What's Going On? January 4 through January 8, 2021

 

Happy New Year!

Welcome back, everyone!  I hope you had some time to rest, relax, and recharge during your time over break and that you are ready to get back into the swing of things!

Coming Soon....Semester Exams

AP Computer Science A

This week, we will start our study of unit 7 where we will focus on Arrays and ArrayLists.  Basically, these items will allow us to save and retrieve lots of data with a single variable.  Monday's class will be devoted to watching a couple of videos put together by the AP board about arrays and students will summarize their learning in a "one-
pager" assignment.  Throughout the rest of the week, we will talk about how to use arrays and we will have a couple of coding opportunities to put our knowledge to the test.

App Development 1

This week, we will continue our work with apps that have multiple screens.  We will start off the week with a self-paced video with a reflection.  For the rest of the week, we will dive into some of the readings about different screens, how we can navigate between them, and Strings.  Students will also have a hackwich and a few demos to work through within the week.

Programming the Web 1

This week, students will continue their work on Web Assignment 14A, where we are creating the sub-pages for the "Clear Reflections Photography" site.  Toward the end of the week, we will talk about how we can host our pages live online, rather than only viewing them on our individual devices.

What's Going On? December 21st and December 22nd

 Thought for the Week

Schedule for the Week

***NOTE: 

Monday:

• There is no AE on Monday
• all students will be learning virutally on Monday

Tuesday:

• Cohort 1 will attend school face-to-face
• Cohort 2 will attend school virtually

AP Computer Science A

This week, students will choose a chapter to read from the "Blown to Bits" book, available as a PDF.  Students will then answer the reflection questions associated with the chosen chapter.  This is all in preparation for our class discussion that will take place during class on Tuesday about ethics and some of the implications associated with computing.

App Development 1

This week, students will wrap up our pre-unit hackwich, "Intergalactic Travel".  In this hackwich, students will learn how to make multiple screens on an app and pass data from one screen to the next.  This is a formative hackwich that will be turned in to Google Classroom by the end of our class on Tuesday.

Programming the Web 1

This week, students will work on Web Assignment 14A as well as complete our lesson 14 review questions during our class on Tuesday.  We will continue our work with Web Assignment 14A after our winter break.  When we return, we will learn how to host our sites live online.

Have a great winter break!!!!

 

What's Going On? December 14th through December 18th

Thought for the Week

Planning Ahead: December 21st and December 22nd

Due to our two-day week, we will follow a modified schedule on Monday (12/21/2020) and Tuesday (12/22/2020).  All students will meet virtually on Monday.  On this Monday, we will skip our AE/Homeroom class period.  On Tuesday, cohort 1 will meet face-to-face and cohort 2 and virtual students will all meet via WebEx Teams.

Semester Exam Schedule

AP Computer Science A

This week, students will work on our unit 6 programming project, complete our review exercise set, and our practice test in order to prepare for our unit 6 summative on Friday.  Students are encouraged to reach out in class or in WebEx teams with any questions.

App Development 1

This week, students will start our end-of-unit app challenge, Tip Calculator.  For this summative project, students will create an app that might be handy when going to a restaurant.  Students will create an app that will calculate a tip and can also customize it to split the check when going out to eat with friends.  I have scheduled a minimum of three class days for students to work on this app.  I will check in with students at the end of our second work day to determine how much time will be required.  

Programming the Web 1

At the start of this week, students will have time to display their knowledge of how to properly format images for a web page by completing our Web Assignment 13a: The Clear Reflections home page.  Students will also complete our lesson 13 review questions during class on Wednesday.  After that, we will start talking about how to put our finished pages live online.

What's Going On? December 7th through December 11th

  Thought for the Week

AP Computer Science A

This week, students will continue our study of loops. During class on Monday, students will have the opportunity to work with Strings and for loops.  Later in the week, we will explore the 'do while' loops, sentinel values, common looping algorithms, and nested loops.

