If 90% target language feels impossible, start with 5 minutes. In this post, you’ll learn three simple, sustainable routines that help you increase teacher talk in the target language while keeping it comprehensible—without rewriting your curriculum.

Happy New Year… and a new way to think about “resolutions”

If you celebrate New Year’s on January 1st—Happy New Year! 🎉 I hope this year brings you peace, joy, and health… in your life and in your classroom.

I love starting the year with resolutions, but I used to set unrealistic expectations. This year I’m doing something different: I’m choosing goals that are realistic and sustainable.

One of my personal goals is to move my body every day—even if it’s only five minutes. I heard someone say: “People say they don’t have time to exercise… but what about 5 minutes?” And honestly? We can all do something for five minutes.

And that’s exactly the mindset I’m bringing into the classroom.

The 5-minute reflection that changes your teaching

One habit I’m building this year is a simple one:  a 5-minute reflection at the end of the day.

Not 10 minutes. Not 15. Just 5.

Why? Because we forget.

In Episode 14 with Lisa McHargue about reclaiming your time, she shared something that hit me hard: we plan and plan, but we rarely sit down after a lesson and ask:

• What worked?
• What didn’t?
• What should I adjust?

Then we repeat the same thing next year… because we didn’t capture the learning while it was fresh.

So this year, I’m committing to five minutes of reflection—because that small habit can create big change.

What teachers tell me they want most

When I think about what language teachers most often want to change, I hear the same goals again and again:

• “I want to use more target language in class.”
• “I want my students to be more engaged.”
• “I want to better support acquisition.”

This post is part of a 3-episode mini-series, and in each episode I focus on one key skill for teaching for acquisition—using 5-minute activities.

No new units.
No curriculum rewrite.
Just small routines you can actually sustain.

Today we’re starting with the foundation:

✅ Using the target language in a way your students understand

The biggest shift: teacher talk matters more than student output

This series was inspired by Episode 158 of Growing With Proficiency: The Podcast with Dr. Karen Lichtman and Jason Fritze.

One idea from that conversation reframed everything for me:

What matters most isn’t how much students speak the language… it’s how much they understand.

That’s a big shift.

Because so often, we put pressure on ourselves to get students producing more, speaking more, performing more.

But acquisition doesn’t start with student output.  It starts with input. And we, as teachers, are the main source of that input.

So instead of asking:
“How do I stay in the target language 90% of the time?”

Try asking:

“Where can I add 5 minutes of language my students truly understand?”

Because:

• 5 minutes is doable
• 5 minutes feels safe
• 5 minutes repeated consistently adds up

Now let’s get practical.

3 Five-Minute Routines to Increase Target Language Use (Without Burnout)

Routine 1: Classroom language you can point to, gesture, and recycle (5 minutes)

This is not thematic vocabulary.
This is not “leveling up language.”
This is the language we use every single day:

• open your book
• write
• stand up
• sit down
• work with a partner
• stop / wait / look / share

If we can use classroom instructions in the target language in a way students understand, we start adding minutes of meaningful input fast.

Step 1: Make language visible

Create a poster or wall space with your most common classroom instructions.

Here’s the key: you can point to them as you speak.

That alone reduces stress for you and builds confidence for students.

Step 2: Keep instructions short and concrete

One thing I had to learn: good instructions are brief.

Sometimes we struggle with target language because our directions are too long. Start with one class moment (one routine) and choose the language you’ll use every time. Be consistent.

Step 3: Add call-and-response (optional but powerful)

This year I’m adding call-and-response for instructions the way I do it for expectations.

For example:

• Teacher: “One person talks.”
• Class: “Everyone listens.”

You can apply that same structure to simple instructions:

• “Open your notebook.”
• “Write three words.”
• “Stand up.”

Step 4: Add gestures (this is a game-changer)

Introduce each action verb with a clear gesture.

Want more buy-in?

• Let students suggest gestures
• Assign a Gesture Manager (because let’s be real… we forget 😅)

Step 5: Play short predictable games for repetition

Two favorites:

• Simon Says using classroom verbs
• Platos (paper plate game) to recycle the same language daily

When you repeat the same words daily with gestures, you’re building comprehension and automaticity.

When it feels frustrating…

You will do this for weeks and still have a student say: “I don’t understand ‘escribe’.”

Breathe. Acquisition is slow. Students forget things all the time. It doesn’t mean it isn’t working.

When you switch to English, don’t judge yourself. Ask:

• Do I need one more word?
• Do I need a clearer gesture?
• Do I need to slow down?

That reflection is what helps you adjust and keep going.

Routine 2: Morning meeting / daily check-in (5 minutes)

This routine does two things:

1. gives you tons of comprehensible teacher talk
2. builds connection (community, confianza)

The setup

Create a slide with:

• the question in the target language: “How are you today?”
• 3 answer options (with visuals)
• a “because” line (also supported with choices)