What's Going On? October 3rd through October 7th

 Thought for the Week

AP Computer Science Principles

We will start off this week by learning about lists and how we can use a for loop to help us iterate more efficiently through a list.  We will work within Activity 1.1.7 to create lists of turtle objects.  We will use a for loop that works with each object in our list and modifies it to create a drawing.  In Activity 1.1.8, students will be introduced to decision-making structures.  Students will play with the if...elif...else structure in order to make decisions during the run time of our code.

App Development

This week, we will start our second unit of the year.  Students will start off Monday's class with a pre-unit hackwich called "Display a Number".  We will then spend some time talking about design choices that we can make when creating our app and why we are able to so easily navigate through a new app that we can download from the Apple App Store.  We will finish the week by learning about operators (math) and how they can be used to enhance our program.

Programming the Web 1

We will start off this week by wrapping up unit 4, where we learned how to create links within our websites.  Next, we will talk about how we can add images and image maps within our sites. This marks the week that we will switch over to the program "DreamWeaver".  This is an industry-standard program that professional web designers use in order to create robust web sites.

What's Going On? September 26th through September 30th

 Thought for the Week

It's Homecoming Week!

Join in the fun and participate in some of the activities going on this week as we celebrate all things North!

AP Computer Science Principles

This week, students will continue working with looping structures and variables.  We will also take a closer look at the types of errors that we will encounter while writing computer programs.  We will wrap up the week by examing variables and practice some AP-style multiple choice questions that we might encounter during our AP exam in May.

App Development

This week, students will participate in our first summative end-of-unit app challenge.  This summative is called "Hello World".  Within this app, students will demonstrate their ability to add elements to our storyboard and make connections to our code.  Students will also have the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to work with basic variables within their program.

Programming the Web 1

We will start off this week by wrapping up lesson 3 web assignments that include 3A: Lists and 3B: Black Goose Blog.  After this, students will start learning about how to add links to their web pages.  We will learn how to link to other sites as well as how to link within our own site.  Along with this week, students will read chapter 6 in our textbook while completing the accompanying reading guide (due Wednesday).  Students will have two web assignments to complete throughout the week.  In assignment 4A, students will add a series of links to an existing site for "Jen's Kitchen".  In assignment 4B, students will work with a glossary page and demonstrate their ability to add links within a single page.

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

Thought for the Week

AP Computer Science Principles

This week, we will start off the week by viewing two videos on Collaboration put together by the AP board.  We will then complete some sample AP-style multiple choice questions to prepare for questions on collaboration that may appear on May's exam.  For the rest of the week, we will focus on looping our code and adding in conditional statements.  Through Activities 1.1.4. (Spinning Spirographs) and 1.1.6 (Buggy Image), students will continue to practice writing basic Python programs using the Turtle class.  We will also begin talking about the types of errors that we will encounter as we program and some resources to help us fix them.

App Development

This week, we will focus on how to use variables and constants to store and access information in our apps.  Will learn about four major data types (integers, doubles, Strings, and Boolean) and the type of information that can be saved with them.  Along will this week, students will participate in a demo, complete a code challenge, and summarize their learning through our second technical blog post.

Programming the Web 1

This week, we will dive into our third unit of the semester.  In this unit, students will learn some additional HTML tags that we will use to mark up our text.  Students will learn how to make three different types of lists, add in quotes, and other structural tags.  Along with this week, students will read chapter 5 in our textbook while completing the accompanying reading guide (due Wednesday).  Students will have two web assignments to complete, and we will end the week by completing our lesson 3 review questions.

What's Going On? September 12th through September 16th

 Thought for the Week

AP Computer Science Principles

We will start off this week by wrapping up Activity 1.1.2: Planning a Picture.  We will then move on to Activity 1.1.3: Fun with Flowers.  Both of these activities provide students with an introduction to programming in Python using "Turtle".  Students are learning how to create simple drawings using Turtle methods in the Python language.  Students are learning how to create and access variables, as well as get some input from the user.  We will end the week with some introduction to AP Classroom.  Students will start to become familiar with some of the multiple-choice questions they can expect to see on the AP Exam in May.

App Development

For the majority of our week, we will focus on "Actions and Outlets".  Students will spend some time working on implementing Actions and Outlets in our first code challenge.  Students may work together and collaborate as they work or may choose to work independently.  Students will also put what they have learned into words with our first blog post of the year.  We will end the week learning about how to add images to our apps.