App Development

We will start off this week by checking in on our understanding of conditionals, or if...else statements.  Students will take Monday's class to summarize their learning of conditionals in a technical blog post.  For the rest of the week, students will investigate gesture recognizers via a reading assignment, a class-led hackwich, and a coding challenge.

Programming the Web 1

During class on Monday, students will wrap up our notes on responsive web design.  Students will then have Tuesday's and Wednesday's class to complete Web Assignment 11A, a tutorial-based assignment from our textbook on how to create a webpage that incorporates the properties of responsiveness.  Along with this week, students should complete their reading guides by Tuesday and we will have our lesson 11 review questions (multiple choice) during class on Wednesday.  During our class two class periods for the week, students will learn about how to properly format images for the web by using Photoshop.

What's Going On? November 30th through December 4th

 Thought for the Week

Virtual Learning

We will spend some time focusing on how to be successful digital learners.  Now that we are switching back to the hybrid model, it is time to reflect on what is going well in terms of virtual learning and what would be going better.  We will talk about the skills necessary to be successful learners and some tips & tricks to help make the best of our hybrid learning situation.

AP Computer Science A

This week, we will begin our sixth unit on loops.  During class on Monday, students will view a couple of short videos put together by the people at AP Classroom and complete a short check-in assignment to act as our intro to the unit.  During class on Tuesday and Wednesday, we will spend time focusing more in-depth on 'while' loops.  During class on Thursday and Friday, we will focus on 'for' and 'do' loops as well as sentinel values.

App Development 1

We will spend the first part of the week continuing our work with conditionals.  During class on Monday, we will review conditionals and write a couple of coding examples.  Then, students will have several class periods to work within our Conditionals Code Challenge.  We will wrap up the week with a "Gesture Recognizer" demo.

Programming the Web 1

We will start off the week by working on Web Assignment 11A where students will practice some techniques related to web page layout.  In order to complete this assignment, students can choose between creating a layout using float, flexbox, or positioning.  At the end of the week, students will begin working on lesson 12 where we will investigate some different techniques associated with responsive web design.  Looking ahead, students will have their lesson 12 reading guide due on Tuesday, December 8th.

What's Going On? November 23rd and November 24th

 Shortened Week

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, we will have school virtually on Monday and Tuesday this week.  For these two days, we will following the following schedule:

AP Computer Science A

During class on Monday, students will make their final preparations for our unit 5 summative on "decisions".  Our summative will take place during our scheduled class period on Tuesday.  Programming Project #5 will also be due on Tuesday.

App Development 1

This week we will focus on conditionals.  Students will spend Monday's class reading and working within our Conditionals Playgroundbook with our Swift Playground app.  There is also a brief 7-minute video on the topic.  Students will complete a "check-in" assignment at the conclusion of Monday's lesson.  During class on Tuesday, we will do a Conditionals "hackwich" together.

Programming the Web 1

This week, we will begin Unit 11.  We will spend Monday's class talking about different ways we can design our layouts using CSS.  On Tuesday we will wrap up our notes and get started on Web Assignment 11A.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!  

Enjoy your break from school!  We will resume our hybrid schedule from the beginning of the year during the week of 11/30, with face-to-face instruction resuming on 12/1 for students in cohort 1 and on 12/2 for students in cohort 2.

What's Going On: November 16th through November 20th

Thought for the Week

Set goals for yourself and work towards them.  Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it!

 AP Computer Science A

This week, students will continue to work on their programming project #5 (due Thursday) and our review exercises (due Tuesday).  Additionally, students will participate in some AP Classroom multiple choice and free response questions in preparation for our summative that will take place during class on Thursday.  As always, please ask questions when you have them!  I am available to help whether you are learning face-to-face or virtually.  

App Development 1

For the majority of the week, students will continue with their study of functions.  On Monday, we will practice writing and interpreting functions as a group.  Then, students will complete the Functions Code Challenge to try it out on their own. We will wrap up our functions discussion by completing a "One-Pager" summary that will be included within our technical blog posts.  We will wrap up the week by talking about the "scope" of a variable.

