Welcome to the 2024-2025 School Year!

 Hello Computer Science Students! 

Welcome to the 2024-2025 school year! My name is Mrs. Kamenar and I will be working with you during your Algebra 2 class this year. This year, I am starting my 20th year teaching math and computer science at Waukesha North. This year I will be teaching Algebra 2 Math, App Development 1 & 2, AP Computer Science A, Programming the Web 1 & 2, and Yearbook. In addition to teaching, I am also the head women's cross-country coach and yearbook advisor. I hope that everyone was able to find some time to relax this summer. My summer included a trip to Australia with my family, playing with my kids, hiking, running, a computer science conference in Las Vegas, and playing with my dog Ranger.

My goal is to keep you up to date with what's going on in the classroom through this blog. Between the blog and our class schedule of events that will be posted on our BlackBoard class website, it is my hope that all students and parents will be informed about what's going on in the classroom.

Where Can Students Find Everything?

One of the first things to keep in mind is that all of our class material will be found through our Blackboard class website.  This site will contain links to our content, assignments, and other resources.

App Development 1

In this class, we will learn how to make apps for iOS devices (iPads, iPhones).  This year, we will begin working with the SwiftUI language.  To get us started, students will focus on some of the basics.  We will take a look at how to add text, and images, and make color modifications within an app.

Programming the Web 1

In this class, students will learn the basics of web page design using HTML and CSS. This week, we will
take a look at our coding environment and will talk about the different layout choices web designers can use when creating a website. This class is offered in partnership with WCTC, which means that students who enroll in this free program and complete the course successfully are eligible to earn WCTC college credit. 

AP Computer Science A

In this class, students will be exposed to a variety of concepts related to computer science.  We will explore programming with the Java programming language.  In alignment with the AP Board course overview, "AP Computer Science A is an introductory college-level computer science course. Students cultivate their understanding of coding through analyzing, writing, and testing code as they explore concepts like modularity, variables, and control structures." This class is set up to prepare our students to complete the AP exam in May.  We will start off the year by talking about the basic components involved in computing, as well as write our first simple program.

School Schedule

Here is the schedule we will be following for the year.  Students who would like to get some extra help are able to come in during our homeroom flex sessions that will take place Wednesday through Friday.

What's Going On? April 22nd through April 26th

Thought for the Week

 

Programming for the Web 1

This week, students will focus on wrapping up lesson 10 and completing lesson 11.  For our lesson 10, students learned how to create "minimalist cards" using Flexbox techniques.  During class on Monday, students will wrap up this assignment by adding color to our last row.  Once this is complete, we will spend some time talking about some different layout techniques, including fixed-width layouts, liquid layouts, and hybrid layouts.  We will create a sample of each of these types.  Once this is complete, students will take some time to apply their knowledge on the "Mt. Olympus" website.

AP Computer Science Principles

Time is running out to submit our AP Create Tasks to the AP Board.  All Create tasks must be uploaded to
the digital portfolio site by April 30th at 10:59pm.  PLEASE DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST DAY!!! If you do not submit your project by the due date, you will forfeit 30% of the AP Score!!!!  Please see Mrs. Kamenar ASAP if you have any technical issues.

During class this week, we will spend some time reviewing "Big Idea 2" on Data.  Students will use their "5 Steps to a 5" book to review the important concepts covered in this section and practice some multiple-choice questions.  We will also begin our review of "Big Idea 3" on Algorithms and Programming.

What's Going On? April 8th through April 12th

 Thought for the Week 

Modified Schedule for the Week. As a reminder, Freshmen and Sophomores will complete the ACT Secure and Juniors will complete the ACT on Tuesday, April 9th.  This will lead to a modified schedule for the rest of the week.  Monday will be a "Tuesday"-style schedule.  On Tuesday, we will complete standardized testing.  The rest of the week will proceed as scheduled.

Programming the Web 1

For the first part of this week, students will work to complete their midterm project, "Border Collie
Rescue". Students will have through the end of class on Thursday to complete this project. Students who need additional time are encouraged to come in during JIT to have additional time to work in the lab. At the end of the week, we will move on to Lesson 9 where we will learn how to adjust the placement of some of our elements using floating and positioning. Along with this lesson, students will complete the following:

• Read Chapter 15 in the Learning Web Design textbook
• Complete the Lesson 9 Reading Guide
• Lesson 9 Review Questions
• Project 9A: 15-1 (page 395), and 9B: 15-3 and 15-4 (pages 414 and 416)

AP Computer Science Principles

This week, students will focus on "data".  We will wrap up our Activity 3.1.1: What's the Point, where we are making graphs based on data in a Google Sheet.  We will use the analysis tools in order to match each set of data with the trial description.  For the rest of the week, we will take a look at various ways to analyze a large collection of data.

What's Going On? April 2nd through April 5th

 Thought for the Week

Programming the Web 1

During our class on Tuesday, students will spend some time reviewing what we have learned during the first half of the semester.  Starting on Thursday, students will have 4 class periods to complete our midterm.  For the midterm, students will have the opportunity to show off their skills by recreating a site.  To complete this assignment, students will need to show they can place text and images on a webpage.  Students will also show off their ability to add style changes via a CSS style sheet.