Programming the Web 1

This week, we will finally get to make a web page!  We will work within our text editor, Text Edit, in order to create our first web page from scratch using HTML.  Along with this week, students will read chapter 4 in our textbook and complete the accompanying reading guide.  Students will complete two web assignments.  For assignment 2A: Black Goose Bistro, students will follow a step-by-step tutorial to create a sample restaurant home page.  For assignment 2B: Personal Web Page, students will create their own page that features some information about them.  We will wrap up the week by completing our ten multiple-choice questions.

As a reminder, this course is offered in partnership with WCTC.  This means that students who have enrolled in this option and successfully complete the course with a "C" or higher based on the WCTC grading scale will earn free transcripted credit.

What's Going On? September 6th through September 9th

 Thought for the Week

AP Computer Science Principles

This week, students will continue our study of the Python programming language with the use of the
Turtle platform.  Through our lessons, will learn about Object-Oriented Programming languages and some other basics of what we can do with the Turtle platform in Python.

App Development

Last week, we started to create our first app, a basic flashlight.  We will start off the week by finishing it up.  Next, we will backtrack and talk a little bit more in detail about how some of the elements of the flashlight app work.  Our focus for this week will be "Actions and Outlets".   Students will do a short reading and learn about the details of these items.  We will also put our learning into practice with a short "hackwich", or coding demo.  

Programming the Web 1

This week, we will focus on the first unit of the year on HTML basics and layouts.  Students will spend Tuesday's class completing our reading jigsaw activity.  We will spend Wednesday's class wrapping up the jigsaw reading activity and completing the lesson 1 reading guide.  We will wrap up the week by completing our lesson 1 summative multiple choice review questions.

Also during this week, students will have the opportunity to enroll in this class to earn FREE transcripted credit through WCTC.  Students who complete the required work and earn a "C" or higher based on the WCTC grading scale can earn FREE credit in Web Design.  Please contact me if you have any questions about this wonderful opportunity.

Welcome to the 2022-2023 School Year!

Hello Computer Science Students! 

Welcome to the 2022-2023 school year! My name is Mrs. Kamenar and I will be working with you during
your computer science class this year. This year, I am starting my 18th year teaching math and computer science at Waukesha North. This year I will be teaching Pre-College Math, App Development 1&2, AP Computer Science Principles, Programming the Web 1, 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 few camping trips, a trip to Wyoming to visit family, lots of hiking, running, 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.

School Schedule

Here is the schedule we will be following for the year.  Students who would like to get some extra help are invited to come in before school, during our lunch JIT time, or by appointment.

App Development 1

In this class, students will learn how to program for Apple devices using the Swift programming
language. This week, we will take a look at our programming environment and learn a little bit about creating "Actions" and "Outlets" in an app.


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

In this AP course, we will be using a curriculum developed by PLTW (Project Lead the Way).  In this course, students will code using the Python language, dabble with some web design, and learn a little bit about CyberSecurity.  This week, we will experiment with the Python programming language using an online programming platform where we will draw using a turtle.

I hope that everyone is excited to start a new school year.  I am here to help and I am very excited to work with you in Honors Geometry.  Please reach out if you have any questions.  You can email me at kkamenar@waukesha.k12.wi.us.  Let's have a great year!

What's Going On? June 6th through June 9th

 

Exam Schedule

AP Computer Science Principles

Our exam will take place on Monday, June 6th and on Tuesday, June 7th.  Students will participate in the PLTW "End of Course" exam during these two class period.  Students who need additional time to complete the exam should plan to come in during the review/conferencing time to finish up.  Please bring headphones with you to class so that you can hear the audio portions of the exam.

App Development

Students have the choice of two options for our final project. Students can choose to investigate one new feature and create a screencast tutorial to explain how to use it OR students can choose to create a full app and a short video highlighting the app's features.  All projects are due by the end of our exam period on Tuesday, June 7th.

Programming the Web 1

During our exam time on Tuesday, June 7th, students will complete our 20 multiple choice question summative.  Students MAY NOT use any resources during this summative.  After this is complete, students should finalize their final web projects, upload them to our hosting site, and turn in their final work.  All projects are due by the end of our exam period on Tuesday, June 7th.