54 comments

  1. Hi Ms.Smith,

    I think that this video is great! Very nice editing and the only thing I dislike is that I’m first and I kind of look weird (just me).
    Ciao!

    ~Ryan

    1. Hi Ryan, thank you for the compliment. I appreciated the cooperation and patience of the whole class while I took the pictures. Animoto does most of the editing–I just arranges the pictures. I think you look great and there is nothing wrong with being first!
      ~Ms. Smith

  2. Hello Huzzah!
    It’s great to see you all outside on such a perfect blue sky day! I notice that a lot of you like reading. Yay! You also have quite a few athletes and some aficianados of the arts. I think the whole idea of highlighting your interests in a slide show is really neat. It makes me thunk my forehead and say, “Why didn’t I think of that?” I’m glad to see you are off to a great start of your school year, and we look forward to collaborating with you this year. Thank you also for your comments on our blog! We hope to see you again at Hey,Kids! sometime soon.

    We will start brainstorming some ways we can interact this year. Will you do the same?
    Your blogging friend,
    Mrs. Donofrio

    1. Hi Mrs. Donofrio!
      I know you have some very talented grade 8 students who could do the photography for you and put together three different slideshows by grade…
      I am certain you will have a few more visitors soon. I noticed Faith commented in your slide show. I really thought that it was clever and told us so much about Venice!
      Take care, your cross-continent friend,
      Ms. Smith

  3. Hi Ms. Smith!

    As you can see in the first picture of the video, I love baseball! About once every 2 weeks me and some of my friends go to the high school fields in my area to play baseball! Within baseball, I also love to umpire! I know all of the actions the umpire does for a strike, ball, out, and so on. Sometimes when I’m not batting I am the umpire because I can be honest with my teammates even if I have to call them out. What kind of things do you like to do?
    Ciao!

    ~Ryan

    1. Hi Ryan, sounds to me like you are passionate about your favourite sport. Those fields are busy with sports all the time. When we walk our dogs, they often bring softballs out of the bushes. I imagine you are a good umpire because you can focus so well. I have just started doing yoga and I find it fascinating. We are asked to pay attention to little muscles and our breathing, which is quite challenging, surprisingly.
      Thanks again for your thoughtful comment.
      ~ Ms. Smith

  4. I am really proud of how that turned out. I liked the way that you made it into a video collage and not just a bunch of pictures. I also liked how you blended the transition between pictures and not just, picture, black, picture and so on. One of the coolest features I think was the clouds in the background looked quite realistic. Overall it was a very good video.
    ~Heather

    1. Thank you for the feedback, Heather. Animoto does most of the thinking, I just chose the options. I think the designers did a great job of creating themes, transitions, and offering music that works with the slideshows.
      Glad you like it!
      ~ Ms. Smith

  5. I think this video is really cool and that it was very creative. I hope we do this again because it is nice to look back at what we might have liked and compare them to the things you like in the present.

    1. Brett, that’s thinking ahead! Do you think that by the end of the year you will like something different. I bet not. But I imagine you’ll like a few more things because you are willing to take risks and try new things. I’m glad you like the video.
      ~ Ms. Smith

  6. Hi Mrs. Smith,
    I really enjoyed seeing what my classmates like doing. My favorite thing is scootering. I like to go to the skatepark to learn new tricks. I try to push myself to get better and better. I like to scooter because I like the feeling of accomplishment when I land new tricks. What is your favorite thing to do Mrs. Smith?

    1. Hi Logan,
      I can tell by the way you approach all learning that you like to improve. Physical tasks give us such quick feedback. As well as gardening and quilting (which I told other students about) I also like photography. This summer I took more than 3500 photos during our sailing trip to Haida Gwaii. Because many of my shots were of breaching humpbacks, I have a lot of pictures of splashes! Thanks for asking, Logan.
      ~ Ms. Smith

  7. Hi Mrs.Smith,

    I love the music for the video! Where did you find it? Overall, I really liked the video. I want to make one of them this year, hopefully we’ll get to. It’s too bad that we couldn’t do an action shot with the volley ball though.

    ~ Kaiya.W

    1. Hi Kaiya,
      The music came from the Animoto site which gives permission for people to use the music. The musicians were credited at the end of the video. I actually do have an action shot, but the ball is out of the picture. Because the pictures had to be horizontal, I went with the shot that had the ball in it.
      Thanks for your feedback, Kaiya.
      Ms. Smith

  8. Hi Ms. Smith
    I really think you did a great job on this video, it has really good editing and a nice introduction. I would just change one thing, having the soccer people at different times.

    1. Thank you for your compliment, Evan! I grouped all soccer players, music lovers, and readers together on purpose. I wanted to show that we have attributes in common as well as differences. It would have been interesting to see how others would have edited the video. I really do appreciate your feedback!
      ~Ms. Smith

  9. Hi Mrs Smith
    Doing this video was a great idea!
    I think it really shows our own personalities and what we enjoy out side of school. I have been playing soccer since I was really young and it is my favorite sport. I played on the regular house soccer league up until a year ago because now I play on a Rep team. Right now I have soccer 6 times a week!!! But at least it is something I enjoy doing. It’s really neat being able to see everyone doing their own thing. You did an awesome job on this video!
    cheers,
    ~ Tiana

    1. Tiana, one day on my way home from school I stopped to watch your team practice. You really dig, you seem unafraid to get in there and work for the play. I see that in how you tackle work in class, too. I am glad you appreciate the video–I have the feeling I will rewatch it through the year.
      ~ Ms. Smith

  10. Hello, Ms.Smith!

    We were really lucky that day, not more than 48 hours later, it started pouring! I liked how when you had the labels (reading, Art, Dragons) you used different fonts. It was also pretty cool how the pictures were just kind of drifting around the screen. Great job!
    Cheers,
    Faith

    1. Not only did it pour, Faith, it rained sideways! I appreciate your friendly critique of my work. I used an editor called PicMonkey to edit the pictures. We’ll use it for some of our projects this year.
      ~ Ms. Smith

  11. Hi Ms. Smith,

    I really enjoyed the video. I like how you made a video of kids in your class about their favourite things. When I do something I love to do I try my best to do it.

    These are the things I like to do, gymnastics, swimming, and art. Thanks for making me love my favourite things even more!:)

    Whoops, I almost forgot I also like highland dancing, tap, musical theater, and singing.

    Thanks again.
    -Shayne

    1. Shayne, how fabulous to have so many interests in life. This means you will always be satisfied. It seem like there is nothing you won’t try. Your adventurous spirit will serve you your whole life!
      ~ Ms. Smith

  12. Hello Ms Smith
    I like to dance. Me and my dance studio had an performance at a theater. It was packed. This was a well done video I can’t wait to use and make videos like that on Animoto.

    ~Kaiah

  13. Hi, Ms.Smith,
    I think it’s awesome that everybody is in the video! I also love the font that you used and that everybody was happy in the photos.
    Sincerely, Aliyah

  14. Dear Mrs. Smith.
    I like to listen to music and watch Youtube vids. This is great amazing editing keep it up. What do you like to do, Mrs.Smith ?

    -Hunter

    1. Hi Hunter, thanks for the question. I am starting to do yoga lately and although I find it difficult, I am will to persevere because it feels really good when I do it right!
      ~ Ms. Smith

  15. Hi Ms. Smith,
    I like this video because we can learn what stuff some of the other students like. I like Hockey because I play with my friends and I am really good at it too. I like reading because it paints a good picture in my mind. I like P.E. because I am a very atheletic person. What are some of the things you like to do?
    Avery

    1. Thanks for the question, Avery.
      I like to garden. I don’t wear gloves because I really like the feeling of dirt (and besides, it washes off). I am about to put bulbs in for next year–blooms in the spring makes me happy!
      ~ Ms. Smith

  16. Hi Mrs. Smith,

    In this video I noticed that a lot of people like reading, music, art, and sports. I learned about what people enjoy doing. The way you edited it looks really cool and I like how you added music as well! I really enjoyed being apart of this and watching it at the end. What are a few of your favourite things?

    ~Jessica

    1. Hi Jessica,
      I think if I were to have my picture taken with an object I would choose a quilt that my mother made. My children and I have snuggled under it for many years and it was made with love. The bright colours and patterns are eye-catching. And now that my mother is gone, her quilt is one way of holding her close to me.
      Thank you for helping me remember her, Jessica.
      ~ Ms. Smith

    1. Hi Tengis,
      We put this together in about half an hour yet everyone was able to find something that they like. I wonder if people would chose something different at the end of the year.
      ~ Ms. Smith

  17. Hi Mrs. Smith

    They all show different things that they like. I really like it because it showed all of our class.

