DW 4a

For project four, I have chosen to do my MGE on composition studies. I am going to focus specifically on teaching strategies. I am thinking it will be a reference packet put together for teachers to draw on new strategies to teach students whose main language is African American Vernacular English. I chose this theme of teaching strategies because I think it is very important for teachers to understand what they can do to become better teachers. I have had some very good teachers in my past and I've noticed that the best ones I've had have found different ways to help different students. By realizing that not all students learn the same way, teachers are able to draw on different strategies to accomodate for everyone. If teachers of AAVE students could learn to better teach these students then they too can succeed.

For this project I will use evidence from four different sources. They all come from my project three and were some of my favorite things I read all semester. Two of these sources we read in class and two of them I was able to find on my own. I absolutely love the ideas in these readings and absolutely think they would work very well if applied. The two in class are Ramsey and Nembhard and the other two I found on Jstor by Whitney and Hollie. All four of these readings have some similar ideas but in a little different way. They all start with the one thing that I think matters the most, respect. I believe that by using these four readings I can put together my MGE that includes different ways for teachers to teach better. It will hopefully give different suggestions for the teacher to try out and decide which approach they like best.

I am not sure exactly what genres I will chose yet exactly but I do have a few ideas. I am thinking of doing a news story that would focus on a black student who was able to get into a great school because of a particular teacher who taught them the right way. I am also thinking of doing a scene from a play or movie. I think I can put together a storyline that would involve these teaching strategies in action while making it entertaining. My other two genres I am completely unsure of. I would like to draw on something that involves more creativity but unfortunatly I don't have the best creative ability. I am thinking, however, that I may be able to come up with a collage or something depicting these different strategies in action. Also, I think a resume may be possible and the person could have been involved in activities on their resume that would use these strategies.

As you can see, I am not totally sure what I am going to do but I think my topic and sources are interesting enough to me that I can do it. The works cited page for my project four is as follows:

Hollie, Sharroky. “Acknowledging the Language of African American Students: Instructional
Strategies.” The English Journal 90.4 (2000): 54-59.

Nembhard, Judith P. "A Perspective on Teaching Black Dialect Speaking Students to Write
Standard English." The Journal of Negro Education 52.1 (1983): 75-82.

Ramsey, P. A. "Teaching the Teachers to Teach Black-Dialect Writers." College English 41.2
(1979): 197-201.

Whitney, Jessica. "Five Easy Pieces: Steps toward Integrating AAVE into the Classroom." The
English Journal 94.5 (2005): 64-69.