Programming the Web 1

Monday's class will be devoted to wrapping up our web assignments 9A and 9B.  Students who are finished will previous our next lesson through the Flexbox Froggy website.  We will spend the rest of the week learning about a new way to position elements within our webpage through the use of Flexbox.  Our web assignment for the week will be created in class.

What's Going On? November 9th through November 13th

 AP Computer Science A

This week we will continue our study of conditional statements based on Boolean Conditions.  Monday's class will be devoted to recapping all we have learned so far this unit via a "One Pager" assignment.  On Tuesday, we will revisit input validation and testing.  The rest of the week will be devoted to our summative programming project #5 and our formative review exercises. 

App Development

Monday's class will be devoted to wrapping up our Summative Multiply App.  Students will be uploading their finished products to Google Classroom by the end of the class period.  On Tuesday, we will jump into our next unit.  We will start with our pre-unit hackwich, "Commission".  Once this is done, we will move on to "functions".  Students will practice decoding the function headers for existing functions and will learn how to write and call their own custom functions.  Along with our functions lessons, we will have a technical blog post as well as a formative assessment on Blackboard.

Programming the Web 1

This week we will move into our ninth unit of the year.  In this unit, we will focus on floating and positioning elements within a web site.  We will have live teams meetings during our virtual learning days on Monday and Tuesday to talk about some of the important concepts as well as complete some practice examples.  Along with this week, students will read chapter 15 in the textbook and complete the reading guide.  Students will also have Web Assignments 9A and 9B to complete.  These assignments are tutorial-style and step-by-step instructions can be found within our textbook.  We will finish the week by submitting our web assignments and completing our lesson 9 review questions.

What's Going On? November 2nd through November 6th

Conference Opportunity

On Wednesday, November 18th, Waukesha North will again hold virtual conferences.  If you are interested in meeting with me, please sign up for a time slot.  You can find me under the 'Math' department.  https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0f4daba628a1fe3-math

AP Computer Science A - AP REGISTRATION DUE BY FRIDAY!

In order to register for the AP Computer Science A Exam, students must complete both steps of the two-part process.

1. Students will need to log into their AP Classroom account and declare that they intend to take the AP Computer Science A exam.
2. Students must register and pay for the exam using the Total Registration link for Waukesha North High School.  www.TotalRegistration.net/AP/502389

After Friday, there will be a $40 late fee added for any student who still wants to register and take the AP Exam.  Please note, there is a new rule this year that will allow students to cancel their exam for a full refund.

AP Computer Science A - Unit 5 - Decisions

This week, students will begin our study of the fifth unit on decisions.  Within this unit, students will learn about boolean expressions, boolean conditions, and the different variations of if...else statements.  Along with this week, students will need to read chapter 5 in our textbook and complete the accompanying reading guide.  Students will also have some short practice exercise sets to complete throughout the week.  After all, in order to become proficient programmers, it is important to code a little bit each day!

App Development 1

This week, students will be working on our summative end-of-unit app challenge called "Multiply".  For this assignment, students will make a basic calculator that reads in numbers from the user and then performs some basic arithmetic ( Addition / Subtraction / Multiplication / Division).  Students can "stretch" their learning by adding images to the app and by incorporating a segmented controller.

Programming the Web 1

This week, students will be working on their midterm assignment.  Students will be given a screenshot of each of the four pages they are to include within their website.  Students will have the week to come up with a replica for the site.  Students who are face-to-face will check in their website progress each day in class.  Students who are working virtually must check-in each day, as well, via a daily Google form.  The midterm is due by the end of the day on Friday.

What's Going On? October 26th through October 28th

Modified Schedule for the Week

As you may be aware, this is a shortened week where students will have scheduled classes Monday - Wednesday, with Wednesday as an early-release day.  Due to the shortened week, students will meet with all 8 classes each day.  Monday will be our digital learning day, on Tuesday we will be face-to-face with school starting at 7:55 and on Wednesday we will be face-to-face with school starting at 7:35 and our last class dismissed at 12:10.

