Week of Sept 24

This week we learned the second part of objects and how to use them along with constructors in the book and Bookrunner lab. With experience from the first Turtle, and Turtle Runner lab, I was able to understand book and bookrunner. By calling constructers and giving them a set 'job' or 'objective' the program can run and then modify the variables defined. This week I finished up the Turtle lab after a little trouble understanding it last week. This class is getting more and more challenging. Seeing that I already have enough classes that are challenging, I'm contemplating whether or not to stay in this class, because I am not sure if I want to add AP Comp Sci to one of the classes that causes me to have stress. Never the less, I will definitely  finish out the six weeks and try to get as much in as I can. This next week we have the 6 weeks test, so I will have to get all of my stuff together and make sure I know all of the material comortably.

Week of Sept 17

Third week of blog posts. This week we didn't learn that much new material, but the things we did learn was quite a heft load. We went over objects, in particular the turtle and how to create the image, operate it and such with conductors, and then how to move them. I'm actually quite behind on the Comp Sci assignments and labs. Not because I'm lazy and not doing them, but rather I'm having a slower time grasping the material and fully understanding it. I downloaded JGRASP on my home computer, so I'll be able to catch up on all of the labs over the weekend and be on track by the first class of the week. I'm currently finishing up the Coding Bat assignments, and then hopefully I'll be able to do the Turtle lab by going of the Objects presentation, and if not, I'll come in for help on Monday or Tuesday. This week we also took the methods quiz online, and I scored an 8 out of 10, sadly because I got confused over the outputs of the code. Oh well, better luck next time. This class is pretty challenging for me, but I still find it interesting so I'll stick to it and just try to get caught up so I don't get buried under past labs and worksheets.

Week of Sept 10

So 3rd week of school! This week was actually much more challenging for me then the previous weeks because Mr. Stephens incorporated all sorts of variables to the array of things we were learning and putting into our programming labs. We learned about methods and how to call one program to and from another program. This was confusing for me because in the 'Task' Lab we had to call components from the 'Tasking' program and we couldn't run the actual program so I wasn't 100% sure what the program was actually doing. To add to the confusion, we also took a quiz this week and I got a 70 on it, meaning that I need to either find a way to understand these concepts on my own or have Mr. Stephens help me out sometime. The worksheets that we got this week had to do with output, scanner methods, and certain details that affect the output of the programming. I understood the worksheets with some help from Mr. Stephens and I think I should be able to grasp my mind around all of this programming fun by the time we have our new lesson. And by that time I will be able to understand how to do the Invoke program.

Week of Sept 3, 2012: I'm a noobie

So this week in Comp Sci, we learned the use of scanners, variables and how to get input from the computer. The labs we did this week were somewhat of a challenge for me because I did not quite remember the exact code that was needed, where it went, and why it went there. However, when Mr. Stephens gave his presentations in the beginning of the week, I used his power point presentations to guide me through the labs. The harder labs this week were the Gallons Wasted and the Bean Count lab, due to the minute details needed in the coding to calculate the desired outcome. The higher number of variables also added to the complexity of the program, where there were more variables in the equation to be able to find the number of gallons wasted, or number of beans with certain parameters. Once I figured out how to use defined variables though, things started to click in my head and make sense. I was able to complete all 4 labs   with success to the objectives presented. I think as long as I'm able to keep all of this code and their purposes stuck in my mind, I should be fine, and be able to understand what's going on in the program.