AP Computer Science Principles

On our return from break, students will spend some time learning about the exciting world of copyright! 
Students will learn the difference between the different types of Creative Commons licenses and learn when it is ok to use someone else's work and when it is not.  We will also receive our "5 Steps to a 5" books this week, so we can start a more targeted process for preparing for our AP Exam.

What's Going On? March 11th through March 15th

Thought for the Week

Programming the Web 1

At the start of this week, students will work on applying font changes to our web pages using CSS.  On Monday, students will turn in their lesson 6 reading guide, and on Tuesday, students will complete our multiple-choice assessment.  We will be working on three book-based tutorials to apply CSS styles to our pages.  For the rest of the week, students will learn about the different ways to apply color styles to our pages using HEX values.  We will also learn how we can apply different link colors using pseudoselectors.

AP Computer Science Principles

This week, we will continue with learning about how data is transmitted in a computer.  We will talk about the binary and hexadecimal number systems that can be used to store information on a computer.  We will also talk about how text is encoded in ASCII and how to convert between ASCII and binary numbering systems.  At the end of the week, students will learn about how data is transmitted over the Internet.  We will talk about how a message is broken down into packets and then routed from one place to the next.

What's Going On? March 4th though March 8th

 Thought for the Week

Programming the Web 1

We will start off this week with some work days where students can work to complete our lesson 5
assignments: 5A - Black Goose and 5B - Allco Services.  At the end of this week, students will learn about how to apply more styles of our web pages using CSS.  Students will learn how to add colors, font changes, and more to enhance the look of our pages.  Along with lesson 6, students will have a reading assignment, a reading guide, and 10 multiple-choice questions.  Additionally, students will demonstrate their ability to add style changes to our web pages through three tutorial-based web assignments.

AP Computer Science Principles

This week, students will have the remainder of their class time to complete their official Create performance tasks.  By the end of class on Wednesday, students should have their code completed, or nearly completed, to submit to the AP board.  During class on Wednesday, I will lead students through the official submission process.  This will include submitting the program code, video, and personal project reference sheet.  All of these items must be uploaded to the AP portfolio site before April 30th at 11:00pm.  As I have been telling students, PLEASE do not wait until the last possible moment to submit the project!  

Once we have wrapped up our class project time, we will move on to learning about data.  We will explore the different types of numbering systems used by the computer, including binary, hexadecimal, and ASCII.

Looking Ahead

In preparation for the new block schedule next year, we will do a trial run.  Students will participate in the block schedule experience during the week of spring break.  See the schedule below to know what you can expect.

What's Going On? February 26th through March 1st

 Thought for the Week

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Programming the Web 1

Monday's class will be dedicated as a work day for students to wrap up our lesson 4 web assignments.  Once this is complete, we will take on Lesson 5.  This means that we will also get to work with the industry-standard program, DreamWeaver.  Students will learn how to use this powerful software to enhance the look of our web pages.  It will also ease our workload but providing some built-in tools to proofread our work.  Along with this lesson, students will read chapters 7 and 10 from the textbook and complete the accompanying reading guide (due Thursday).  Students will also have two web assignments where we will show off how to work with images and turn them into links.  We will conclude the week by completing our lesson 5 review questions.

AP Computer Science Principles

This week, students will continue their work on their AP Create performance task.  Students have a total of
9 class hours to complete their project but may work on their code outside of class.  That being said, the majority of the project should be done in class.  At the start of the week, students will have just over 6 hours of class time left to work on the project.

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

 Thought for the Week

 

Programming for the Web 1

This week, students will focus on how to create links.  We will learn how to create absolute links or links to other websites such as Google.  We will learn how to create relative links or links to other pages within our website.  Lastly, we will learn how to create link fragments that link to other parts within a web page.  Along with this week, students will read chapter 6 in our textbook and complete the accompanying reading guide.  We will also create two web projects.  In project 4A, students will create links for the "Jen's Kitchen" website.  In project 4B, students will create link fragments that link letters at the top of the web page to the alphabetical section of the site.  Students will complete our weekly multiply choice questions at the start of class on Friday.

AP Computer Science Principles

This week, students will begin our 9 hours of class time to work on our official AP "Create Task" that will
be submitted to the AP board as part of our AP exam grade.  Monday's class was devoted to getting organized for the task ahead.  The rest of the week, and next week, will be work time for the project.  Students must submit their AP projects to the AP board by April 30th.  Late work is not accepted by the AP board. 

What's Going On? February 12th through 15th

 Thought for the Week

Modified Schedule for Our Short Week:  This week, our schedule will look a little different.  On Monday, we will run a FRIDAY schedule.  The rest of the week will run as normal.  However, on Thursday, we will have a shortened schedule due to our early release day.  All students will have a day off on Friday.  Enjoy your February break!

