7

th
grade classroom teacher interview
I interviewed Aritz because I was unable to teach a lesson in another class. He
was teaching his students proportions and changing a percent to a decimal in his history
lesson. Students had to access information from a chart and complete a proportion based
on the information from different websites. He gave his students this question (How
many people in Mexico are below the poverty line (they also needed to find the
percentage of people below the poverty)?
The students had to do this two different times. Most students decided to use a
proportion to solve the questions posed to them. They did so because they had been
taught solving proportions in their math classes. Students were able to access their prior
knowledge from their math class and apply it to this lesson in history. Aritz scaffolded for
students that were unsure or unable how to access their prior knowledge by
demonstrating similar ways to solve problems. (For example using ratio strips)
This is a good way to help students see connections across the subjects. I believe
with the changes that are on the horizon that this will become a very common practice in
our classrooms. I am looking forward to being able to plan and implement lesson that
have a variety of other subjects embedded. I like the options that common core is
bringing, the possibility to help students be persistent well-rounded thinkers is very
motivating.