    From: Evan M.

  18. Dear Ms. Smith,
    My favorite thing to do is scooter. I scooter a lot, like on the way to school. What is your favorite thing to do?
    -Darian

    1. Hi Darian,
      I think it’s pretty neat that the scooters have come back into popularity. They were big when I was a kid in the 60s but I don’t remember anyone bringing them to school. My favourite thing…well, I love quilting. Fabric is beautiful and putting patterns together is very satisfying. Thank you for a comment that made me think!
      ~ Ms. Smith

  19. Dear Ms. Smith
    I like to play soccer and Frisbee with my family. Do you think if I brought a Frisbee is we could play ? I like to dance and do gymnastics.
    ~Rachel

    1. Hi Rachel,
      We actually have Frisbees here but you can bring your own if you like. I like watching gymnastics, but I think if I tried a cartwheel I would break my neck!
      ~ Ms. Smith

  20. Dear Mrs . Smth.

    This is a cool video because its about Brooklyn. We are special and this video shows what we like.

    Quinn

  21. Hi Ms.Smith

    Not only do I like cars & trucks, my favorite kind of cars are super cars, I really like the BUGATTI VERON!!! It is the second fastest car in the WORLD. The third fastest car is the McLaren F1, it is also known as a formula 1 racer. Fastest car in the world is the DESKARATI I think it was made by BUGATTI but I’m not sure. What’s your favorite car?

    1. Great comment, Brayden!
      I really like my Mazda 3. It is just a regular car but I really enjoy driving it because it fits me well, I can see well all around the vehicle, and it is pretty good on gas. More than anything, I like that it is a standard rather than an automatic. Perhaps it is because the car needs me to tell it how to work. It needs me and it listens to my commands!
      ~ Ms. Smith

  22. Hi Ms. Smith,

    I like your video, it was intresting because I didn’t know what other people’s favourite things were.
    – Haze

  23. Hi Ms. Smith

    I like this video because it teaches people that everybody can like different things and to know what other people like like hockey, P.E., reading and volley ball. The pictures have a good amount of light.

    -Kheton

    1. Hi Kheton,
      I too liked the diversity in the choices. I was excited (like Mrs. Donfrio) to see how many kids love reading. Thank you for noticing that there was enough light to show each person’s face. The sun is wonderful but it makes dark shadows!
      ~ Ms. Smith

  24. Hi Ms. Smith

    As you know I like zombies, but what you don’t know is I love my pet hedgehog. I have had Pineapple for a year now, and she is friendly but she hates it when you touch her back!
    bye for now -Carlos

    1. Hi Carlos,
      I think Pineapple and I have a lot in common: like your pet, I am friendly, but I get a bit cranky when people tap me on the shoulder!
      Thank you for your note,
      ~Ms. Smith

  25. Mrs Smith.
    I noticed that Soccer is the most favourite sport of students in your class this year, and that lots of your students enjoy reading. I will share this with my class of students in two weeks we are currently just started on our end of term break because for us in New Zealand we finish our school year in December having started in the first week of February. Also we’ve got Summer starting shortly because the seasons are in reverse at this end of the world, you must be heading into Autumn. We haven’t had any snow this year (currently twice now in Hamilton in 100 years) but would imagine that you would be expecting some soon. When will snow start? How much do you expect to get? How cold will it get?
    Mr Webb and Room Five, Melville Intermediate School, Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand.
    melvilleroom8.blogspot.com

    1. Hi Mr. Webb and the students of Room 5,
      Yes, as our hemisphere tilts further away from the sun, it’s our turn for winter. We have already seen snow on our local mountains, but it is rare to get it down here near the ocean. Our fall, winter, and much of our spring is grey and wet. Our daytime winter temperature averages about 5 degrees Celsius. Thank goodness our summers are warm and dry!
      I hope you and your students enjoyed a fun and restful end of term break.
      Cheers,
      Ms. Smith

Leave a Reply to Kaiya W. Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *