond with gestures, yes or no, a single word, or even English when needed.
I continue providing the Spanish.
The purpose is not for students “to practice” the three structures. The purpose is for students to learn about me, connect with one another, understand meaningful language, and feel competent participating in a Spanish-language interaction.
Your activity may look different.
You could turn the information into a true-or-false game. You could use photographs, objects, a short story, or a few questions.
Choose the version that helps you remain comprehensible, authentic, and comfortable enough to connect with your students.
Priority 3: Intentionally Build in a Reset
Listening to and processing a new language requires significant mental effort.
Using the target language comprehensibly also requires a lot from the teacher.
We need moments to reset.
I use brain breaks throughout the year, but I do not begin the first day by asking students to stand up, find a partner, and complete an energetic activity together.
I do not yet know the social dynamics of the room.
I do not know which students feel comfortable interacting or which pairings may create tension.
Instead, I begin with something low-risk, such as a short breathing activity.
Later, we may play Rock, Paper, Scissors as a class, with students playing against me rather than immediately playing with unfamiliar classmates.
As trust grows, I introduce movement, partner activities, games, and more interactive brain breaks.
The routine begins during the first week, but its complexity grows with the community.
That is the idea of a sustainable starting point.
Priority 4: Close, Reflect, and Listen
I do not want the bell to ring while I am still talking and have everyone disappear without closure.
I want students to pause and recognize what happened during class.
I also need information about their experience.
During the first week, I use very simple exit-ticket questions, usually in our shared language.
I may ask:
- How much did you understand?
- When did you feel confused?
- What helped you understand?
- What made you feel comfortable?
- What would you like to do again?
- What would you like us to change?
Students might respond using a scale, an emoji, a word, or a brief sentence.
The purpose is not to create a complicated assessment.
The purpose is to begin building a culture of reflection while gathering information that helps me make small adjustments.
Students notice when we listen.
When their feedback shapes even a small part of the following lesson, they begin to understand that their experience matters.
What I Do Not Introduce Immediately
There are many routines I love that I do not begin on the first day.
I do not immediately conduct a long Calendar Talk because students are still learning how interaction works in our classroom.
I do not begin with a full Star Student Interview because I want to understand the class dynamics and establish safety first.
I do not begin silent sustained reading before we have read together and students understand what successful reading time looks like.
I also do not introduce every game, reading routine, discussion format, and classroom responsibility during the first week.
A routine does not need to begin on day one to become an important part of your classroom.
The first week is a starting point, not a demonstration of everything your classroom will eventually become.
Your Minimum Viable First Week
As you plan, return to the three questions:
What is my goal, and how will I get there?
Identify the larger experience and growth you want to create.
Does this activity serve the purpose?
Be clear about what the activity is doing for students.
Can I sustain this?
Choose a manageable starting point that you can develop throughout the year.
Then identify your own priorities for the first week.
Mine are:
- Connect
- Provide comprehensible input and facilitate communication
- Reset
- Close, reflect, and listen
Yours may be slightly different—and they should reflect your students, your context, and the teacher you are becoming.
A successful first week is not a perfect week.
It is a week that leaves you and your students thinking:
“Yes. We can do this.”
You will notice things.
You will make adjustments.
You will learn about your students, and your students will learn about you.
Then, one intentional step at a time, you will build the classroom you want to sustain in October, January, and all the way through the end of the year.
You Do Not Have to Build It Alone
Understanding what you want to create is an important first step.
But once the school year begins, new questions will appear:
How do I adapt this for 40 students?
What happens when students do not participate?
How can I work with multiple proficiency levels?
How do I use my textbook while still supporting acquisition?
How can I provide comprehensible input without spending every evening planning?
These are exactly the kinds of questions we work through inside Growing With Proficiency: The Spanish Teacher Academy.
The Academy is not simply a collection of activities or resources.
It gives Spanish teachers the professional development, ongoing support, curriculum, ready-to-use materials, and community they need to create classes that are comprehensible, communicative, connected, and sustainable.
Inside the Academy, you will find support for:
- Understanding the foundations of language acquisition
- Providing comprehensible input
- Building reading, writing, and communication routines
- Assessing students in ways that align with acquisition
- Managing the classroom while protecting connection
- Adapting instruction for different contexts and proficiency levels
- Planning with other teachers who understand your reality
You will also have access to the Summer Conference on July 24 and 25, live monthly support, the professional development library, classroom resources, and the Creciendo curriculum.
The goal is not to give you more ideas to save. The goal is to help you build a system you can actually use.
The Academy is currently open through July 21 at 11:55 p.m. ET.
👉 Explore Growing With Proficiency: The Spanish Teacher Academy
Questions about the Academy?
Email us at support@growingwithproficiency.com.
Listen to the Full Podcast Episode
This blog is based on Episode 199 of Growing With Proficiency: The Podcast.
In the full episode, I share more about the reasoning behind my first-week choices, how I gradually introduce classroom routines, and why beginning at your own pace matters.
🎧 Listen to Growing With Proficiency: The Podcast
And remember:
Do not build your first week around everything you could do. Build it around what will help you and your students feel successful enough to continue.
