Welcome Back, Computer Science Students!

Welcome back to school!  My name is Mrs. Kamenar and I will be working with you in your computer science class this year.  This will be my fourteenth year teaching at Waukesha North.  This year I will be teaching Honors Geometry, App Development 1 & 2, AP Computer Science A, Programming the Web 1and Yearbook.  In addition to teaching at North, I am also an assistant women's cross country coach and the school's yearbook advisor.

I hope that everyone had an enjoyable and relaxing summer.

This summer went by too fast, but I
guess it always seems that way.  This summer I got to spend a lot of time with my husband and my two kids, Jack and Laura.  We spent our time going to the zoo, cherry picking, going to the library and swimming.

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.

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 the Storyboard of app creation and create a simple flashlight app.


Web 1

In this class, students will learn the basics of web page design using HTML and CSS.  This week, we will talk about the basics of web design.

AP Computer Science A

In this class, students will learn the Java programming language in preparation for the AP exam in May.  This week, we will focus on some of the basic Java programming structures as well as some errors that we may encounter along the way

I am really excited to get to work with you this year.  I hope we are all able to learn a lot and have some fun along the way!  If you have any questions as we move through the year, please don't hesitate to contact me.  If you have questions, feel free to e-mail me at kkamenar@waukesha.k12.wi.us.  You can also follow me on Twitter: @MrsKamenar.

What's Going On? June 4th through June 7th

Our Final Week of School

It's hard to believe that it's our last week of school!  With our last week of school brings a different schedule.  Monday will be a normal "Monday-style" schedule, followed by our exam week schedule.

App Development 1

Students will have the remaining class time and exam period to complete their "Rock Paper Scissors" app and their Swift technique investigation.  All work that is considered for the final grade for the course is due by the end of the exam period.


App Development 2

Students will have the remaining class time and exam period to complete their "Build Your Own App" project and screencast video.  Students are also encouraged to submit their final projects to the "Mobile Makers" contest.  All work that is considered for the final grade for the course is due by the end of the exam period.

AP Computer Science Principles

During the exam period, students will be completing a multiple choice exam based on the language-neutral format of the AP exam.

Programming the Web 2

Students will have the remaining class time and exam period to complete their self-directed final project.  Projects can be based in CSS, JavaScript, or HTML5 Canvas.  All work that is considered for the final grade for the course is due by the end of the exam period.

What's Going On? May 21st through May 25th

App Development 1

This week, we will continue our prep-work leading into our "Rock Paper Scissors" App.  During Monday's class, students will work on the "Three Letter Word" hackwich.  Once this is complete, we will focus in on using Safari Services.  This means that we will learn how to pull up a webpage within our apps.  

App Development 2

This week, students should be working on their "Build Your Own App" projects.  For this project, students can work in teams of up to 4 students to create an app of their choosing.  At the end of the year, students will submit their apps, as well as a highlight video, to our "Mobile Makers Build Your Own App" Contest.  Winning teams are eligible to win prizes!

AP Computer Science Principles

This week, students will continue working on the cybersecurity activity "PicoCTF". 

Programming the Web 2

This week, students will spend some more time investigating HTML5 Canvas.  This week, students will start to choose their own activity for the final project of the semester.

Friday, May 25th: Community Day and Service Learning Day

Friday will be our service learning day and community day.  On this day, students will not attend classes.  Instead, students will participate in a large-scale volunteer day and will contribute to more than 3000 hours of volunteering in one day!  Many students will be volunteering outside, so be sure to bring water!  Also, be sure to wear activity-appropriate clothes and bring work gloves along if you have them and it makes sense for your assigned activity.  You wouldn't want to wear your best clothes if you are assigned to be outside mulching!

Here is the schedule for the day:

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

App Development 1

Students should be finishing up their "Word Play" apps at the beginning of this week.  After this, we will move into our next unit for the year.  Students will be working towards creating a "Rock Paper Scissors" app or a "Tic Tac Toe" app.  In order to prepare for this, students will be introduced to loops and how we can use them to look at a list of data.  We will also check out "Safari Services", which will allow us to call up a webpage within our app.

App Development 2

Students should be working on finishing up their "Brick Breaker" apps this week.  Once this is accomplished, students will move into the "Build Your Own App" challenge.  Students can work in a group of up to three people to create an app of their own design.  In preparation for this, we will talk about "Agile" development and how we can break up our app into small, manageable, achievable pieces.  Students will also create a three-minute video highlighting the functionality of their app.  At the end of the year, students will enter their app and video into the "Mobile Makers Build Your Own App Contest".  The top three apps will receive a prize.  Check out the details of the contest by clicking here.



Programming the Web 2

This week, students will dive further into the feature of the HTML5 Canvas.  This week, we will make a sample PacMac animation.  After going through this in-class example, students will have the opportunity to create their own simple animation.

AP Computer Science Principles

Even though the AP exam is complete, we still have plenty to do before the end of the school year.  This week, students will participate in a "hacking" activity called "Capture the Flag".  Students will work in small teams and use their knowledge gained so far throughout the course in order to complete some different "hacking" challenges.  We will be using a previously published cybersecurity game provided called PICOCTF.

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

AP Computer Science Principles

This is it!  What we have been working toward all year!  Our AP exam will occur on Friday, May 11th at noon.  Be sure to bring in two wooden #2 pencils and leave your smartwatches/fitbits and phones at home.  Students will participate in the two hour, 74 question multiple choice exam on Friday afternoon.  During our week leading up to the exam, we will take a practice exam, analyze any errors, and go over any last minute questions.  We have been going through some review materials in class, and all of our resources can be found on our BlackBoard class website under the "review" tab.


App Development 1

This week, students will be working on our "Word Play" app.  For this app, students will work with multiple view controllers and practice passing data between them.  Students will create and manipulate a short sentence through the app.

App Development 2

This week, students should be in full swing of the "Brick Breaker" app.  Students will be working with Swift GameScene in order to create the classic game that involves a paddle, a ball, and at least 4 bricks.  The challenge comes in the physics that will allow the ball to bounce off of other objects and eliminate the bricks.

Programming the Web 2

This week, students will be diving into some of the features of HTML5 Canvas.  Students will draw a face using the functions of canvas, including drawing lines, circles, and adding text using a coordinate system.

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.