What's Going On? May 2nd-6th

Fundamentals of Programming

Last week we finished up our discussions of permanent data storage (using a TinyDB) and working with lists.  This week, students will create a "Presidential Quiz" app.  During this app, students will continue their work with lists and will also be introduced to the "List Picker" feature in MIT App Inventor.  Basically, we will use the list picker function to create a multiple choice style quiz.  Students will be considered "on pace" for the class if the app and portfolio page are completed by the end of the week.


Programming the Web 1

This week students will have the opportunity to work on our "Clear Reflections Homepage".  For this assignment, students will appropriately format images for web design using PhotoShop.  Students will also implement a layout from scratch based on a photo of the final site.  This assignment is excellent practice to prepare us for the final website project where students will design and implement their own layouts.

Students are considered "on pace" for the class if the Clear Reflections Homepage, the lesson 12 reading guide and lesson 12 review questions are complete by the end of the week.

Programming the Web 2

This week students will begin their study of animation.  In order to learn some key principles of animation such as keyframes and "tweening", we will use Adobe Flash Animation.  This week students will design a bouncing ball animation and a jumping letter animation.  This will allow students to gain an understanding of how to create keyframes, how to create and implement layers in an animation, as well as adding a simple "stop" action script.

What's Going On? April 26-29th

ACT Aspire Testing for Freshmen

This week on Tuesday and Wednesday freshmen will participate in ACT Aspire testing.  (Please note that there is NOT SCHOOL on Monday.)  Students who are in class on these days will use this time to catch up on work and to review concepts to make sure that we are ready to finish the year on a positive note!

Fundamentals of Programming

This week students will complete a formative assessment to gauge our current level of understanding of lists and permanent data storage.  We will make sure that students understand the concept of a list (think arrays) and how to work through all of the elements on the list (think loops).  We will also work with permanent data storage through the use of a "TinyDB" which would allow for data to be stored after an app has been closed.


Programming the Web 1

Students will use Wednesday's and Thursday's classes to complete our lesson 11 web assignments and  to catch up on old assignments.  Students who are caught up can use the class period to dive into our lesson on editing images for web use or to complete our weekly reading guide.

Programming the Web 2

Students will finish up their JavaScript assignment on "St. Mary's".  Once this is complete, we will move into our animation unit.  Students will explore the use of a time line and animation.

What's Going On? April 18-April 22nd

Fundamentals of Programming

This week students will be working on our next app: "No Texting While Driving".  In this app, students will learn how to send an automated response while they are driving that lets people know that they are currently driving and will text back later.  While we create this app, students will be introduced to the messaging and texting feature that is available in MIT App Inventor.  Since we have access to tablets without phone/data plans, the texting feature will not be testable on our devices so students who have an Android device will be welcome to test their programs on their phones.  Students can also explore the "TinyDB" component of App Inventor during the customization process which allows for permanent data storage.




Programming the Web 1

This week students will work with unit 11.  During this unit, students will read chapter 18 and complete the accompanying reading guide.  Students will also complete assignments 11A and 11B.  During this unit, students will learn how to add responsive web design to their web pages.  In other words, students will learn how to design a web page for multiple device displays: mobile devices, tablets, and desktop computers.  We will learn how to use one HTML code and apply different CSS styles in order to best display the page for the chosen device.  Students will achieve this using a "Media Query".


Programming the Web 2

This week students will be wrapping up our JavaScript unit by completing the "St. Mary's Neonatal" webpage.  Earlier in the semester, students wrote the HTML code for the table and form that will serve as the basis for our web page.  Students will add JavaScript in order to verify data, add data, and display the correct date.

What's Going On? April 11-15th

Fundamentals of Programming

This week students will complete their second summative assessment for the semester: the animation unit creative project.  Students have been busy designing and implementing their own apps.  Some students have decided to recreate games such as "Asteroids", "Pac Man", and "Breakout".  Other students have created sports-related apps, creating baseball and basketball games.   This week, students will put the finishing touches on their apps, answer some reflection questions, and post their apps to their portfolio sites.  Once this is complete, we will talk about some other elements of app development: lists and locations.  We will talk about an app, "No Texting While Driving", which sends an automatic reply via text message when a person is driving.


Programming the Web 1

This week we will work on lesson 10 of our unit where we will talk about new methods to organize page layouts.  We will explore the use of margins, negative margins, and floats as they relate to fixed layouts, liquid layouts, and hybrid layouts.  We will create some sample layouts that students could potentially use as the basis for their final project.  As far as assignments go for this week, we will have a reading guide, our lesson review questions, and assignments 10A, 10B, and 10C.


Programming the Web 2

This week students will work to finish up their "Countdown" webpage that uses JavaScript to countdown the number of days until the end of the school year.  Students have also been working with "conditionals" to display special messages for the exam schedule during the last week of school, a special message to display during summer, and how to disable the message once the next school year begins.  After this assignment is complete, students will work on creating a random number to display a different quote on a webpage each time it loads.  Students will work with random numbers and continue to work with arrays to complete this assignment.