Wiki

http://ktwelve.wikispaces.com/The+Outsiders+Webquest

Screencast

Outline Screencast

My screencast was designed to help walk a student through creating an essay outline.  I begin with the prewriting web and draw the information from that into a rough outline. Students would also create their own screencast for their outlines to demonstrate that they understood how the outline was formed.

I really like this learning tool.  I could see myself using it and posting it on my website to help students with their homework, if they were absent and missed class, etc.

Podcast

This is a fun assignment and a great alternative for students to demonstrate their comprehension skills.  I created a podcast as an example for my students.  The podcast is basically a summary of one chapter from The Outsiders.  However, they must write a dialogue using the characters from the chapter and record it as a small group.

Webquest

The following webquest was designed to be used after reading Chapter 4 of The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.  It's main focuses are making inferences and researching background information on child abuse. 

This webquest is also a model for students to create their own webquest in future.  For example, if we were reading The Diary of Anne Frank they might create a webquest on the holocaust.

I really feel that a webquest will be very useful as a teaching tool in the future.  It was easy to make, and it provided a new forum of research for activities that I already had been using with my students.

http://www.zunal.com/webquest.php?w=75099

My PLN

My PLN only contains those items that I truly believe that I will utilize in my career.
When I started this class in August, my web knowledge and tools for education were very limited.  I am amazed as to all that is out there to help me help my students.  I'm sure that there is a whole lot more that I can learn, but I'm glad that I have these newfound tools to help me now.

Google Earth

The following virtual tour can be used in two ways.  First, it can be used like a "scavenger hunt" for students to learn various information about the various American authors that they will be reading.  Second, it can be an assignment for students to create a tour with information in which they can report about their favorite American authors. 
Creating the tour was fairly easy and a great way for students to self study about various authors.

Here is the link to my sample tour:

http://homepages.bw.edu/~jhitsman10/americanwriters.kmz

Web 2.0

The following assignment was created using bookr, a web 2.0 tool.  7th grade students will have just completed reading the book Journey of the Sparrows.  Without fail, the students are usually disappointed by the ending of the book.  They usually want the "loose ends" tied together.  With bookr, students will create their own sequel to the book.  They would be required to write more than what I created as a visual sample for them.
I really like this tool.  However, I had some difficulty trying to incorporate my own photos as an option.  I had to use photos that were already provided by flickr.  I think the assignment could be further enhanced by having the students work on this in groups and actually taking their own photos to upload for the pages.