Mr. Williams’ Class Blog

Well, I’ve decided to move the class blog to a new address. This one should be easier for everyone to remember.

http://mrjwilliams.com

I tried to move everything over to the new site, so most of the posts and comments are already there!

Anything new will go on that site as well.

You may have noticed recently that there are add links in the blog posts on our class website.

Edublogs recently started adding them as a way to pay for the server space. I didn’t notice them because when I am logged in with my Edublogs account they don’t show up.

I do not mind banner adds, but the linking directly in the posts is not something I like. I don’t have control over what exactly the advertisements link to and do not want anyone to think that I put them in there. I know that the content is safe for students to visit because Edublogs is for teachers and students.

I’m currently looking into options on what to do about this. I could pay a fee and have them all go away, but I’d also like a better website address that would be easier for students to get access. So if I’m going to be paying I think I might just have the website hosted somewhere else so I have more control over it.

I’ll let everyone know what ends up happening. Thanks for visiting our site!

Today in class we watched a video shot completely on a cell phone. It won awards. It’s embedded below in this post.

I thought the way the video was set up was great. It used pictures of words to tell a story. I think this would be a great way for us to share stories in reading class.

If your taking pictures over the break with a digital camera or a cell phone, take some of different words. We will put all the word pictures together on flickr and use them to make stories.

If you are not in our class and want to contribute your pictures, visit this wiki page for more information:
http://trailsidepd.wikispaces.com/Picture+Stories

Here is the video we watched and another one that uses the same type of storytelling. Enjoy, and go take some pictures of words!

“Mankind is No Island” – http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrDxe9gK8Gk

The Girl Effect” – http://www.girleffect.org

Mr. Thelen was gracious enough to take about 80 pictures of Whirlybird Wednesday.

If you want to view the pictures you can here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23757202@N02/sets/72157611070061557/

If you want to watch them a bit quicker and hear a little music with them, click play below. They aren’t as clear as the photos in the link above but you’ll get through them a lot quicker. If you want to view them full screen, go to http://animoto.com/play/yHkZWedYtqleWA0TktIXUg to watch.

Yesterday,  Fox 10 was at Trailside Point for Whirlybird Wednesday.

There is video on their website of the event. It can be found at:

http://media.myfoxphoenix.com/KSAZ/hilites/whirlybird.html

Students from 6th grade can be seen in the Trailside Point 3 video.