Programming the Web 1

This week, students will work on our lesson 3 web assignments.  Students will turn in our lesson 3 reading guide on Monday and complete our weekly multiple-choice questions on Tuesday.  To go along with lesson 3, students will complete two different web page assignments.  In 3A, students will demonstrate their ability to mark up ordered lists, unordered lists, and description lists.  In assignment 3B, students will work with structural tags to mark up a document.  We have already worked with heading tags and paragraph tags, so students will get some further practice with these.  Additionally, students will learn how to code special characters, such as the copyright symbol, and add additional structure to our page using the "section" and "article" tags.  

AP Computer Science Principles

This week, students will get started on their official "Create" performance tasks that we will submit to the AP board as part of our AP exam score.  We will spend Monday's class brainstorming, talking about the project requirements, choosing groups, and deciding on a topic.  The rest of the week will be devoted to student work time to get started on the project.  Students will get 8 hours of class time to work on the project that will be submitted to the AP board.  On the exam day in May, students will answer questions related to their code as well as answer 70 multiple-choice questions.

What's Going On? February 5th through February 9th

Thought for the Week

Programming for the Web 1

We will start off this week by wrapping up our second lesson of the semester.  In this lesson, students have learned some of the basics of creating a web page.  Once this is wrapped up, students will start to add some more elements to our pages, including "lists", "quotes", "sections", and more.  This week, students will read Chapter 5 in our textbook, complete the accompanying reading guide, and our 10 multiple-choice questions.  Students will also show off how to incorporate lists and other elements in some sample web pages.

AP Computer Science Principles

This week, students will spend a little bit of time talking about the characteristics of a "strong" password.  Students will work on creating a short program to "hack" and guess a user's password based on a dictionary of possible words.  At the end of the week, students will work with the TKInter platform to learn a new way to create a graphic display for a python program.

What's Going On? January 29th through February 2nd

Thought for the Week

Programming for the Web

We will start off this week by wrapping up our first lesson of the semester.  We will go over the reading
guides that went along with our first reading assignment of the semester.  Next, we will complete our 10 multiple-choice questions summative.  Lastly, students will enroll in the course through WCTC.  As a reminder, students who earn a "C" or higher according to the WCTC grading scale will earn free college credit!

Once we wrap up lesson 1, it will be time to dive into the fun stuff.  We will create our first simple web pages.  Students will use a basic text editor, Text Edit, to learn the basic structure of an HTML page.  Students will learn how to add headlines, text, and photos to our pages.  Along with this week, students will read chapter 4 and complete the accompanying reading guide.  Students will also have class time to complete our two web pages assigned for the week.  One is a tutorial-based assignment where students will follow the instructions from the textbook to create the "Black Goose Bistro" web page.  Then student will have a chance to create their own personal page.  We will end the lesson with our 10 multiple-choice questions.

AP Computer Science Principles

At the start of this week, we will talk about our responses from our "game" project that we wrote during
class on Friday.  Students will receive feedback and make corrections to craft their responses in a way that will satisfy the criteria of the rubric set by the AP board.  For the rest of the time this week, we will talk a little bit about cybersecurity.  We will start by examining how to identify threats online.  We will also talk about ways to protect ourselves using good "Cyber Hygiene".  Finally, we will talk about the different types of encryption that can help to protect information shared online.

Welcome to Second Semester! What's Going On? January 23rd through January 26th

Thought for the Week 

Let's start the semester off on the right foot.  I am here to support you and your learning.  Be sure to ADVOCATE for yourself and your needs throughout the semester.

Programming the Web 1

In this class, students will learn the basics of web page design using HTML and CSS. This week, we will
take a look at our coding environment and will talk about the different layout choices web designers can use when creating a website. This class is offered in partnership with WCTC, which means that students who enroll in this free program and complete the course successfully are eligible to earn WCTC college credit. 

AP Computer Science Principles

This week, students will finally get a chance to wrap up their "game" programs.  We had a couple of snow days before break and we decided to wrap up this summative as we start the second semester.  Students should wrap up their code by the end of class on Tuesday.  During Wednesday's class, students should devote their time to independently writing their responses.  

What's Going On? January 8th through January 12th

 Thought for the Week

App Development

We will start off this week by talking about "Property Wrappers".  We will talk about the use of @State, @Binding, and @ObservableObject in order to share data between different screens in our app and within different files.  Once this is complete, students will work on our last app of the year -- Word Play.  This is a "Mad-Libs" style app that prompts our user to enter a word and then enters them into a story.  Once students are finished with our final app, they will have time to learn something new with the "App Feature" final project.  

AP Computer Science Principles

This week, students will have the first three class days to wrap up their game summatives.  Our summatives are due on Wednesday.  Students are programming a variety of games including Yahtzee, BlackJack, and Uno.  Once students have finished their partner programming, they are responsible for individually analyzing their code to talk about its purpose, function, and more.  During our final days of the semester, we will spend time reviewing for our first semester exam.

Looking Ahead: Exam Schedule

We have a little bit of time left in the semester before our exams, but they are right around the corner.  Check out the schedule below: