What's Going On? April 30th through May 4th

AP Computer Science Principles

MONDAY APRIL 30th IS THE FINAL DEADLINE FOR THE AP COMPUTER SCIENCE PRINCIPLES PERFORMANCE TASKS!  ALL WORK MUST BE SUBMITTED AS "FINAL" ON MONDAY.  LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED!

At this point, we still have a large number of students who have not submitted the final versions of their performance tasks.  PLEASE do not wait until the last minute!  If something unexpected happens such as you get sick, a website is not accessible, you have trouble with technology, etc., you may not be able to meet the deadline.  The performance tasks account for 40% of the total AP score, so be sure to get your submissions in on time!

For the rest of the week, we will go through some of the topics selected for review including "internet" and "binary and hexadecimal numbering systems".  Our AP exam will take place during the afternoon of May 11th (starting at noon).  We have until this time to get any last minute questions answered.


App Development 1

This week, we will continue our look at segues and alert controllers.  We will complete our hackwich "Intergallactic Travel" before students move into our final app challenge "Word Play".

App Development 2

We will spend Monday's class finishing up our "Ninja" hackwich.  This was our first exploration into the "Game" mode in Swift.  Once this is complete, students will start work on our end of unit app challenge "Brick Breaker".

Programming the Web 2

This week, students will be investigating a few more items in JavaScript.  We will explore some further topics in JavaScript,  take a look at HTML5 canvas and start talking about our final projects for the semester.

What's Going On? April 23rd through April 27th

App Development 1

This week, students will learn how to incorporate multiple screens into our apps.  We will learn how to embed in a navigation controller that allows us to travel between screens.  We will also learn how to create an "alert controller" that allows us to display a pop-up message.

App Development 2

This week, we will continue to look at creating our Ninja game using "Sprite Kit".  By the end of the week, students should have a working "Ninja" app.  This will set us up for our end of unit app challenge: Brick Breaker.

AP Computer Science Principles

We will start off the week by analyzing the work from our practice AP multiple choice exam.  Students will create small study groups to analyze their mistakes so that we can prevent making them on the AP exam.  I will also lead a review to take us through some of the most commonly missed items from the test.During class on Wednesday, students should be submitting their final versions of the AP Performance Tasks.  The official AP Performance Task due date is quickly approaching and late work will not be accepted.  As a reminder, the performance tasks account for 40% of the overall AP score.

Throughout the rest of the week, we will spend some time talking about cybersecurity, the internet, and reviewing some important vocabulary.

Programming the Web 2

This week, students will be working to incorporate JavaScript into a form that we made earlier in the semester.  Students will add code to our form that will automatically add today's date and validate user input.

What's Going On? April 16th through April 20th

App Development 1

Students need a little bit more time to work on "Tip Calculator", so Monday will be a work day.  When we are finished with the "Tip Calculator" App, we will move into our "Word Play" app.  For this unit, students will learn how to use Arrays and how to navigate between two different view controllers.  Along with this week, students will have the "Arrays Challenge" and an "Arrays Formative".

App Development 2

The "Za Hunter" app has proven to be a challenge, so we will spend class time on Monday and Tuesday to finish up the app.  Upon completion of the "Za Hunter" App, we will move into our last teacher-directed app for the semester: Breakout.  In order to create this app, students will need to become familiar with "Sprite Kit".  This will allow us to create an animation within our app.  Students will be introduced to this topic by creating a "Ninja" app.

Programming the Web 2

This week, we will continue our study of JavaScript.  Students will be introduced to techniques that will allow us to finish up their Mad-Lib-style story based on user input.  We will also learn how to create a slideshow using JavaScript.

AP Computer Science Principles

This week, students will spend some more time talking about cybersecurity and the internet.  Students will work on completing assignment 2.3.2, which focuses on the use of prime numbers for encryption.  Once this is complete, students will take a practice AP multiple choice exam.  We will analyze our results to determine which concepts we need to review before heading into our AP written exam.  

Students should have uploaded the draft versions of their performance tasks during class on Friday.  I would encourage students to take one last look through their work to make sure everything is included.  Students will be submitting their performance tasks by Wednesday, April 25th.