 AP Registration Information

The deadline to register for the AP exam is November 6, 2020.  (After this date, it is still possible to register for the AP exam, but there is a $40 late fee.). The cost of the exam is $97.  The exam is scheduled for May and, at this time, is currently still scheduled to be a traditional AP exam.  Students will need to click the "Register" button within the AP Classroom website.  The exam can be paid for through this Total Registration link.

You can see the entire letter about the AP exam sent from North High School here.

Also, please note that there is a rule this year that will allow students to cancel an exam and receive a refund. 

AP Computer Science A

This week, we will be wrapping up our fourth unit on Fundamental Data Types.  Students will have Monday's virtual class to work on our summative review.  During our scheduled class period on Tuesday, students will complete the assessment through Blackboard.  

App Development 1

During Monday's virtual class, students will summarize their learning of Textfields in a technical blog post.  Students will also view the UIView video in order to prepare for Tuesday's class.  On Tuesday, we will work through the UIView.playgroundbook activity together to learn about views and see how to manipulate them through code.  We will also talk about how to organize our app's design by using constraints and stack views.  We will end the week by completing our UIView Hackwich.

Programming the Web 1

This week, students will be wrapping up our lesson 8.  On Monday, students should turn in their completed reading guides.  On Tuesday, students will complete their lesson 8 review questions (summative) and turn in Web Assignment 8A (summative) which is a tutorial-based assignment from our textbook.  As a class on Wednesday, students will do a review to prepare for our midterm project.  Students who would like to turn in missing work from the first half of the course must have it turned in by Monday, November 2.

What's Going On? October 19th through October 23rd

School Schedule for the Week

As you know, this week is the first week that we will come together for four days per week for face-to-face instruction.  Monday will remain as a virtual learning day.  Our virtual learning day for Monday, October 19th can be asynchronous.  This means that students will have some flexibility on when their learning will take place with their computer science class for the day.  The assignment for the day is posted on Blackboard.  Students can complete the assignment at any point throughout the day.  I will be available for questions and individual help within WebEx teams throughout the morning.  

Here is the schedule that we will follow for the week:

 AP Registration Information

The deadline to register for the AP exam is November 6, 2020.  (After this date, it is still possible to register for the AP exam, but there is a $40 late fee.). The cost of the exam is $97.  The exam is scheduled for May and, at this time, is currently still scheduled to be a traditional AP exam.  Students will need to click the "Register" button within the AP Classroom website.  The exam can be paid for through this Total Registration link.

You can see the entire letter about the AP exam sent from North High School here.

AP Computer Science A

On Monday, students will spend some extra time focusing on compound assignment operators and casting.  For this assignment, students will log into AP Classroom to view the content videos and complete the two check-in quizzes.  For the rest of the week, students will work on Programming Project #4 which will allow students to put into practice the concepts that we have learned about throughout our fourth unit of the year.  This programming project will be due on Tuesday, October 27th.  Students will also complete our unit 4 review exercises that allow students to reflect on the underlying concepts of the unit.  These review exercises are due on Thursday.

App Development 1

This week, students will focus on working with UITextFields.  During our virtual class on Monday, students will watch the UITextFields video and complete a short check-in quiz.  On Tuesday, students will go through a demo assignment to work through how to add text fields to our apps as a class.  For the rest of the week, students will work on a UITextField code challenge and work independently with this item.

Programming the Web 1

For the beginning of the week, students will work on lesson 7 where we experiment with changing colors and background images using CSS.  Students will have Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday to work on Web Assignments 7A, 7B, and 7C.  These three assignments are tutorial-based and instructions can be found in our textbook.  Students will complete our lesson 7 review questions (summative) and turn in our lesson 7 web assignments by the end of class on Thursday.  On Friday, we will dive into lesson 8 where we talk about the "Box Model" associated with web development.