The second class I observed was Sana McHarek's composition class. Sana's students seemed to enter the room braced to do a lot of work. She began her class promptly, teaching pre-writing strategies. I think it can be difficult for students to distinguish between thesis, main ideas, and supporting ideas. Sana modeled how to explain to students where each belonged in the hierarchy of the paper by leading the student to correctly identify where the idea belonging in the organizer (big bubble, little bubble, smallest bubbles), and then asked students questions which prompted them to offer more details, which she wrote down in the smallest bubbles as they spoke.
After each student had created and filled in their own brainstorming chart, they began to write their introductory, main, and concluding paragraphs. Sana kept strict time for each section, but because she communicated it well, most of the students were able to produce a basic essay in a matter of 30 minutes. Sana explained to me that the TOEFL exam would demand that they be able to write an essay in 30 minutes as well, which was the reason she structured her lesson as such, though none of the students would be taking the TOEFL exam anytime soon.
As students were working, some came in late. Sana candidly and directly acknowledged this, without condescension. When students would text as she was speaking, she would respond to them the same way. It seemed to keep the class going with a lot of momentum, and when I need to "discipline" an adult age group I think I will take her approach, as it is founded in accountability.
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